Review: “Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo

Release Date: October 8, 2019
Series: Alex Stern series
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre: Fantasy

Description

“Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.”

My Thoughts

Leigh Bardugo is widely known for her young adult fantasy novels. They’re grounded yet exploratory, pushing boundaries and breaking hearts. Her Grishaverse books have spawned countless copycats and inspired innovative interpretations. The Six of Crows books are even being made into a television show. I like Leigh Bardugo the young adult fantasy author, but I absolutely LOVE Leigh Bardugo the adult fantasy author. Everything I felt was missing from her young adult work is all over her adult book. In my review copy, I must have dogeared every other page to mark a meaningful quote or scene. Things she’s only hinted at in her young adult work is dredged up from the depths, cut open, and exposed to the world…

To read the rest of my review, head over to Tor.com.

Thanks to Flatiron Books for sending me a review copy.