My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads
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.
The mesmerizing adult debut from #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.
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REVIEW
THIS IS AN ADULT BOOK. TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR DRUG, DRUGS ABUSE, CHILD RAPE, GORE, RAPE DRUG, VIOLENCE, SELF HARM
Having come into this series from Leigh's fantasy ones, I tried to be openminded after having read all the reviews an the trigger warnings that followed. In no means isn't this a book for younger teens, so if you think of buying the book because of the pretty snake, please don't do it if you've read the trigger warnings I have mentioned above if they make you uncomfortable.
Ninth House is set at Yale University where secret societies based on the dorms are using magic in order, essentially, to control the world economy, politics and society. It's every conspiracy theory come to life, but with the key difference that there is an organization, or House, named Lethe, whose job is to ensure that the magic practitioners don't mess up with the dangerous practices.
Alex Stern comes to work for Lethe, having no academic experience to vie for, apart for her ability to see ghosts, or Grays as they are called here. Her power is also far more powerful but this is for you discover. Having a mentor named Daniel Arlington, she slowly learns the secrets of the other Houses, even if she does at first a poor job.
The story is told through seasons; from winter to spring, and through flashbacks, we also learn Alex's story. It is not a good one. There were many times where I wanted to leave the book down and try not to retch from the injustice and the sometimes racistic behavior of some characters. On the other hand, I believe that if Alex's mom had taken far more drastic measures and ACTUALLY HAD LISTENED TO HER CHILD, then half of the things that had happened to Alex would be averted.
The magic of Yale and the Societies are also a nod to behaviors and a micro-universe of what our current society lives in; power, money, corruption, sex, rape, and technology that can make all the above far worse. There is a scene where Alex does something to a rapist and the dark, evil part of me felt satisfaction.
And I am not sorry.
Daniel, on the other hand, was also an interesting character. Virtually the opposite of Alex and at the same time he also shared the same loneliness with her. He hasn't fallen in love with her, yet, but I hope he will in the next book. You see he spends almost all the book absent because for some reason, he has disappeared and Alex id desperately searching for him.
The ending is both final for one part of the book, but also a cliffhanger, which made me both like it and feel disturbed about what might happen in the next one. Because there are far more secrets hiding in the unseen lines of magic around Yale and few who are brave enough to cross them.
This was by far the darkest book I read this year. I liked it since it's something new from Leigh Bardugo, but I also dread the sequel, if Alex goes to the place she plans to.
Again it's not for everyone but it's filled with history, magic, and darkness.
About the author:
She would be delighted if you followed her on Twitter, elated if you visited her at web site, and fairly giddy if you liked her selfies on Instagram.
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