Review: NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Flatiron Books
Page Count: 461
Release Date: October 8th, 2019
Series: ALEX STERN, Book 1
Rating: 4/5 Stars – Really Liked It!

Alex Stern has spent her whole life believing she’s mad, able to see ghosts that no one else can. But after a near-fatal experience, she learns that her supposed madness is actually a rare gift – one that makes her very valuable to Lethe House, a secret society of Yale. They offer her a full ride to the university in return for joining their ranks. As a member, Alex will help oversee the other secret societies; all of the societies practice various occult rituals, and Lethe House ensures that those rituals don’t get out of hand. It’s a chance for Alex to start a new life and leave her mistakes behind. But when a woman turns up dead on campus and everyone rushes to dismiss it as unrelated to the work of the societies, Alex can’t help but push to investigate. After all, it’s her job to make sure that the societies don’t break the rules…isn’t it?

NINTH HOUSE is an engrossing supernatural murder mystery, set against the backdrop of the worst excesses of privilege and power. As many have noted in the past, this is not a book for the faint of heart; it certainly puts the “dark” in dark academia and I highly recommend checking content warnings if you tend to be sensitive to certain topics. This is a tale of how those with power abuse that power, and the callous disregard for anyone that does not fit into their plans.

Alex Stern is as messy a protagonist as they come. She’s jaded and jagged, scarred from a life on the streets and floundering at this new life at Yale that she’s been handed. She’s also the kind of protagonist that can’t help picking at threads – especially when she’s been told not to. So when a young woman shows up dead on campus, the kind of woman whose death doesn’t cause any outrage, Alex can’t but help dig into it. Her armor may be dull and dented, but she’s definitely a knight.

One thing I loved about NINTH HOUSE is that it is largely a standalone book. You will get all the answers to the mystery by the end, with one thread left hanging for the sequel (but what a thread!!). I binged this story in just a few days and got the satisfaction of a mystery resolved, with more adventures to come. On the flip side, I struggled slightly with the narrative structure, which jumps between “Winter,” when Alex gets drawn into the murder investigation, and “Fall,” which are earlier parts of not just her life, but her mentor’s, Darlington. While the structure made for some great reveals, the occasional overlap in setting (Yale campus) and characters sometimes had me needing to double check the order of events.

NINTH HOUSE is a great read for those who like their fantasy reads to feel more grounded in our world. If you like supernatural tales and stories where the monsters are just as likely to be ordinary humans as they are to be literal demons, NINTH HOUSE is a book worth checking out.