Hi ForeverBookers,
How are you doing today? I hope you’re well!
I’ve just finished reading “Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo, which I enjoyed. I’d read Leigh Bardugo’s “Shadow and Bone” books and “Six Of Crows” previously, and I didn’t like them but “Ninth House” is her first foray into adult literature. I preferred reading where she wasn’t held back by rules to fit into a certain demographic.
3.5 Stars
“Ninth House” tells the story of Alex or Galaxy Stern. She’s a lost character at the beginning of the book. Only when she finds a task or someone to fight for does she become a worthy character in my eyes. She attends Yale, in America. There she experiences a tragic event, of which she’s the sole survivor. Why is SHE the sole survivor and what does this mean for her? I’ll let you read for yourself but the novel basically hinges on this point. Alex is tasked with looking into the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Why? And what does this mean for the story? I’ll let you read for yourself again, but this is what captivated me the most. Also, there’s talk of Darlington, a colleague of Alex’s who’s missing before the start of the novel? What happened to him? I’m excited to hopefully find out in the next book, “Hellbent.”
I only actually liked the second half of “Ninth House.” I didn’t think the first half of the book was anything special or even necessary. The only thing we learnt that was of evidence is who Alex Stern is and her background. The plot only picked up for me at least after page 300. I wish the chapters had been given distinctive names or just been numbered. Instead they were named after the seasons. I didn’t understand this.
I read Ninth House for a two readathons, which were:
Reading Rivalry - Being The New Kid - Alex Stern is the ‘new kid’ in Ninth House as we see her from when she started at Yale!
Always Fully Booked Genre Challenge - Horror/thriller - Ninth House wasn’t scary to me personally but it’s classed as a horror on Goodreads.
Spoilers Below…
“Just find Tara,” she snapped. “You have the retainer.”
“The what?” said Turner. He was patting the mantel and the bricked-up hearth beneath it as if expecting to find a secret passage.
“Portal magic,” Alex grunted out.
North looked back once over his shoulder and vanished through the wall of the apartment. Pain came at her in a sudden swell, a time-lapse photograph of a blooming flower, as if North’s presence had kept the worst of it at bay and now she was empty the damage could rush in. Alex tried to push herself up. Turner had holstered his weapon.
Turner slammed his fist on the counter. “That isn’t possible.”
“It is,” said Alex.
“You don’t understand,” said Turner. He looked at her the way North had, as if Alex had done him wrong. “That was Lance Gessang. That was my murder suspect. I left him less than an hour ago. Sitting in a jail cell.”
This was what really got me to start liking the plot direction of “Ninth House” at the 66% mark. Alex is working to try and figure out who murdered several of her fellow students at Yale. Tara is one of those said students. Lance Gessang is a drug dealer. He was the boyfriend of Tara. He’s been murdered too, or has he? I’ll let you read for yourself but this book certainly threw up many questions.
I liked the relationships “Ninth House” had between our main characters. Especially those surrounding Darlington, who was someone that’s was a significant character in Alex’s life. Darlington disappears before the start of Ninth House, as I said above. The main mystery of Ninth House is working out what happened to him, I feel. That isn’t resolved in Ninth House. I’m sure we’ll get more information in “Hell Bent” (#2).
“She’d forgotten at least half of what Darlington had tried to teach her before he’s vanished, but he definitely hadn’t covered murder.
She didn’t know why. If you were going to hell together, murder seemed like a good place to start.”
The main plot that followed the murders bored me slightly. I wanted to know our characters more. I’m a character reader, as I’ve said before. I’m not really here for a big plot. While Alex was a funny character at times, she didn’t really do much else but look into the murders. The culmination of the novel does end with a fight or a battle I suppose, a good vs evil battle. Who is the foe, I’ll let you read for yourself, but it surprised me!
Overall, then I liked “Ninth House.” I didn’t love it, but it was okay. It had it’s quirks. I liked Alex as a main character. I would have liked it more had the story been told entirely from her perspective and not 3rd person. I think it’s a cop out when authors write this way. It’s like they’re too scared to write as I, so they write as he/she instead. The main plot that followed the murders bored me slightly. I wanted more from Alex and her comrades and enemies! I think it would have been interesting to see more from Alex’s enemies. Maybe we’ll get that in “Hellbent.”
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