Book Review: ‘Ninth House’ by Leigh Bardugo (the paranormal dark academia campus novel you need in your life)
It’s no secret; Leigh Bardugo is a big deal, and if you haven’t at the very least heard of ‘Ninth House’ then I’m going to need you to explain yourself to me.
We featured Bardugo’s first foray into adult fiction on the Season 3 premiere of our podcast, ‘The Dark Academicals’. The epsiode actually drops TODAY so it’s ready for your ear-holes to listen to right now.
EPISODE WILL BE INSERTED HERE, BE PATIENT (plz)
Originally published in October 2019, it’s not a fresh title on the scene, but with the release of book two, ‘Hell Bent’, just around the corner (January 2023) I’ve seen a lot of reading activity surrounding ‘Ninth House’ recently. This is something I am very comfortable with, because I’m a big fan of the Alex Stern series.
What else can I say that hasn’t already been discussed?
Probably not a lot. Frankly.
Let me throw the summary at you for reference:
“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.”
For me, one of the most interesting things is seeing that shift from Young Adult to Adult fiction. Writing YA is a very different kind of animal because of the constraints and careful considerations that need to be made. That doesn’t mean that adult fiction is easy breezy, but you do have a freer rein when it comes to content, especially darker content that comes with a whole host of trigger warnings.
I think this is one area where me and Sophie differed. When it comes to adult fiction, and in particular fantasy or horror, I’m less offended by gore and violence, and actions that are, well, a bit gratuitous. I’m more wary about it in different genres and age categories becuase I think there should be a certain level of responsibility to those readerships. But whereas it’s important to ensure any potential audience has the right information re: content warnings, I’m more more relaxed about an author’s (and publiser’s) choices as to what appears on the page.
So yeah, if gore and graphic content is not for you, then ‘Ninth House’ might make you uncomfortable.
I thought that for the most part these scenes did add something to the narrative, or to a character’s arc.
What stands out to me the most?
The characters, the vibe, the set-up.
I love Alex and Darlington as dual POV protagonists. I can’t wait to see more from them in ‘Hell Bent’. Such a deep and carefully wrought cast of characters.
This book is a vibe. More specifically, it’s a Dark Academia vibe, and to understand that further then please do check out the latest episode of ‘The Dark Academicals’ where we talk about how ‘Ninth House’ may or may not fit into the Dark Academia genre.
The set-up: I adore the concept and how the setting and situation is framed.
For me, ‘Ninth House’ is still a five star book (it was a re-read for me for the podcast, however it was Sophie’s first time after a DNF attempt a little while ago) it just clicks with me in a way I can’t really describe and as a reader I live and breathe for those moments.
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Written by Sarah
