Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Release Date - October 8, 2019
Publisher Website - Raincoast Books

Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  480 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received from the publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

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.

Ninth House is a story about survival. It is a story about surviving abuse in all its forms in a world that is, despite all of its magic, all too realistic. Leigh Bardugo laces this razor sharp book with brutally dark themes and actions but also manages to put strength, hope, and resilience in equal measure. She also manages to beautifully write one of the most unforgettable books I've ever read.

The warning that has been given that this is an adult book is not to be taken lightly. This book is filled with plenty of things that could be triggering for people. It deals with rape, suicide, drug overdoses, murder, violence and plenty of others. The gritty nature is made all the more palpable by its setting. It feels overly realistic even though there is magic within the world being created. It is set in a world that is all too familiar and all too easily visualized. This adds a hyper realism to all of the events in a way that I, personally, felt benefited the story. It is, however, just as disturbing as you would expect.

The magic that is used lends itself to a more realistic setting. These are rituals being performed and not wands being waived around. The secret society element makes the whole thing feel a little more authentic. The idea that rich people use rituals to keep being rich doesn't feel all that far fetched within the confines of this world and the things that the college age characters do with the magic all feel too horrifically plausible. The Yale backdrop gives this story a cozy, almost false sense of security like setting and helps dial up the atmosphere. Between the supernatural elements and the Yale setting this book, like most of Leigh's books, offers up superb world building.

Alex Stern is a character that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. She's put through events that are traumatizing and brutally scarring. She proves herself to be resilient and strong. She's allowed to be what plenty of female characters are denied being - angry. She is filled with rage, and rightfully so. It makes for a dynamic character who I grew to love. She's the type of character you'll ache for and just want to protect by the end of the novel (even though she would absolutely hate that).

While this is very much Alex's story the other characters do help make this novel what it is. Dawes and Darlington are, in particular, stand outs. The offer a contrast to Alex while still showing the different ways that this world can impact the people who get involved in it.

This book tackles class and gender divides. One of my favourite quotes sort of sums up the gender commentary: “There were always excuses for why girls died.”. It fits the story beautifully while also being relevant to a lot of how we discuss crimes against women in today's society. It's part victim blaming and part wanting to tidily push things into a definable box that we don't have to do anything about. Class divide is present with how certain victims are treated and how, in this particular case, the rich and powerful use those who are not those things to their benefit. It's a rich, layered, complex story that is as thought provoking as it is engrossing.

If Alex and her internal journey of dealing with the trauma inflicted on her is the heart of the story, its core is the mystery that she is unraveling. I loved experiencing the twists and turns this story took on the way to piecing all of the pieces together. It starts the way most mysteries do when a dead body is discovered but the addition of the secret societies creates enough possible scenarios to keep the reader on their toes. I appreciated the attention to detail and how everything tied together in the end.

This is a book that sinks itself into you and doesn't let go. I'll be thinking about Alex and her journey from now until I get my hands on the desperately needed sequel. This book will, as mentioned, not be for everyone and that's entirely okay. I do, however, recommend it for anyone who finds books about crawling out of the darkness inch by inch while still in the center of it to be therapeutic. It's a book that has a serious bite to it, but a very worthwhile read.