Ninth House

Academic brilliance, family connections, donations, or just plain old fashion good luck... none of these things had anything to do with why Galaxy “Alex” Stern... a high school dropout and low-level drug dealer, received admission to Yale. Nope... Alex got into the prestigious University because she can see dead people. A Yale dean who is a member of Lethe, one of the college’s mysterious secret societies, offers Alex a "free ride" if she will use her spook-spotting abilities to help Lethe with its mission...that of overseeing the other secret societies’ occult rituals. In the universe the author has created, the “Ancient Eight” secret societies, (Lethe is the Ninth House), are not just "good old boys" breeding grounds for show more the CIA, CEOs, Supreme Court justices, and on and on...they are the owners of actual magic. Societies within societies such as "Skull and Bones" performs prognostications by "borrowing" patients from the local hospital, opening them, and examining their entrails. "St. Elmo’s" specializes is "weather magic", useful for commodities traders; "Aurelian", specializes in unbreakable contracts; and "Manuscript" goes in for the glamours, or “illusions and lies,” helpful to politicians and movie stars. All these rituals attract ghosts. It’s going to be Alex’s job to keep the supernatural forces from embarrassing the magical elite by releasing chaos into the community...all while trying desperately to keep her grades up. Alex describes it:“Dealing with ghosts was like riding the subway: Do not make eye contact. Do not smile. Do not engage. Otherwise, you never know what might follow you home.” Then a murder sets in motion a plot filled with drug deals, drunken assaults, corruption, and lots and lots of cover-ups. Loyalties are stretched thin and soon begin to dissolve. Perhaps the deepest of all are the ambitions and anxieties that had once powered and undermined the entire "Yale experience" for these secret societies operating in the dark but showing another side in the daylight began to crumble. Alex may have more reason than most to feel like an imposter. She knew that anyone who had spent time around these "golden children" of the Ivy League will likely recognize all her self-doubts. With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, this author has composed a readable novel that hopefully as left the door open for several equally compelling sequels. show less

2nd reading (because Hell Bent was released today): I am reminded how excellent a writer Leigh Bardugo is. While other books I've read recently have been awkward in switching between 1st and 3rd person POV and as a result would temporarily throw me out of the story as I struggled to keep up with who was narrating, Bardugo's transitions between Alex and Darlington are smooth. While the timeline constantly jumps back and forth (and occasionally location), there is no disruption in the narrative. Things you need to know are revealed when you need to know them, lending to the sense of mystery and discovery in a logical, ordered fashion, and is very satisfying. The characters are incredibly well drawn and nuanced, layered like onions, even show more minor characters. The town of New Haven is also a character in the story, not just a backdrop before which the action takes place.
CAN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED WITH HELL BENT! show less

Having read almost everything Leigh Bardugo wrote, I wanted to start 2022 reading her adult debut with her fantasy Ninth House. Not knowing what to expect other than magic and Ms. Bardugo’s excellent writing style, I discovered a unique story of loss and mystery. It took me a bit to get into Alex’s story, but I could not put it down once I did.

With its focus on the ultra-secret societies at Yale, all I could think of is the movie The Skulls. It was the first time I had ever heard of the Skulls and Bones, and I certainly did not know that there were other secret societies. Knowing the privilege members of these societies already face, let alone the perks and future benefits they obtain by their membership, the whole thing made me a show more little sick. And that was before I learned about the magic they practice in Ms. Bardugo’s world.

Alex has had a horrible life and is just looking to find a fresh start. She thinks she obtains this by being one of those chosen to monitor the eight secret societies at Yale. Except a girl from the streets has a lot to learn about Yale, living the sober life, and the magic that surrounds her. The thing is, no matter what she faces or what happened in her past, you can’t help but love Alex a little. She is a survivor with the guts to face harsh truths and the determination to seek wrongs righted. Every beating she takes and every odd she overcomes only makes you love her a little bit more.

Ninth House is a story about the privileged and the misfits. In this world, the misfits oversee the privileged, which leads to a natural power struggle. At no point in time, though, do you ever find the privileged sympathetic or likable. After all, they are the one-percenters. The misfits, however, are endearing in their quirks and awkwardness. I particularly adore Dawes, who is a lot more formidable than you initially expected.

What surprises me the most about Ninth House is that if you took away the magic, which is as macabre as it is impressive, the story would still be good. At its core, it is a murder mystery, and Alex is a junior detective who reluctantly takes the case. There are also elements of it being Alex’s coming of age story as she learns to accept who she is and the experiences that molded her. With the academic backdrop, Ninth House has the right blend of secrecy and ego, topped with the hedonism that comes with any college lifestyle. The magic Ms. Bardugo adds is simply icing on the cake. show less

This intelligent mystery mixes together academic politics, murder, and magic and is set at Yale University, the author’s alma mater.

Yale is home to some of the most famous collegiate secret societies in the country. Current estimates put the number of them at over forty. The oldest and richest of them are well-known, and are featured in Bardugo’s book. As Business Insider writes, “Yale's secret societies often seem shrouded in mystery. They are bastions of influence and intrigue that hold among their members some of the world's most powerful people." (How wealthy are they? Check out the data in the same article in Business Insider, which they were able to compile since the landed societies are legally obligated to file public tax show more information.) And what exactly is it they do inside their hallowed walls? Bardugo has some creative theories.

The “landed” of the secret societies at Yale own valuable real estate (called “tombs”) overseen by trusts, and maintained by donations by members and former members, many of whom have acquired a great deal of money as well as positions of power and influence in society. The pressure to maintain those donations is part of the plot in this paranormal take on the “Ancient Eight,” or first of the landed societies.

In the story, each of the eight houses specializes in a different kind of magic. Skull & Bones, for example [whose alumni famously include President George H.W. Bush, President George W. Bush, and former Secretary of State John Kerry], performs divination using human and animal entrails to reveal trends in the stock market such as commodities futures. Aurelian specializes in logomancy, or word magic, helpful for forming binding contracts. Manuscript teaches mirror magic and glamours, advantageous for politicians and celebrities, and so on.

Bardugo posits the existence of a ninth house, Lethe. Lethe was established as an oversight body for the “Ancient Eight” to ensure their magic rites didn’t have fatal repercussions that could cost them their property - the tombs - and their endowments. The tombs are important to them since each was built at the site of nexuses of magical power essential for their rituals:

“No one was sure what created them, but it was why new tombs couldn’t simply be built. There were places in this world that magic avoided… and places it was drawn to… New Haven had an extremely high concentration of sites where magic seemed to catch and build, like cotton candy on a spool.”

Alex (short for Galaxy) Stern, age 20, is new to Yale and has a full tuition ride, even though she never even got a high school diploma. She was a drop out and drug user. She was also, mysteriously, the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. But Alex has a skill Lethe wants and has been on the lookout for: she can see “greys” or ghosts, which other members of Lethe cannot see without without ingesting the Orozcerio, a dangerous elixir. Part of Lethe's job is to monitor and control ghosts during the rituals of the Eight, to which the ghosts are drawn. To that end, members of Lethe have their own supply of magic objects stored at one of their properties on campus, Il Bastone.

Alex, who is given the code name "Dante," is mentored by “Virgil,” or Daniel Arlington, a senior known to his friends as Darlington. Other members of Lethe include Pamela Dawes, or “Oculus,” who maintains the Lethe residences and serves as their research assistant; Detective Abel Turner - “Centurion” - the intermediary between Lethe House and the Chief of Police; and Dean Sandow, who supervises Lethe and serves as liaison with the university president.

All of them become entangled in a web of horror after the dead body of a young woman is found on campus, and Alex suspects one of the rituals from the houses got out of control.

Alex’s tour of the history and culture of Yale with Darlington as her guide now turns into a murder mystery with danger coming from both the living and the dead, as well as from the magic at the disposal of the suspects.

The story, which transitions back and forth in time over the previous year, gradually reveals what happened to the characters in the past and how it affected who they became. It also forms and unreels clever and unexpected plot twists as the level of tension is elevated. We eventually learn why Alex can see ghosts when no one else can, and just what that means in terms of who and what she is.

Ninth House is intelligent and scary, and while some elements of the plot are resolved by the end of the book, there is a whole new aspect to the story that opens up in the last chapter. It is so richly full of possibility that I absolutely can’t wait till the next installment!

Evaluation: Bardugo’s speculation about what goes on behind the closed doors of the secret societies is wickedly funny. But most of the book is better described as frightening, poignant, and perceptive about fears and passions, and how they motivate behavior. Bardugo retains her predilection for rendering her [non-evil] characters as idealistic and noble, even while they are incredibly flawed. This is a great story with skillful writing, and gets better as you progress farther into it. show less

Series Info/Source: 1st book in the Alex Stern series. I borrowed this on audiobook through my library.

Thoughts: This was quite the read. I think that was my main thought throughout this book, "Well, that was sure something". Bardugo is not afraid to pull punches and we are thrust into Alex's time in Lethe with a violence and candor that is shocking. I enjoyed it a ton though. I ended up loving Alex and the strange people she interacts with and was desperate to read more by the end. This book is a perfect example of dark academia and I adored it.

This book follows Alex as she is thrust into the underground of Yale's strange secret houses. Alex is the survivor of a horrific multiple homicide scene...and she can see ghosts. All of this show more grants her admittance to prestigious Yale without having even graduated high school. Of course there is a catch, Alex must serve as Lethe's new Dante, a position where she helps to police the secret magical houses of Yale...secret societies that perform deadly magic. Luckily she has the previous Dante, Darlington, as her mentor...that is until he mysteriously disappears and Alex is left dealing with murder, mind-altering drugs, and general mayhem on her own.

This book does not pull punches. Alex's past is horrific and we learn all about it as the story progresses. However, we also learn that Alex is nothing if not a survivor. Alex is excited about this new start at Yale even if she is wary of something that seems too good to be true. And she is absolutely determined to do a good job, even if it means tracking down portal using murderers and enslaving magical drugs to keep the secret societies in line. She will do whatever means necessary to keep these people in line, even if those actions aren't quite legal.

I love Alex and many of the side characters as well. This story has a wonderful mystery and a wonderful number of twists and turns along the way. Initially the story jumps between Alex and Darlington and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their stories and backgrounds being revealed. The world-building here is amazing as well. I was completely sucked in by this twisted underworld of Yale with seedy magic and secret societies and how it tied into the upper echelons of society.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. The narration was amazing and Darlington and Alex were read by different narrators. It was incredibly fun to listen to and I would recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this and can't wait to read the next book. I actually just went out and bought it after I finished this one. The world building here is fantastic and I really loved the amazing characters, the mystery, and the grittiness to this story. I am 100% rooting for Alex and can't wait to see what she does next. show less

Highly recommended. Calling this novel urban fantasy doesn't do it justice, particularly because the setting (Yale University) feels set back into history rather than a modern-day city setting. The characters are fully developed, especially the two foils from different walks of life yet similarly tragic families, Alex and Darlington. The novel sets the stage beautifully then trickles out a plot that gets more and more exciting over the course of the semester. There's also a deliciously sardonic look at the Old Money Yale folks. Bardugo attended Yale, and her critique of a certain class of Yale attendee is very welcome.

It's kind of impressive how Leigh Bardugo can write a book with a kind of lumpy beginning, where the Big Bad is really obvious and which is full of things I generally choose to avoid in fiction (so much sexual assault, coercion, and body horror), and yet still make me race through it wanting to find out what happens next. I didn't even particularly like any of the characters—though I admired Alex's stubborn persistence in pulling herself to her feet every time she got knocked down—but I was invested in what happened to them all the same. I will likely read the next book in this series at some point, but from between my fingers, because I'm a big wimp.

Pedantry: It always irks me when authors thank specialists in a given field in the show more acknowledgements and then get some basic stuff about that field wrong. There are multiple copies of the Gutenberg Bible, it's not been thought best practice to wear white gloves while handling manuscripts for years, and paper is not parchment. show less