graceevee 's review for:

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Ninth House is gritty, gruesome, and honestly a bit gross. And it was an absolutely grand experience. Alex is the type of protagonist I fall in love with instantly. She’s complex and jaded and snarky without coming off as contrived. Darlington as a mostly-absent character also checks a lot of my boxes, and I’m extremely intrigued by where he is at the end of this book. I can’t wait to see where Hellbent takes the pair of them. The story achieves its goals on both a macro and micro scale, confronting large themes that criticize the world of academia without feeling preachy or out of touch with the narrative. The setting is integral to the plot and thoughtfully incorporated. You can tell it was written by someone with a deep understanding of the university. Overall, Ninth House’s dark and moody atmosphere was more than just set dressing, it permeated the story to its core. Leigh Bardugo did an excellent job with this one. 

There are a number of content warnings to be aware of so be sure to check those. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Classism

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Antisemitism, Alcohol