Ninth House

SYNOPSIS

Galaxy 'Alex' Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. A dropout and the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved crime, Alex was hoping for a fresh start. But a free ride to one of the world's most prestigious universities was bound to come with a catch.

(CW: sexual assault, depression, mutilation, murder, grief, drug use, blood)

REVIEW

(4 STARS)

I adored this book, even though it almost gave me a reading slump. I think that's the only reason why I'm not giving it five stars. Its start is just so slow-paced and weird I took a while getting into the story. You see, the author starts with the end of the book — and even though I'm a fan of time jumps and flashbacks, I hate info-dumping. That's what reading the first chapter of 'Ninth House' felt like: drowning in all this information you feel you won't ever understand, no matter how hard you try. I can safely say I only began enjoying the story halfway through the book. Up until then, I was trying to make sense of all the things that were happening. I liked the characters, the idea and the world, but the plot felt too complicated right up until the end. The pace was also very irregular: we had gripping, intense scenes during which I couldn't bring myself to put the book down; and then we had moments when nothing interesting was happening. The only reason why I kept going was that I adore Bardugo's writing. I trust her to blow my mind. I was right, so here I am, absolutely crushed that this book ended and counting the days for a sequel that has yet to be announced.

Besides the pace and plot construction issues, I adored this book's vibes. I postponed reading 'Ninth House' because I was scared of its premise. It involved ghosts and I'm a very jumpy person who hates all things horror. Almost 700 people placed this book under the 'Horror' and 'Paranormal' categories on Goodreads. However, as someone who can't watch Supernatural without having nightmares, I didn't find this book scary in the slightest. Yes, it made me jump at times, but so do criminal books. I think it is more suspenseful than horrific. There's nothing I can say about the paranormal part though: if you don't like ghosts, demons and get squeamish with blood, you'll probably want to stay away from this one.

However, if you love Dark Academia, I strongly advise you to check this one out. Set on Yale, it opened the doors of this genre for me. The blend between the real and the magical world worked perfectly, making me wish it was all true, that I could attend a Yale like that and hopefully live to tell the tale.

I also loved how flawed the characters were. 'Ninth House' is not the typical fantasy book where you follow this perfect hero who strives to make the world a better place. In many ways, it reminded me of 'The Lies of Lock Lamora', where you find yourself cheering for the thieves. On 'Ninth House', cheering for the criminal woman who's always angry at the world, ready to destroy everything and everyone seems normal. As we join her journey, we learn that we all have demons we're trying to escape, but unlike Stern, we're not forced to face them daily. Feeling compassion for the character we're supposed to hate always crushes my leonine personality. I love books that portray life's dilemmas so well — we know we shouldn't like Stern, but she makes you wonder how many times we've judged people without knowing all their story. I'm one of those people who had to teach herself about grey areas because I always thought people were either bad or good. Books like these keep my feet on earth and make me want to do better.

I wish, however, that Bardugo gave us more details about the other characters. This story was very focused on Darlington and Alex, but I wanted to know more about Dawes, Mercy and Turner. I hope the author explores more of Stern's relationships in future books. In a way, I understand why she might not have done so on 'Ninth House' since Alex is a very private person with trust issues, used to living a solitaire life. However, I hope that as the story develops we get to learn more about them. I also found it weird how Anna Breen was never mentioned again after page 31. I don't appreciate it when authors forget about their characters.

I must also say that the cast was diverse, even if not diverse enough – this was also why I couldn't give this book more than 4 stars. An Asian character, a black character and one of Mexican descent are not enough to make a book inclusive, in my opinion, especially when they follow stereotypical misconceptions. Mercy is an above-average Chinese student, Turner is the feisty Black cop and Alex is the drug addict olive-skinned girl. It's a beat-up premise that keeps on giving, even after all this time. It's about time authors get more conscious. I love Bardugo, but I felt this same issue with the 'Six of Crows' duology. It's about time we stop associating certain traits, abilities or addictions with race.