Ninth House (Ninth House Series, 1)

"The best fantasy novel I’ve read in years, because it’s about real people... Impossible to put down." —Stephen King
The smash New York Times bestseller from Leigh Bardugo, a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite.
Goodreads Choice Award Winner
Locus Finalist
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. In fact, by age twenty, 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 prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.
Don't miss the highly-anticipated sequel, Hell Bent.
BUY THE BOOK
Join a book club that is reading Ninth House (Ninth House Series, 1)!
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Ninth House* offers a dark, original take on magic woven into Yale’s secret societies, praised for strong world-building and complex char...
Chris’ recommendation
⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 4 stars
Like many others it was a little slow going at first trying to get all the characters and houses straight, but once I "got in the groove" I was hooked and enjoying the ride.
I saw someone wrote that it was like The Skulls (movie) meets Harry Potter and in a lot of ways I could not agree more.
A unique tale with lots of magic and ghosts but beware this is a dark tale with lots of triggers.
I cannot wait for the next book and also excited to see it adapted for TV by Amazon Studios.
"That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you’d been before life took away your belief in the possible."
Like many others it was a little slow going at first trying to get all the characters and houses straight, but once I "got in the groove" I was hooked and enjoying the ride.
I saw someone wrote that it was like The Skulls (movie) meets Harry Potter and in a lot of ways I could not agree more.
A unique tale with lots of magic and ghosts but beware this is a dark tale with lots of triggers.
I cannot wait for the next book and also excited to see it adapted for TV by Amazon Studios.
"That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you’d been before life took away your belief in the possible."
Loved every character and the development. Very well executed. Had me hooked from the first chapter
I've got to take some time to figure out my thoughts on this one. RTC after tonight's bookclub discussion.
Update:
Book club definitely allowed me to see things in a different perspective for this one but I still feel the same as I did before. I think the concept was interesting and the mystery got better in the end. BUT, I felt that the sexual abuse scenes were unnecessary to the story and were used as a shock factor for getting the point across in a lot of ways. I felt that one of those scenes in particular was used to turn someone into a villain when that could've been done any other way and would've been successful.
I also struggled a great deal, especially in the beginning, with the pacing. I had a very difficult time keeping up with what was going on and felt that there was more information than was needed to describe things. I listened to the audio and found that I could only listen for an hour or two at a time for the first 2/3 rds of the book.
I really wanted to enjoy and love this book so I am disappointed I didn't feel that way. I am still debating on whether I will read the next one or not.
Update:
Book club definitely allowed me to see things in a different perspective for this one but I still feel the same as I did before. I think the concept was interesting and the mystery got better in the end. BUT, I felt that the sexual abuse scenes were unnecessary to the story and were used as a shock factor for getting the point across in a lot of ways. I felt that one of those scenes in particular was used to turn someone into a villain when that could've been done any other way and would've been successful.
I also struggled a great deal, especially in the beginning, with the pacing. I had a very difficult time keeping up with what was going on and felt that there was more information than was needed to describe things. I listened to the audio and found that I could only listen for an hour or two at a time for the first 2/3 rds of the book.
I really wanted to enjoy and love this book so I am disappointed I didn't feel that way. I am still debating on whether I will read the next one or not.
I’m sad there is no more of this book to read. I hate waiting for the next installment(s).
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.