The mesmerizing adult debut from Leigh Bardugo. A tale of power, privilege, dark magic and murder set among the Ivy League elite.
Ninth House is a book I have had sitting on my shelf for 3 years. I bought it for the hype and then the negative hype put me off reading it (yay!) The trigger warnings for the adult content made me very hesitant to dive in but after finding a post that noted the pages where said triggering content was situated in the book, I was able to anticipate it and get through it! So, what did I think? Here is my Ninth House Review:
The plot, characters and story progression
I have to say, I was confused for a lot of the book. As the story progressed certain things became more clear but I feel like for most of the first half especially, I was trying to understand what was actually happening! Because of this I think a lot of the plot twists and shock-factor moments were lost on me because I didn’t totally understand.
The characters themselves however are well fleshed out, I felt like I knew them and their personalities. I could really imagine them as people and what they would be like. Despite that, I didn’t feel like I could personally connect with any of the characters. As someone who mainly reads for the escapism, I do also like to feel like I can relate to the characters and the situations they find themselves in, how they are feeling and so on.
World building, atmosphere and setting
The world in Ninth House is extremely immersive, even though I could barely understand what was happening most of the time I felt like I was there! I could picture the dark skies and looming college hallways. The way that the world is written literally throws you into the room with the characters, it is so vivid. I feel like it is this what makes this series so popular to its readers. You can feel the darkness, the death. You can feel the pain and desperation in the room.
The verdict?
I feel like to fully appreciate Ninth House for what it is I would probably need to do a reread or read some kind of explanation of the plot? It was too complicated and convoluted for me. Despite this I really enjoyed being in the world and following the characters. I respect Leigh Bardugo and her craft for writing so much and I look forward to picking up Hell Bent in the near future.
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐
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