My Goodreads review: Ninth House

[ankh_hpl]

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really wish half stars were allowed for Goodreads reviews, because (for me) this one was a five-star read with a less than five-star ending. Can't explain why without committing spoiler, but suffice it to say that failed to fulfill reader expectations. And in the very last chapter, too.

The story itself is a great mix of occult murder mystery & urban fantasy worldbuilding, with a bit of a literary edge. Alex (Galaxy) Stern is a tough, streetwise (& street-damaged) California feminist heroine who finds herself way out of her element when she's recruited for an "enforcement" secret society at Yale. This "ninth house" is meant to keep the other eight secret societies in line -- no easy task, since each is working a different form of ritual magic for the material benefit of alumni & other patrons. And some of them want Alex (who can see ghosts, & would rather not) out of the way.

This whole concept makes way more sense than it ought to, & involves academic nastiness like "funding years," tenure, & town vs. gown conflict. Bardugo did a wonderful job of making me care about Alex, believe in the ritual magic, & keep clicking Kindle pages way past my bedtime. I just wish I'd known when I started that she'd be leaving loose ends. I'll definitely be reading the sequel (I'm assuming there is one), but a tighter conclusion would have been welcome.











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