Ninth House

Book: Ninth House
Series: Alex Stern #1
Author: Leigh Bardugo

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. By age twenty, in fact, 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 elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive-Goodreads

Review: I'm a huge Leigh Bardugo fan and was so excited for this new series! In this world, Yale's secret societies (that actually exist) have a magical element. The protagonist, Alex Stern, is a Yale freshman with a unique ability who is training with a senior to monitor the activities of these societies. The majority of this book was extremely slow and slightly tedious, but the pace picked up at the end. Alex is rough around the edges but I think she has a lot of potential for the series. 

Overall, I really liked the dark, gothic type vibe and look to see where this goes. I will admit it's slow so I anticipate a lot of "I loved it" or "I hated it" type reviews for this one. 

Grade: 4/5