He'd read enough stories to know you never looked back on your way out of hell.
Ninth House
by Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Dark Academia
About: Alex is not your average Yale student. She's a high-school dropout, past drug-addict and, ever since she can remember, she's been able to see ghosts. A useful ability for Yale's secret societies, who need someone to keep the uncanny at bay while they practice their dark arts. Magic is real, and it's deadly.
The Good
This book is an easy five star partly because of the writing, partly because of the world, but mostly because of the experience I had reading it. This was a trip. I don't normally like confusing timelines or when characters take away from the action to remember events from their past, but here I lapped it all up. I wanted to know everything about these characters. Alex and Darlington are fantastic main characters. Alex isn't that typical wide-eyed student, pulled into a dark world: she's lived through the darkness her whole life, and survived. And Darlington isn't that privileged rich boy looking for thrills: he's that little kid we all once were, who wanted magic to be real so bad he forced his way to the truth. They're both as fascinating to read as the secret world they're part of.
The Bad
I do love a murder mystery and a large list of suspects, but the way the solution came at the end was exhausting. Every suspect made sense but we kept being given the 'reveal' of the true culprit, only to discover that no, actually it was this person, and then no, it was really this other person. Alex keeps unmasking the killer and she's the only one doing it. I would have liked to have seen Dawes or Turner figure something out, and then when Alex finally does figure out the truth it would have felt fresher and more satisfying.
The Somewhat Iffy
Everything came together really well for me. Things were confusing, no doubt, and the magic system was complicated to get to grips with but I liked the solutions we were given overall. The only magic I thought was a bit over-the-top was the portal one being used in a fight, and I'm still not sure why Tara felt no pain (Alex didn't seem to think being high would be enough of a block to the kind of pain Tara would have experienced).
Overall
This is the first Leigh Bardugo book where I get the hype. I've read Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone and I liked them, but this one... this one I love. Magical, dark, modern and delicious.
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