Ninth House

About Ninth House

Ninth House is the first dark fantasy novel in Leigh Bardugo's Alex Stern series, a gothic and gripping departure from the lush YA romantasy of the Grishaverse. Galaxy "Alex" Stern is a survivor—she grew up on the margins, has seen things no one should see, and arrives at Yale University on a full scholarship as the sole survivor of a mass murder she cannot explain. She has been recruited by Lethe, one of Yale's secret societies tasked with monitoring the magical rituals performed by the other eight Houses of the Veil. When a local girl's brutal murder is brushed aside by town and gown alike, Alex cannot let it go. She begins to pull on a thread that unravels the most powerful and protected people in the city. Bardugo writes Ninth House with a cold, precise darkness that is a world away from Six of Crows—the horror is real, the trauma is unflinching, and the magic is genuinely frightening. The secret society world-building is immaculate, and Alex Stern is one of the most compelling heroines in modern fantasy: damaged, furious, and absolutely unstoppable. This is dark fantasy for adult readers who want their magic to have real consequences and their heroines forged in fire.

Tropes & Themes

Readers Also Enjoyed