Ninth House Book Review

It’s taken me way too long to write this review. Sorry. Honestly, my life has been crazy and I couldn’t really decide what my thoughts were on this book. But I think I’ve decided how to set up this review, so here we go…

Unspoilery Review:

Waking up in a hospital room as the sole survivor of a massacre, Alex Stern is offered a chance for a new start. Alex is not your ordinary young woman, she can see greys. Greys are ghosts that stay to haunt the living world, and they are named because people see them as grey when using magic. Not Alex. She sees the greys in color everyday, and she always has. After spending the first part of her life thinking she is crazy, Alex is brought into the Lethe house at Yale University. The town of Yale is special and full of magic. There are 8 houses of the veil that practice different types of magic and support many influential people, who just so happen to be their alumni and financial supporters. The Ninth house, Lethe, was created to keep the other houses in order and protect people from becoming their magical offerings. Upon arriving at the university, Alex is trained by the polite, smart Darlington who doesn’t think she deserves this honored position.

This book follows Alex’s story as she uncovers the dark plot surrounding a murder, an attack, and a kidnapping. There was a lot of violence and sexual parts in this book- like it actually scarred me a little bit- so it is not to be read lightly. That being said, this book was incredibly well written with a complicated, fascinating plot that keeps you reading. If you’re looking for a dark, haunting, and mysterious book, then look no further because this book is for you!

Although I understand why people enjoyed this book, I personally did not. I finished the book, which is a testament to the complexity of the plot. Even though I didn’t enjoy how slow the book seemed to move or the creepiness of the ghosts, I still wanted to finish the book so I could solve the mystery! Which I actually didn’t figure out until the book revealed it to the reader! I loved reading the ending, that finally started picking up and giving us answers!

If you’re going to read this book, I want to give you a few pieces of advice.

• Don’t lose track of what season you’re in. This book switches between different seasons, and it’s important to know if you’re in the far past, past, or present.
• The plot picks up, I swear! The beginning feels incredibly complicated and confusing, but don’t worry, you haven’t missed anything and it will all start making sense during the second half of the book.
• There is rape in this book and it was incredibly uncomfortable and depressing for me to read. Be warned.

Alright! Well that’s all I’ve got for your non-spoilery people! I hope you enjoy reading this book!!!

Spoilery Review

This book was really well written, although also creepy. I’m not going to spend much time unpacking this book because I want to keep this blog post under 5000 words. 😉 So here are some of my most pressing thoughts.

It was so cool how Alex had the drugs in her system after the massacre because she had Hellie inside her! So weird! But an amazing idea! That part was super dark and sketchy, but it was fascinating to read her stream of consciousness as she was basically possessed by the strong, angry ghost of her dead friend. This entire part made me want to cry! I can’t believe how awfully all the guys treated them!

I loved when we saw into the Bridegroom’s memory and saw him kill Daisy and all that jazz. It was cruel but so fascinating! (And now I know that the murder was wayyyy more important to the plot than I ever. Who would’ve guessed!!!)

I totally called Dean Sandow being the cause of the murder for some stupid Leche business, but I did not see Belbalm being Daisy! That caught me totally off guard. It wasn’t even an option in my brain until it was happening and I started putting things together. She’s so powerful and has so much magic! This scene was insane, and I actually feel pretty sorry for the Bridegroom.

Dawes. I love her so much! At first I was hesitant to appreciate her, but she is amazing, smart, and so loyal. I am glad that Alex had her help throughout this book!

Mercy. Alex’s dorm life always seemed to be a side thought in this book, but whenever we were there, I loved seeing her roommates interacting. They are all so sweet, and I love Mercy’s loyalty to Alex. When she was put under the service spell thing, I was furious- although Alex totally went too far in her retaliation. Goodness gracious Alex!

Lastly, I really liked getting to know Detective Turner. I love how even though he acts like he hates Lethe, Alex can count on him to be on her side!

Well that about summarizes my thoughts! Have you read this book? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading!