Content Warnings (highlight to read):
sexual assault, graphic rape, murder, gore, forced eating of excrement, drug abuse, and more
Whenever a new book is released that includes the concept of a magic school, comparisons are inevitably made to Harry Potter. Let’s get this out of the way upfront: This is not Harry Potter. The only things even remotely in common are that both books explore the concept of a hidden magical world and take place primarily at a school.
Harry Potter explores magic as a mystical and wondrous thing that can be perverted for evil by a select few who follow a darker path. The Ninth House treats magic like a commodity. The rich hoard it for themselves and control most of its access. And if they have to kidnap a homeless person and use their entrails to learn which investments to make in the future, what’s that to them?
Alex Stern is about the furthest thing from an upper class socialite. She dropped out of high school, got involved with heavy drugs, and fell in with the type of crowd who would leave your dead body in a back alley for missing rent.
Oh, and she is one of the very few people in the world who can see ghosts.
While in the hospital after surviving a horrendous multiple murder, Alex is invited to attend Yale as a member of Lethe House. With her ability to see ghosts, she is perfectly suited to help Lethe House oversee the other eight magical societies at Yale.
This is where Bardugo’s experience as a Yale student really shines. Each of the eight magical houses is actually a real society at Yale (presumably without actual magic, but who really knows?). These societies, as well as Yale’s physical campus and the surrounding town of New Haven, are all painted in vivid detail, forming a realistic backdrop to the magical elements.
The story is split over multiple timelines. We get to see bits of Alex’s troubled past, her learning the ropes at Lethe under the supervision of her predecessor, and her attempt to solve a murder mystery all on her own.
I think this story structure will be where you’ll either love or hate The Ninth House. It’s set up so that the central question of the book is “Who is Alex Stern?” She’s been systematically beaten down by a society that only values her for what she can offer it. Criminals took advantage of her for her body, ghosts preyed on her to remind themselves of living, and Yale only sees her ability and not the actual person. The various timelines are there more to highlight Alex’s growth as a person than to reveal important plot details, which can seem out of place if you’re expecting a typical murder mystery.
Similarly, Alex seems to wander aimlessly through her investigation into the murder that occurs on campus. There’s no planning three steps ahead or trying to outsmart the killer. Alex has to rely on her street smarts to save her and figure out just what the hell is going on, all while Yale and the other magical houses sit idly by. Why should they care about a town girl who died? She’s not connected to the societies, so she’s not their problem. This parallels Yale’s uncaring attitude toward Alex and is the central theme of the entire story.
In a lot of ways, The Ninth House appears to be one thing on the surface and something else entirely underneath. It’s a character study masquerading as a plot-driven mystery; an exploration of trauma, purpose, and societal greed with the aesthetics of a magical school. It’s not a book you turn to escape reality, but rather one that can aid in processing some of the truly awful shit that goes on in the real world.
Again, The Ninth House is not Harry Potter. If anything, it reminds me more of The Magicians (though with considerably more deft handling of the traumas experienced by the female characters).
If you can stomach the darkness in this story, there’s a lot to love. The worldbuilding is fascinating and leaves you wanting more, Alex’s slow character growth is gripping, and the setup for the sequel has me hoping to get my hands on a copy as soon as possible.
If you’re interested in some of Leigh Bardugo’s other work, consider trying The Six of Crows duology.
