Ninth House

From the author of Shadow and Bone, now a hit NETFLIX series.

The smash New York Times bestseller from Leigh Bardugo, a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite. This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

"The best fantasy novel I’ve read in years, because it’s about real people.... Impossible to put down." —Stephen King

"Bardugo’s latest is a must-listen, introducing a haunting, Yale-based occult world populated with gloriously complicated characters.... A win-win-win, honestly." —Paste, best audiobooks of 2019

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. In fact, by age twenty, 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 prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living. A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Ninth House is the best fantasy novel I’ve read in years, because it’s about real people. Bardugo’s imaginative reach is brilliant, and this story—full of shocks and twists—is impossible to put down." - Stephen King

"Ninth House is one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read in years. This book is brilliant, funny, raw and utterly magnificent — it's a portal to a world you’ll never want to leave." - Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians

"Ninth House is the best thing I’ve read in a long time. There’s so much magic here that you'll begin to feel it seeping into the room around you as you read, and characters so real you ’ll practically hear their voices in your ear. Leigh Bardugo has written a book so delicious, so twisty, and so immersive I wouldn’t blame you for taking the day off to finish it." - Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners and Get in Trouble.

"Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House rocked my world. I could not get enough of sinewy, ghost-haunted Alex Stern, a heroine for the ages. With a bruised heart and bleeding knuckles, she risks death and damnation — again and again — for the people she cares about. I was cheering her on the whole way: from the first brilliant sentence of this book to the last. More, please, Ms. Bardugo." - Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2

"In this mesmerizing novel, Leigh Bardugo introduces us to Alex, a high-school dropout who gets a free ride to Yale because of a unique talent. Bardugo's New Haven is plausible and frightening, and I was one rapt reader." - Charlaine Harris, bestselling author of the True Blood series

"With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo's compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally dazzling sequels." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Atmospheric...Part mystery, part story of a young woman finding purpose in a dark world." - Booklist (starred review)

"Genuinely terrific....The worldbuilding is rock solid, the plot is propulsive, and readers will be clamoring for a sequel as soon as they read the last page." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Excellent....Bardugo gives [her protagonist] a thoroughly engaging mix of rough edge, courage and cynicism." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

UTTERLY DISAPPOINTED.

I can't even finish this audiobook. I want to...it was considered the most highly anticipated book of the year! But, for me...it's a flop. I wish the author would have just told the story. Instead it begins in the middle...then beginning..and back and forth from there. It was like taking something great and tossing it into a blender.

The narrator did a good job...it really was the style of writing that ruined the book for me.

Good plot but confusing

I try so hard to love Leigh Bardugo's books like everyone else, but something about the writing confuses me and I struggle to like the characters. It seems like the characters are made to be deeply flawed and yet you root for them, which is fine, but I don't get the redeeming qualities and end up not caring about them or whether they die. The time jumping back and forth was kind of rough for me and I think if I read it again I might understand more.
I did love the way magic was intertwined with reality. It was smooth and believable and I want to tell fantasy authors, "See? You can write fantasy that takes place in our modern world and it works!" The narrators for the audiobook were nice to listen to and I did appreciate getting a male narrator for Darlington's point of view. I wish we learned more about his and Alex's relationship and what happened to him. Maybe next book will be easier to understand with the foundation already being laid.

Long time coming

It’s been so long since there has been a book that captured my attention as Ninth House. I’m not a professional critic so the best I can say is I missed sleep and deadlines because of this great story.
Thank you Leigh Bardugo and Lauren Fortgang.

love

i loved this thank you Barnes and Noble for making this the book club book! this story was nee and different and amazing! the narrators were great. the story enthralling just loved it

A Traumatizing Read

Because I love Leigh Bardugo’s work and writing style so much, I wanted to love Ninth House, but it was so difficult to read/listen to. The narration and narrative itself was good, but it was a constant string of graphic rape scenes with plot just barely laced in between. While the message Bardugo was attempting to convey is important and needs to be discussed more, the way she wrote it conveyed far too much detail for me to get through. This is not a good read for someone like myself with assault induced PTSD. I found myself constantly sick and having to turn the audiobook off. It was disheartening.

So if you are a fan of Bardugo’s work but sensitive to graphic sexual assault, I recommend that you skip this one. Appreciate the work without consuming it. BUT if you are not triggered by such things, the storyline is great. So, give it ago but proceed with caution.