She turned to drugs as a harmful coping mechanism and fell into an abusive relationship at the tender age of 15. I came into this apprehensive, waiting for heartbreak and bloodshed, and while the opening line promised that was to come (‘ By the time Alex managed to get the blood out of her good wool coat, it was too warm to wear it‘), what I didn’t expect was to swoon over the pure elegance in the author’s turn of phrase.Īlso unexpected was the deliciously complex anti-heroine who is the brittle black heart of this story! Alex Stern sees dead people, and it has ruined her life. The author’s prose is sheer magic, I re-read the opening paragraph three times just to soak in the ambience. Now that’s out of the way! How was the book? In a word: AMAZING. I’m really glad that I read this book after all because it’s certainly NOT misery porn and none of the scenes depicted are at all gratuitous or feel like they’re included for shock value (although I can only speak for how I perceive it myself). I had some qualms about the focus on sexual trauma, but Leigh Bardugo’s tweet discussing how the protagonist’s experiences in Ninth House were drawn from her personal life made me feel that it would be handled sensitively. I’m really glad that I knew of the trigger warnings going around on social media so that I wasn’t blindsided going into this. If you feel this may be a potential trigger, please search for more specific posts which outline exactly content is included so you can decide whether this is suitable to read. Going in, let’s be clear – this isn’t a young adult novel, it’s Leigh Bardugo’s adultdebut it’s extremely confronting at points with references to and on-page depiction of sexual assault, child rape and statutory rape as well as mutilation and general gore. Now there’s a dead girl on campus and Alex seems to be the only person who won’t accept the neat answer the police and campus administration have come up with for her murder.īecause Alex knows the secret societies are far more sinister and extraordinary than anyone ever imagined. But a free ride to one of the world’s most prestigious universities was bound to come with a catch.Īlex has been tasked with monitoring the mysterious activities of Yale’s secret societies – societies that have yielded some of the most famous and influential people in the world.
Not when Yale was supposed to be her fresh start. A dropout and the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved crime – the last thing she wants is to cause trouble. A tale of power, privilege, dark magic and murder set among the Ivy League elite. Alex Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. The mesmerising adult debut from Leigh Bardugo. Publication Details: by Hachette Australia on October 9th, 2019
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