A review by lizgom
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved his books and it started. It’s more on a serious, dark setting. This book is all about trauma and PTSD. I’ll get straight to the point on this one.

The Netflix show “the order” is one of my guilty pleasures and this book is kinda like that. Secret society and all that. Alex, the protagonist, isn’t that relatable to me because our personalities are a little different, BUT she’s a lot like friends from college. She felt like someone I knew because she actually felt like a person and not just a character of a book. 

After reading other Leigh Bardugo books, I was very disappointed by the lack of dialogue. She is a pro at writing dialogue, I have no idea why she wrote an almost entirely narrated book.

Obviously there are trigger warnings for this book, But honestly it was pointless. Adding those elements didn’t really develop the characters. Alex Stern is a victim and it still didn’t develop her as a character.

This is not a YA book. There’s quite a bit of violence and even some gore and intense imagery. Not a “comfy” read. I absolutely enjoyed reading the murder mystery, her tension and intrigue building were great. I love the dual story because we find out so much about both MCs and the secret societies.