I’ve been battling with myself whether I felt like writing a review for Ninth House or not. Normally I only write reviews for new books, or ARCs, but I really want to write more about what I actually read. Reviews are fun to do after all! So let’s dive into what I thought of Ninth House.
I think Ninth House was one of the most anticipated novels of the year for a lot of us. It is Leigh’s first adult novel, but a lot of us know her best for her Grishaverse books. As a side note, I loved Wonder Woman too. It was honestly hilarious.
Okay so now about the actual book. I started reading it almost immediately after it came out. Half my coworkers at Barnes & Noble immediately started reading it, too. So in all honesty, I tried going in to the book with an open, clean mind. Void of anything Shadow & Bone or Six of Crows. Because this book is not Shadow & Bone or Six of Crows. It’s an entirely different story, set in the real world, and it’s written for adults. Side note, it is ACTUALLY written for adults. Don’t give this to young teenagers. Or do, I’m not your mom.
Anyway, in the end it was hard for me to separate this new story from the Grishaverse books, because that’s what I’m used to reading from Bardugo. I’m not sure if this caused me to think the first 100 pages or so were a little disappointing, or if it’s because of some other reason. Either way, I found the first 100 pages to be not super interesting. There were little bits and pieces I was definitely curious about, but I wasn’t entirely feeling the story yet.
BUT THEN
So things started picking up soon after that. I can’t give too much away because I obviously don’t want to spoil anything, but the gist is that things suddenly started happening, the plot thickened tremendously, and the characters became much more interesting.
I loved the setting of this book as well. Especially since it took place over an academic year, it was a great book to read in the fall. The use of magic is absolutely unique and the use of secret societies gave the book a very mysterious air.
I also think the ending was nicely done. I know some people don’t enjoy cliffhangers, but this one isn’t so bad. After all, you have to set the tone for the next book!
★★★★☆
Have you read Ninth House yet? What did you think?
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I really enjoyed Ninth House, I rated it four stars. I would have rated it five but there was just so much world building. It was slow at times due to the world building. I feel like it really set the next book up to be a fabulous, action-packed read!
Author
I completely agree! It was a little slow in the beginning. I can’t wait for the next one though!