When I first heard about Leigh Bardugo’s first Adult Fantasy novel Ninth House, the Ivy League setting at Yale University paired with the author’s name on the cover were enough to convince me of reading it. And, given this information alone, I already would have expected a good story. But Leigh Bardugo adds magic to the College setting, letting Yale’s secret societies seem even more secretly and mysterious. The mention of magic and mysteries in the blurb made me want to read Ninth House even more. In contrast to the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, King of Scars, Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, which are all set in the fantastic world of the Grishaverse, Ninth House is a Fantasy novel set in a more realistic but not less creative environment.
“They would ingest a little bit of arsenic every day. It made their skin clear and their eyes bright and they felt wonderful. And all the while they were just drinking poison.“
Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo, p.402