Two Galentines Review Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Happy (slightly belated) Galentine’s Day, ladies!! On behalf of this sacred holiday (thank you, Parks and Rec), I’ll be reviewing with MY Galentine. ~Drumroll please~ Her hard work inspires me, her generosity humbles me, and I wouldn’t be here without her (literally): Brain Break’s creator, the beautiful, the brilliant, Liz Amato! I’m forever indebted to Liz, and I’m sure she’s sick of me saying thank you after every post I write, but I truly wouldn’t have found my voice if it weren’t for her. We have a lot in common; our obsession with matcha lattes, pop culture, and reading fiction barely scratches the surface. So this month we’re getting c R a Z y and reviewing a book together. In honor of the ~love month~, we’ll be discussing a spooky book that’ll make your stomach churn more than eating 30 heart-shaped Reeses. (No judgement though, get that chocolate!!)
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
LEAH - One of the best parts of starting a new book is learning how that world works. Most times you need to suspend your imagination and accept that there will not always be a neat ribbon tied around every question that arrises, especially when magic or supernatural elements are involved. Uncovering the intricate world of Ninth House and meeting characters like Galaxy Stern and Darlington was a haunting experience-- literally. There are ghosties and demons involved. Galaxy aka “Alex” is a complex antihero with a bit of an off-center moral compass. To me, this made discovering her backstory and its significance to the plot super addicting to read. There are some dark and disturbing storylines, even outside the supernatural world. *Trigger warning: some rough content concerning rape and assault comes up in this book. Sometimes it takes a second look to uncover the underlying motives in the story, because Bardugo writes by switching between the present and past. That said, I really enjoyed this style because I kept wanting more and more, and then I’d be snapped back to the present. I finished this book hungry for book two, which comes out later this year! Yay 2021, you’re already better than 2020!
LIZ - Even just reading Leah’s summary of Ninth House gave me the heebie jeebies. I’m going to come right out and say it: while the novel’s protagonist, Galaxy Stern, is haunted, broken, and painfully relatable, a character I will not soon forget, overall this story was not for me. I used to be one of those people who loved scary movies, and I would totally show off about it. The Shining? Any day. The Strangers? Knock-knock. But then adulthood hit and I realized shitty, very real horrors can happen to literally anyone, any day. Bottom line: to me, life is scary enough these days. So with Ninth House, the story is definitely gripping and the way Bardugo seamlessly switches between perspectives, periods, and social classes almost impossible to put down. If you’re into scary stuff: run, don’t walk. But if you’re a scaredy-cat like me, I’d say skip. I barely got any sleep when I was reading this book because I was imagining ‘grays’ hovering above me at night (book term for ghosties). My girl group pushed me through this one (shoutout Jewels!!), so make sure you have someone to unpack Bardugos plot twists with - or, let’s be real, just someone to sleep next to that can protect you from the grays…
Side note: Why does everything take place at Yale? That place has been cancelled for me since Logan Huntzberger.
Check List:
Pass out cards to all your Galentines (even if you’re a few days late)!
Buy yourself flowers at some point this month!!
BEWARE OF GRAYS!!!
