Just Finished Reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The novel Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, which was just published a couple of months ago, is a fantasy/horror story that focuses on the eight so-called "secret" societies of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut that have housed some famous people including the two George Bushes and John Kerry.  The title refers to Lethe, the house that the others have set up over the years to monitor their activities and ensure that their magic doesn't get abused...oh, yeah, this story assumes that the hocus-pocus BS behind the different groups' rituals is real and that each of the houses stands on a "nexus" of magic that empowers them.  Galaxy Stern, or "Alex", is in that ninth house largely because of her special gift: she can see the ghosts...or "greys" as they are called here...around her without having to drink a highly toxic potion that the others in her house must resort to.  Alex had a troubled youth and is coming off surviving a traumatic multiple homicide: her unlikely entrance to Yale is an opportunity for her to begin her life afresh...or is it?  Darlington, her main colleague (and love interest) at Lethe, figures heavily into the story's flow as the murder of a young woman who was a "towner" (not a Yale student) casts suspicion on the different houses.  Alex plays the detective in trying to find the guilty party and soon uncovers a wide assortment of depravity and likely culprits.  The story worked for me, although it does have some pretty dark themes and a lot of violence...definitely not for the squeamish...

Ninth House for me inevitably brings up comparisons with two fantasy series I've read: J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and Lev Grossman's The Magicians, both of which involved magic at schools.  But unlike those two "fantastic" series, Yale is a real place in a real city, New Haven.  The author attended Yale herself and actually was a member of one of the secret houses.  Whereas with Rowling and Grossman's scenarios the magical world was one of wonders fraught with some danger, Bardugo's vision is overwhelmingly dark and foreboding...not anything that the reader would be liable to fall into a daydream about being a part of.  And the notions of privelige, ambition, and elitism pervade the author's negative portrayal of student life at Yale: it's as if everyone here were a Slytherin! By the way, without giving away the ending it did seem apparent to me that this may be only the first book in yet another fantasy magic/school series. Should that be the case, count me in for the duration...but if you can't handle horror fiction I'd steer clear of it all...