Ninth House

I have really enjoyed the Barnes & Noble Book Cub and I was particularly looking forward to last night's meeting because I absolutely loved the October selection, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. This novel presupposes that the members of the eight secret societies at Yale University (Skull & Bones, Scroll & Key, Book & Snake, Wolf's Head, Manuscript, Aurelian, St. Elmo's, and Berzelius) use magic to achieve success in politics, business, and entertainment. After one of the rituals ended badly, a fictional ninth society (Lethe) was created to have oversight over the other societies and to ensure that the rituals are performed correctly.  Daniel Arlington III, or Darlington as he is known, is the student leader of Lethe and he is responsible for training his replacement. Galaxy Stern, or Alex as she is known, has been chosen to replace him but he considers her to be entirely unsuitable because she has a troubled past. When a murder happens on campus, Alex can't shake the feeling that one of the societies is involved. Against the orders from everyone in Lethe, she uses several of Lethe's magic rituals to investigate (forming an alliance with a ghost) and discovers a connection to another unsolved murder from the past. I must admit that I had a difficult time getting into the story at first because it begins right in the middle of the action with the narrative alternating between the past and present. There are so many people, places, and events that I couldn't figure out what was going on. However, once I did figure it out I found the story to be incredibly compelling and I couldn't put it down. One of the things that I really liked about it is that, while this is a story about the supernatural, it seems very plausible. No one really knows what goes on in these secret societies and, because so many real-life members have achieved wealth, power, and success (George H. W. Bush, George H. Bush, John Kerry, John Ashcroft, Bob Woodward, Jodie Foster, Anderson Cooper), it makes you wonder! I also really enjoyed Alex as a character because she is a fish out of water at Yale but still manages to hold her own and I admire that. The relationship between Alex and Darlington is very dynamic because they each make assumptions about the other that prove to be false and they come to rely on and then respect each other. I also liked the murder mystery aspect of the story. The resolution took me completely by surprise, which is rare for me. We had a great discussion last night and one of our topics was which society would we most want to belong to. I would definitely want to belong to Aurelian because they have power over language and one of their magic rituals involves having words literally enter your body (it is painful but worth it) so that you can become a best-selling author! I highly recommend this book (with the proviso that it is quite dark and there are a few very disturbing scenes).

Note:  The next selection is The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. I am quite excited to read this because I found her last novel, Then She Was Gone, to be incredibly suspenseful. Join me on January 7 at the Layton Barnes & Noble if you are local or at any other participating location (go here for information and to sign up) to discuss it!