Ninth House (Bardugo) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Bardugo's greatest power is ushering readers of any age through big, cast-heavy books with clarity and narrative precision. She is great at crime capers and misdirection…. Bardugo makes unexpectedly strong rivers of stories, purposed by swift currents of feeling. As you step further into the nasty and confusing dark of Ninth House, you feel for her caught-up characters. That's what usually gets discarded first in these genres when writers get distracted by world-building or struggle with plot. But Bardugo's characters feel real—and she doesn't forget that everyone hurts.
New York Times Book Review


Simultaneously elegant and grotesque, eerie and earthbound…. Wry, uncanny, original and, above all, an engrossing, unnerving thriller.
Washington Post


Ninth House is a lot of things. Its emotional superstructure is a fish-out-of-water story…. And Bardugo lives believably in this first skin, this initial level of ugly duckling strangeness that is familiar to anyone who has ever gone anywhere or done anything new.
NPR


(Starred review) Excellent… Bardugo gives [her protagonist] a thoroughly engaging mix of rough edge, courage and cynicism.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review) Genuinely terrific… The worldbuilding is rock solid, the plot is propulsive, and readers will be clamoring for a sequel as soon as they read the last page.
Library Journal


(Starred review) Atmospheric…Part mystery, part story of a young woman finding purpose in a dark world.
Booklist


(Starred review) With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo’s compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally dazzling sequels.
Kirkus Reviews


(Starred review) Instantly gripping…. Creepy and thrilling…. The world of this book is so consistent and enveloping that pages seem to rush by.
BookPage