Like a plane soaring to cruising altitude in calm, sunny weather, Ninth House really set itself up for success in the first 70% of the book. It had lifelike characters, believable dialogue and internal monologues, settings based on the real world, and even a mostly coherent magic system! However, our happy little plane began to lose altitude at a staggering rate in the latter 30% of the book, culminating in a stuttered, turbulent crash on the tarmac. There were no casualties, but some were injured.

Thanks to friend-of-the-show Liz for recommending this book to us!

Content warnings: Aside from our usual barnyard language, we’ve got: drug use, ghosts, gore, guns, ritual magic, sexual assault, & stabbing.