41 pages • 1 hour read
Leigh BardugoNinth House
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
How is Alex a typical or atypical heroine? What character development does she undergo throughout the story?
Is Darlington a traditional hero figure? Why or why not?
What do we find out about Yale and the people who inhabit the school from Alex’s interactions with them? What is their relationship to the city and people of New Haven?
Why is romantic love so rarely mentioned in the novel? Is it portrayed as something positive or negative? Why?
Many novels explore how magic would work in an educational setting, including J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Lev Grossman’s The Magicians trilogy, and Patrick Rothfuss’s The Kingkiller Chronicle. Compare the magic system of Ninth House to that of another fantasy novel. How is the depiction of magic similar? Different? Why?
Magic and wealth are closely connected throughout the story. Why? What is the purpose of linking the supernatural with the monetary?
What kinds of power dynamics and social hierarchies are at play in the world of the novel? Does magic maintain or destabilize the hierarchical status quo?
Would Alex have investigated the murder of a young man with the same zeal she devotes to the murder of Tara? Why or why not?
Why is the true villain a woman, rather than Dean Sandow? How does this reflect the way the novel depicts women’s relationships to other women?
Why does the novel shy away from discussion of the afterlife? What is its attitude towards religion? What are the implications of ghosts for the spiritual world of Ninth House?
Related Titles
By Leigh Bardugo
