41 pages 1 hour read

Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 17-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 17 Summary: “Winter”

Alex breaks into the Tara’s apartment. In the bathroom, she fills the sink with water and drops Tara’s retainer into it so the Bridegroom can connects to the object.

Right at that moment, however, a large man attacks Alex. She fights him off, but he breaks one of her ribs. Alex suspects he is supernatural as he simply appeared without opening the bathroom door. As she attempts to escape, he catches her and strangles her while asking about Tara’s murder. The Bridegroom shouts at Alex to let him in, unable to defend her.  

Chapter 18 Summary: “Last Fall”

Rosenfeld Hall, the former headquarters of a society, is causing a disturbance in the New Haven grid. Darlington and Alex go to check out and resolve the problem. While searching the building for the disturbance, they begin discussing left-handed people and Alex mentions that Hellie had been a lefty. In that moment, Darlington recalls the pattern of blood he had seen in the photos of the crime scene where Alex had been found, indicating that someone left-handed had killed the five men. Hellie had already been dead by that point, so Darlington realizes that Alex must have let her friend’s spirit possess her and kill everyone. Alex doesn’t deny it.