Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“The shiniest cloaks and most coveted daggers”

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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  I have a couple of Leigh Bardugo books sitting in my massive TBR pile already but the ingredients of this new book were basically catnip to me (ivy league campus, secret societies, magic, murder mystery) so I put it on hold at the library and waited rather than read what I already had.  Based on the way it’s listed on Goodreads it’s the first in a series and I’ve already tagged it’s untitled sequel as “want to read.”  In the world of Ninth House, secret […]

A Hard Life And Dark Magic

The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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The story itself doesn’t shy away from the dangers of both life for young women (which may be very troubling for some readers-many serious issues are discussed and Alex has had a hard life) and unfettered magic use in this world. Alex’s backstory is engaging and while she has a clever retort for most situations, the pain and trouble that fuels her make the young woman very sympathetic. Please feel free to take a look at my other reviews.

Magic and mystery at Yale University with a healthy sprinkling of ghosts

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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[My first Cannonball Read review ever. I’m very excited to be here and to join in this shared reading experience with you all!] Galaxy Stern is not a standard Yale student and the magic established in Ninth House is not the standard system. Ninth House finds Galaxy (“Alex”) at Yale and a part of the ninth house of Yale’s magical secret societies despite the fact that she is a high school drop out from LA. Her role at the Ninth House of the Veil, Lethe, is that […]

“Mors irrumat omnia. Death fucks us all.”

Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) by Leigh Bardugo

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I don’t know, I kind of feel like my brain has been hit by a tornado. This book was a lot. In a good way. But still, a lot. I’m not quite sure I’ve finished processing, but I definitely enjoyed the ride. This is just going to be one of those books that will sit in my brain and sort of gel there, and then eventually I’ll read it again and everything will just click. I’ll probably up my rating to five stars; I usually […]

Bardugo can do so much better than this entire debut trilogy.

Siege and Storm (The Grisha Trilogy, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

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Sometimes a good author just gets stuck telling a mediocre story, and that’s what you have here. I know she can do so much better than this. So, let’s go over the good thing before I get to the bad: Nikolai. The second son of the King of Ravka, aka SPOILERS the privateer Sturmhond END SPOILERS. That character stole every scene he was in, and breathed life into the pretty much dead on arrival story. He was the lone bright spot in what was otherwise a […]

The sun summoner who became a saint, concluding the Shadow and Bone trilogy

Seige and Storm: The Shadow and Bone Trilogy book 2 by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising: The Shadow and Bone Trilogy book 3 by Leigh Bardugo

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Leigh Bardugo started off the first book in her Grishaverse, Shadow and Bone, with a neat mechanic, there was a “Before” section, and then chapter one.  It sets up the background of the book in a simplistic, story book format, referring to the main characters as boy and girl, instead of using their names.  At the end, there was an “After” section following the last chapter.  Same form as at the beginning, but wrapping things up.  She continued doing this for books two and three […]



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