Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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About NatalieH

CBR16 Participant
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I'm Natalie and 2026 is my third year participating in cannonball read. I love reading, especially fantasy and science fiction books. I live on Vancouver Island, in Canada.

NatalieH's Reviews:

“Let it be my ambition and not my fear that seals my fate”

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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I’ve had a bit of mixed experience with Leigh Bardugo’s books. I thought the Shadow & Bone trilogy was generic and bland but loved the follow up duology set in the same universe, consisting of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I loved Ninth House, but felt somewhat let down by the sequel, Hell Bent. I’m currently in the middle of reading several long series and wanted a bit of a palette cleanser (without starting another series), so I started reading Bardugo’s latest release, The […]

This was… fine? I guess?

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

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I didn’t know much about this book going in, I picked it up because I thought the cover was pretty (I’m a sucker for anything purple). The Foxglove King focuses on Lore, a young woman who works as a spy for a smuggling operation ran by her adoptive mothers. She also has necromancy-related magical powers (Which are illegal? Sort of? Maybe?). When she’s caught using them in public and arrested, she’s forced by the King of Wherever (I’m pretty sure there was an actual country […]

“You have to be realistic about these things…”

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

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I originally purchased the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie(consisting of The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and The Last Argument of Kings) sometime around 2009. I’ve somehow went 15 years without reading them, so figured it was finally time to do so… The books are mostly set in a country called the “Union”, and explore the inner politics of the nation, along with a series of conflicts with both the “North” (essentially a loosely organized collection of barbarians), and the “Gurkish” (an expansionist […]

O, what a tangled web we weave…

The Liar's Knot by M. A. Carrick

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I read The Mask of Mirrors, the first book in the Rook & Rose trilogy, last October, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was excited to read the sequel, The Liar’s Knot. The books are written by M. A. Carrick, who is actually two people—authors Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms. This book continues the story of Ren, a con artist who has adopted the persona of a foreign noblewoman named Renata Viraudax, who, in The Mask of Mirrors, arrived in the city of Nadežra claiming […]

Finally Reading This…

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

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I am a huge fan of epic fantasy, especially long, sprawling, multi-book series, and have been since childhood, so it’s a little surprising that it’s taken me so long to read anything by Brandon Sanderson (he’s been on my TBR for over 10 years). Honestly, I think the thing that finally pushed me to read one was that a trade paperback edition was released last year (I’d previously only seen it in mass market, which I hate reading, especially for longer books — I feel […]

Ethical Murderers

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

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I picked up Scythe on a whim in a New Year’s sale – my local bookstore had a “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” table and I vaguely remember (it was a long time ago!) enjoying a previous book by the author, Neal Shusterman, so ended up picking this book as my “free” book. This was my first read of this year and also my first Cannonball read book review! I have been lurking for a while but decided to “take the plunge” this year (we’re […]



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