Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Wrapping Up the Tawny Man Trilogy

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb

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Two things: 1) Sometimes I think Hobb just turns to random pages in the dictionary to name characters. 2) I abhor the way Hobb sexualizes young teen girls. She did it in Liveship Traders, and she’s doing it again with Elliania in this trilogy. The argument that this is a medieval-type world and that this is accurate for the time period doesn’t fly because this is a fantasy world, and Hobb can choose whether that’s a cultural aspect she’s going to stick with. It doesn’t change […]

Ravens are Nerds

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

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The Raven Scholar is actually pretty good; I was a little surprised because I sometimes don’t have great luck with the popular best-sellers, even in genre fiction. The characters are mostly what drive things, Neema and Cain are a lot of fun, both individually and together, Sol has some good personality for being a magical being fragment, and a lot of the rest of the supporting cast has enough definition that as an ensemble, they’re interesting to watch. Most everyone has some kind of tragic […]

“Like the old Shadowhunter motto says, “Shadowhunters: That Evil Demon Stuff Is What We Are Here For.” But in Latin, probably.”

Secrets of Blackthorn Hall: An Illustrated Shadowhunter Novel by Cassandra Clare; ilustrated by Cassandra Jean

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When the Blackthorn great-aunt dies, to the surprise of everyone she leaves her house in England to Julian, with the proviso he has five years to fix it up before ownership reverts to the Clave. So off Julian and Emma go to merry old England, to deal with large spiders, piles of dust, gnome contractors, and the ghost that is apparently tethered to the house. Can they solve the mystery and free the ghost, or will they be buried around all the secrets that lurk […]

“Life isn’t easy, no matter where you are. You’ll make choices you think are right, and then suffer for them.”

The Assassin’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas by Sarah J. Maas

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And mine was reading this book. Years and years ago, I saw I saw a copy of A Throne of Glass in a bookstore. I didn’t buy it then, but I remembered that I wanted to get it sometime, so I (foolishly) asked for the box set of the complete series a while ago. And then I discovered that this was the prequel . So I had to read this, before I could read A Throne of Glass, before I could see if I tolerated […]

MI-5 with monsters!

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

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Just last week I confessed that espionage is not my jam. This week I’m saying that espionage can be my jam if it contains vampires, flesh-absorbing monsters, and a kick-ass female protagonist. Shout out to MsWas for the recommendation. This book saved me when I was in a mini-slump! A woman becomes conscious (I’m specifically avoiding the term “waking up”) in a London park with no memory of who she is or how she got there, surrounded by dead bodies, all of whom are wearing […]

“When someone describes a man as harmless, he ends up being a villain.”

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

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Dark Corner selection – February 26 Defeat the Goblin – The pebble book – a book that was gifted to you Monthly Keyword 26: Sun Nowhere Book Bingo 26: A book with multiple POVs Read the Rainbow: Black This is a book with a number of different POV characters. There is Serapio, a blind young man whom we first encounter as a child, being horribly mutilated by his mother (who subsequently throws herself off a building). All this horrific violence is to make him a […]



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