Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Hell Bent or That time I tried to rescue my crush who happens to be a sexy demon

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

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Tripp’s lower lip jutted out, but he went back to work, and a minute later was singing “Under the Bridge” in a passable falsetto. Alex didn’t have the heart to tell him she’d gladly spend the next two semesters in hell if it meant never hearing the Red Hot Chili Peppers again. Warning: Spoilers for Ninth House ahead At the end of Ninth House, Darlington is possibly alive and trapped in hell. Dawes and Alex agree to do what they can to rescue him, despite […]

This should have been my tenth review of the year – not sure what happened there

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

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This is the concluding volume in a trilogy. It won’t really work for you unless you’ve read the previous two books. Start with A Deadly Education. Also, this review will contain spoilers for the previous book in the series, so proceed at your own risk if you’re not caught up. Galadriel “El” Higgins has done the impossible. She has not only made it out of the Scholomance with her entire graduating senior class, but with every other student in the school as well. Everyone is […]

Going to Hell and Back

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

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I have never liked The Secret History; I will admit to seeing why it’s such a favorite based on the general aesthetic (practically inventing ‘dark academia’) but that’s about it. Don’t @ me; this is not a ‘convince me’ thing. This particular hill of mine is why I was a little surprised that I liked Ninth House (Alex Stern 1) and I still like her story in Hell Bent (Alex Stern 2). The plot is pretty basic: rescue Alex’s former mentor/friend Darlington from Hell. Alex, […]

“You rescue me. I rescue you. That’s how this works.”

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

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This is the second book in the Alex Stern series. This review will contain some spoilers for the first book in the series, Ninth House because I’m not sure how to review it without referencing things that happened in the last book. So if you’re new to this series, start there. Darlington is still missing, “in Spain” to those not in the know, and in Hell, possibly dead to those initiated in the secrets of Lethe House. Galaxy “Alex” Stern doesn’t have a lot of […]

The Necessity of Violence

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution by R.F. Kuang

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I think my mixed feelings are going to come out so I’ll say up front that this is way outside of what I usually read, and while I appreciated that it is a very good book, I often didn’t enjoy reading it. I appreciate it more than I love it. But, I think it’s a worthwhile read. Maybe don’t pick it up right after you put down a book that owns your whole heart. This book is also in conversation with The Secret History and […]

Okay, you’re almost all villains. No ‘if’.

If We Were Villains by M L Rio

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Oliver is in his fourth and final year of his program at Dellecher Conservatory for the Fine Arts. He and his classmates have been studying Shakespeare together since day one at Dellecher, and they are all at their breaking point from the intense program and pressure of their coursework. There’s Richard, larger than life  antagonist whose intensity is thrilling to watch on stage but terrifying to live next to. There’s Meredith, the sexy vixen  that everyone wants to be or be with. Filippa, a woman […]



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