Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Continuing the Grishaverse

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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I enjoyed both of these books, especially Crooked Kingdom, though I didn’t think they were a drastic improvement over the Shadow and Bone trilogy, which surprised me a bit since so many people seem to prefer this duology. I think they’re almost equally good, with the duology slightly edging out the trilogy. In Six of Crows, we meet Kaz Brekker, who essentially runs a crew called the Dregs. He gets the opportunity of a lifetime when Jan Van Eck offers a lot of money for […]

“She would build herself a life of plenty. She would force her world to bloom as she’d made the pomegranate tree grow, and Santángel would help her do it. Even if blood watered the soil.”

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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The Familiar is an atmospheric historical fantasy set in the late 1500s Spain, when the Inquisition was up and running at full power. Our heroine is Luzia Cotado, a scullion in the house of a poor noble family who uses small ancestral magics taught to her by her secretly Jewish family to get through the day: unburning burnt bread, multiplying the potatoes when there wasn’t enough coin at market, heating water, fixing a seam. The plot kicks off when Luzia’s mistress, Doña Valentina, catches her at […]

Intro to the Grishaverse

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

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I’ve been wanting to read the Six of Crows duology and decided to start with the Shadow and Bone trilogy so I’d be more familiar with the Grisha and could enjoy references to past events. I was a little hesitant because a lot of people don’t seem to like the trilogy, but I enjoyed it. It wasn’t fantastic, but it was fun. I thought the pacing was pretty good throughout, and I appreciated the mix of plot-focused and character-driven story. In Shadow and Bone, we […]

“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 […]

“Love was the destroyer. It made mourners, widows, left misery in its wake. Grief and love were one and the same. Grief was the shadow love left when it was gone.”

Rules of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

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CBR Bingo – Take Flight This is the final book both in the King of Scars duology, and in Bardugo’s entire Grishaverse, and it wraps everything up very satisfyingly. We were reunited with some favorite characters from across her universe, good triumphed over evil, and love melted even the most grief-stricken and cold hearts. (Sidenote: I’ve chosen this book for the”take flight” bingo category because aerial warfare has a huge role in this world, not to mention two characters who develop the skill of flight […]

“Most of us can hide our greatest hurts and longings. It’s how we survive each day. We pretend the pain isn’t there, that we are made of scars instead of wounds.”

King of Scars (King of Scars #1) by Leigh Bardugo

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CBR Bingo – On The Road I don’t read a lot of YA but a good friend of mine and many members of the CBR community have raved about Bardugo’s world, so I’m in for the long haul. If you’re new to it, a piece of advice. I was told to ignore chronological order when beginning because the Six of Crows duology is so much better than the original Shadow and Bone trilogy. I was skeptical but heeded that advice and I’m glad I did […]



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