Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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New Haven Demon Hunters

Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo

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Dead Beat is the third and final book of the Ninth House trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and in it, Bardugo continues her theme of “yes, demons are bad, but have you met humans?” And once again she makes valid points that it’s a toss-up on who is worse. The book begins with Alex Stern and her friends monitoring for, and hunting, demons that cross into New Haven from hell through the door left cracked in the last book. The demons prey on the emotions, fears, […]

The one percent control magic, too!

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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I received this book as part of last year’s holiday book exchange (thank you coffeeshopreader for yet ANOTHER outstanding choice!). Having never read any of Leigh Bardugo’s books but having seen them glowingly reviewed here, I thought it was time to see what the fuss is about. Ninth House is definitely worthy of fuss, and I am already looking forward to the next volume. This fantasy novel is set in New Haven, Connecticut, at Yale University, and at heart it is a detective novel with […]

Secret Societies and Power

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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Bingo Square: Fresh Start (Alex Stern, Book 1) I haven’t read too much by Leigh Bardugo – I wasn’t a big fan of the first novel in her Shadow and Bone trilogy – despite the interesting world building, I found the heroine boring and the forced love triangle that was almost mandatory in YA for a while included love interests with such extreme differences that it was a bit too obvious. I had heard from many people that her duology Six of Crows set in […]

Not for kids, seriously. Do not mistake this for YA

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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Official book description: Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of […]

Content Warning: Some triggering subjects and Grammar ranting ahead

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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I’ve had Ninth House on a shelf for a while, but I hadn’t really been in the mood for what promised to be a pretty dark story, and as it turns out, it’s a good bit darker than I’d thought. Although, I do have to say the darkness does really suit the story. Ninth House is something of a mix between The Secret History and The Magicians, neither of which I liked. I did however somewhat enjoy Ninth House. So as it turns out, some […]

“All whiteboards are magical.”

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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From Goodreads: Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the […]



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