Book Review: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Ninth House Series: Alex Stern #1 Written by: Leigh Bardugo Published: October 15, 2019 by Flatiron Books (Macmillan) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: 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 world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?   Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.  The mesmerizing adult debut from #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

If you were not aware, I am a huge fan of Leigh Bardugo’s books. I have read, and loved, every single one of them. So I was extra excited when I heard she was coming out with a new Adult book that was about secret societies and ghosts. And seriously, you guys, this book did not disappoint. Ninth House was everything I wanted it to be and more.

First and foremost, I absolutely loved the plot development of this book. There were so many elements to this story and they all worked together to create something truly fascinating. This was one of those books with a complex and intriguing mystery which elements that slowly unfold throughout the story. I usually consider myself really good at figuring out mysteries but this one truly stumped me. I had no idea what was happening until the big reveal. And it’s not that there weren’t clues, there was just so many elements that you needed to know them all first. Leigh masterfully unraveled the mystery here and it truly had me on the edge of my seat.

Another fantastic thing about this book was the world. This is the perfect book to read during the Halloween and fall season because it really had amazing atmosphere. The main character of Alex can see ghosts so of course they were a huge element of the story but the magic and supernatural elements does not stop there. Each secret society has their own magic which is tied to their house. We only got the barest hint of each of their powers but I was fascinated by them. But we also only got a little of Alex’s powers as well. I don’t want to give too much away but there is so much more to explore in the next book.

Part of what made to world fantastic was the setting. I absolutely loved the New Haven and Yale setting. As a New Englander, I love books set in New England. But honestly, you don’t really see many books about New Haven. And after this book, I don’t really understand why. There is so much to this city and it made for the perfect setting for this book. First of all, there is the real ghost stories and unexplained phenomena of the city. I wonder how much research Leigh did into these elements. I know she went to Yale and was a part of a secret society but it is the actual history of the city that interested me most. I wonder how much of these are real those stories from New Haven. It for sure makes me want to go on a ghost tour the next time I am there. But the other thing that made this city a good setting for this book is the dichotomy between the haves and have nots. Most New England cities with Ivy League colleges have an element of that and I love the way it was explored in this book. It made for one more complex and engaging element of the book.

As far as the characters, this is one more example as to how good Leigh is at doing dark and odious characters. So many of the secondary characters were terrible people doing terrible things, which honestly was something I love. Then you have the main character Alex, who is one of those unlikable female protagonists that I love so much. She is prickly and sullen with a tortured past that she is still trying to get over. She’s not the kind of person you really want to relate to, but you can’t help but do it. I was definitely rooting for her, even when she was making stupid and sometimes self-destructive choices. Darlington, however, was easy to like. He’s charming and intelligent. My friend Pili pointed out that he has Gansey vibes and she is totally right. He is the kind of person who wants there to be magic in the world and is looking for it. They were great fools for one another and therefore made a great team. And honestly, I’m so glad there wasn’t a romantic element to their relationship. It didn’t need it, and I didn’t miss it. The characters here really were fantastic and complex.

Seriously, this book was so amazing. I have heard nothing but great things and I am not at all surprised I loved it. Leigh is a master storyteller and she did just as amazing job with an Adult paranormal mystery as does with YA high fantasy. This book was brilliant, dark, and complex.

I give Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo 9.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: BUY! Definitely get this book. If you are a fan of Leigh's or not you should read this book. It is unlike anything she has previously written but still has all the elements of why she is one of my favorite authors. It is atmospheric and dark and is the perfect read for fall. You must pick it up!

Audiobook Review: Talon by Julie Kagawa

Title: Talon Series: Talon Saga #1 Written by: Julie Kagawa Published: October 28, 2014 by Harlequin Teen (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George. Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher at BEA four years ago in exchange for an honest opinion. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

When I was deciding that I wanted to do a dragon themed month I looked through some of my backlist books to see what I might have that fit and I found this one. Not only do I have an ARC I got at my first BEA but I also has an audio. So I felt like I needed to read it. And I'm glad I did because I really liked this book, in fact I liked it more than I expected.

I went into this book expecting it to be a paranormal romance that felt like an urban fantasy kind of book. And yes, there were those elements. This had all the trappings of an old school YA. There was a predictable love triangle, and a lot more romance than I really care for in my books. At the beginning I found myself getting a little annoyed at these elements but in the end it kind of won me over. I think I may have even shipped it in the end. I felt like the love triangle kind of worked even though it was so obvious who the main character likes. Normally these kinds of things would make me not like a book but here it was only a minor frustration.

I think that is because I did actually like the characters here. We kind of have three main characters even though two  get most of the attention. Arguably the main character is Ember. She is a dragon who is being trained by a shadowy agency for dragons called Talon. She is headstrong and independent, questioning everything. I really liked that about her and it made her a good main character. I wanted to know all the secrets and meanings along with Ember. The other main character is Garret, a soldier and dragon hunter. Garret is the prefect soldier but he is also kind and caring. Both he and Ember have similar development throughout the book as they learn what they have been told by their organizations may not be entirely true. It them likable and complex characters and allowed me to overlook some of the other character elements.

As far as the plot goes it was definitely more advanced than I expected but still suffered from a bit of first book syndrome. I have the feeling that this is the start of a pretty good spy series full of action and adventure. There were traces of that here but it never really developed in the way that I would have liked. Now there were plenty of narrow escapes and a lot of twists and turns. There was a good amount of action and surprises to keep me reading from beginning to end. In fact the book did really built to an exciting conclusion which I did appreciate. I only wish there wasn't quite so much exposition, especially in the beginning.

But one of the things that there wasn't a lot of that I surprisingly enjoyed was world building. This is definitely a book about dragons and I loved seeing the dragons in action and learning about them and their history. There is a lot more to learn about the dragons, Talon, and the Order of St George in later books. Here we only got to learn a taste of all of that in this book. Julie Kagawa did a great job of building out the world by showing us instead of telling us about what it is like. It did a great job of drawing me in and engaging me in the book.

Speaking of drawing me in, this audiobook was really amazing. One of the main reason I picked up this audiobook is because it's narrated by MacLeod Andrews. He is one of my favorite narrators and he did an amazing job with this book. he brought Garret to life, toughness and caring and all. There were two more narrators as well. One who voiced Ember and one who voiced Riley/Cobalt. I love when audiobooks have multiple narrators and I appreciated that here as well. It gave the audio a lot of depth and helped make the characters as enjoyable as there were.

On the whole I enjoyed this book. It wasn't perfect but it had complex characters, a good plot, and an interesting world I want to learn more about. I am interested to see where the storu goes from here I just don't know when I would be able to finish the series.

I give Talon by Julie Kagawa 8.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. If you are a fan of paranormal romances or like reading books about dragons I would suggest this one. I'm a little late to the party so I think a fair amount of people have already read it. But if, like me, you haven't then I say pick it up.

Have you read Talon? What did you think? Also, if you're up to date with this series should I finish it? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

ARC Review: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here Author: Patrick Ness Published: October 6, 2015 by HarperTeen (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: What if you aren’t the Chosen One?  The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?  What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.  Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.  Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.  Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher at BEA in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I have never read any Patrick Ness books. I don't have a good excuse either. His books seem like they would be right up my alley and in fact a lot of them have been in my TB for a while now. And after reading The Rest of Us Just Live Here, I'm kicking myself even more because if the rest of his books are anything like this, I'm in for a real treat because The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a complex and captivating story.

There were some great themes that Patrick Ness addressed here which is one of the reasons this book that made the book both interesting and creative. The general concept is what if you aren't the chosen one. But throughout this book he peeled away the layers of what that meant. At the beginning it was just not being the hero of the story, the one to save the world. But as the book evolved so did that idea of being chosen. It became more about being needed and being loved. It was such an interesting and complex idea. At times the book was so raw in it's portrayal of not being a chosen one but then at other times it was played off as a position you don't really want to be in. I love books that can walk the line between serious and fun. It makes them so much more complex and interesting and that's exactly what Patrick Ness has done here.

One of the things that made the book so complex is that The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a hard to categorize by genre because it's a little bit of everything. It's also a really self-aware kind of book. At the outset the book seems like a parody on YA Paranormal Fantasy. A look at the supporting characters and extras in the genre but as the book develops it becomes so much more. Was it Magical Realism? Kind of. Was it just a straight up Paranormal Fantasy? A little bit. Was it a contemporary story? Sure. You could almost call it a retelling with the way it played with the tropes. But if you want to accurate describe this book it would be all these things at once. There were some magical elements both big and small advancing the plot along yes, but there was also a really great personal coming-of-age story. And you would think that this would make for a muddled kind of plot but it didn't. Things flowed in a cohesive and interesting way. Each chapter included a little blurb telling us how the book would have gone if our MC was the "indie kid" tasked with saving the world and then we got to see how that effected our actual characters. There was so much overlap in the two stories and the plot in general moved towards an exciting conclusion that had surprises and more action than I was expecting.

But things may have flowed so well despite the changes in genre because this was essentially a character-driven story. The real heart of this story was about Mickey and his personal struggle.  No, not the fact that some indie kid is fighting to save the world, his internal struggle as he prepares to leave school and cope with his anxiety. Patrick Ness dealt with Mickey's anxiety and OCD in such an empathetic way. He is the kind of character that you would probably see a lot in contemporary YA but putting him in a story involving supernatural elements added to the complexity and creativeness of the book. You could feel the challenges he was going through and you wanted him to overcome them in any way possible. So as the book develops and he changes and grows you are so invested in that part of the story. But Mickey was such an easy character to root for because despite all of what he was dealing with, he is more than just that struggle. He is also kind and loving and a great friend.

Speaking of his friends, I also really liked them too. Mickey's sister Mel who is in his friend group was dealing and coping with her own personal demons much like Mickey and they had a great relationship and supported each other. His friend and potential love interest Henna was interesting and likable but she didn't really jump off the page for me. Although that may have been because the romance was totally also a parody on typical romantic tropes which I loved. My favorite character was probably Jared who is Mickey's best friend and support system but is also more than meets the eye. He has some great character development and if we get a book from his perspective in the future I would be so very happy. Even Mickey's parents were around and despite the fact that they were not great and attentive parents it was refreshing to see them involved in their children's lives and they had pretty good character development too. With a lot of the characters it felt like Patrick Ness was playing with the traditional character tropes in a way that was both creative and captivating.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into with The Rest of Us Just Live Here but I really enjoyed it. It was a fast but complex story that combined lots of elements from traditional YA novels and played around with the tropes to make a unique and interesting story.

I give The Rest of Us Just Live Here 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. This is just such a unique story that I think fans of YA should check out. It's a little tongue in cheek and a lot complex with characters who are likable and complex and a plot that will have you wondering what is going to happen until the very end. It might not be the kind of book for everyone but if you are looking for something a little different then look no further.

Have you read The Rest of Us Just Live Here? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

ARC Review: A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

Title: A Sudden Light Author: Garth Stein Published: September 30, 2014 by Simon & Schuster (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: The bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain presents a long-awaited new novel in which a boy trying to save his parents’ marriage uncovers a vast legacy of family secrets. In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, divide up the profits, and live happily ever after. But as Trevor explores the house’s secret stairways and hidden rooms, he discovers a spirit lingering in Riddell House whose agenda is at odds with the family plan. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future. Spellbinding and atmospheric, A Sudden Light is rich with unconventional characters, scenes of transcendent natural beauty, and unforgettable moments of emotional truth that reflect Garth Stein’s outsized capacity for empathy and keen understanding of human motivation—a triumphant work of a master storyteller at the height of his power.

*** I received a copy of the book from the published via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review in return. This fact has not influenced my opinion ***

Before I review this book I have to explain something. You are probably not surprised to know that I enjoy History based on the books I read. I enjoy it so much that I studied it in college. I have always liked History because of this inherent curiosity that I have. I always want to know about what places and people used to be like. Typically when I go into a building, especially a house, I find myself wondering what a room was used for when the house was first built. Because of this I was immediately attracted to the premise of A Sudden Light.

A Sudden Light seemed like the perfect Halloween story to me. I'm not a big fan of horror but I do like a story about exploring a creepy house and can handle a ghost or two as long as their not wreaking havoc for no reason. And while that was the basis for this story and we did get a little bit of that, it was really a story about family dealing with their own personal demons.

I can see however that the plot was attempting to be mysterious. Most of the plot revolved around learning about the history of the house and it's former inhabitants. For me one of the best parts of the book was Trevor's time exploring the the house and finding secret passageways, abandoned rooms, and the ghosts of his relatives that have unfinished business. And then when I was feeling like the mystery had fallen short, it surprised me with I twist I hadn't seen coming. What Garth Stein did incredibly well is create an atmospheric and interesting world in Riddell House. It did seem to deliver on the "exploring a mysterious old house" part of my expectations. But I wasn't entirely satisfied by the mystery or really the clues that led to solving the mystery. It just seemed a little too convenient. Every character seemed to have a diary full of personal information in, including full dialogue. As the book went on it get a little better with more hauntings and even dreams that give important information.

This was definitely more of a character-driven novel than I expected. The focus of the book was on Trevor and his family as they attempted to decide what to do about their crumbling old house. Their responses to the challenges they were faced were what moved everything along. But it may have just felt character-driven because the characters were one of the best parts about the book. I really liked the MC Trevor. He was the perfect combination of precocious and naive. Inquisitive and intelligent but hopeful and childlike. His personality worked so well for the exploration of this old house with secrets. But it also worked so well compared to the other characters. Pretty much all the secondary characters were these smarmy, manipulative, and dubious characters who were looking out for their own selfish interests. Every one of them, including the ghost, exerts their influence over Trevor to get what they want and many of them are at odds with what the other person wants. By the end of the book, many of the characters have great arcs where we get to understand their motivations a little more and it makes them much more sympathetic. I was surprised to find that I was invested in the success of more than just Trevor by the time the book had ended.

And because it was so character-driven and because I had built investment in these characters, the ending hit me very hard. Or should I say the climax. If you follow me on Twitter you know what my reaction to this ending was and it is far from favorable. I did a complete 180 in terms of my feelings of this book. I went from enjoying the mysterious ghost story and exploration of creepy house by complex characters with great developments and then it was all shattered. I won't say what happened but I will say that it was far from happy. It's not that I need a happy ending, it just felt so unnecessary. It felt like a character who had developed into something more, something I liked, then reverted back to the way they were before. The falling action tried to explain why, tried to make me feel better about what had happened, but it did not succeed in satisfying my feels. To me this was just an example about how a good book can be ruined by a bad ending.

This is one of those rare books where I say I would have enjoyed it so much more if I hadn't finished it. If I had stopped without having read the last 25 pages. On the whole I did enjoy the characters and the world but that ending just didn't work for me and the mystery was just too convenient.

I give A Sudden Light by Garth Stein a 7 out of 10

Have you read A Sudden Light? What did you think? Have you ever read a book where you enjoyed it until the very end? Did it change your opinion of the book like this did me? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

September Wrap-Up and October TBR

I may have been very irresponsible in September. I really wanted to have a High Fantasy month where I read a couple series that I have been wanting to read forever. So instead of reading my massive stack of September ARCs I read mostly backlist books. My bad! It was also a crazy month for me with work and personal life. But I did manage to get through eight really fabulous books.

Read in September

1.) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 10 out of 10 Full Review

2.) The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9 out of 10 Full Review

3.) Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9.5 out 10 Full Review

4.) Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9 out of 10 Full Review

5.) The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 Full Review

6.) Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Rating: 9 out of 10 Full Review

7.) The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 10 out of 10 Full Review

8.) Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 9.5 ut of 10 Full Review to Come

Read in Other Month but 

Reviewed in September

9.) Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

Rating: 10 out of 10 Full Review


To Be Read in October

This is the month that first started my theme month idea on the blog, the month that I decided to bring back the blog. So last year I decided to read Halloween themed "horror" books. But I don't really like traditional horror books so this year I decided to do a psuedo-Halloween theme by reading Supernatural/Paranormal books and Thrillers. Books that are mysterious and ominous or books that will get the adrenaline flowing.

Paranormal/Supernatural

The Series - The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys (Amazon / Goodreads), The Dream Thieves (Amazon / Goodreads), Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: I have heard nothing but great things about this series that tells the story of a girl with a claivoyant mother who has been told she will cause her true loves death.

The ARCs

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: There are ghosts! This is my current read. I'm about 1/3 of the way in and the book is definitely mysterious and ominous with a creepy haunted house and a family secret that I'm pretty interested in exploring.

Rooms by Lauren Oliver (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: Another book with ghosts! I'm pretty excited to read Oliver's first adult book. I met her at BEA when I got a copy of this book and we talked about exploring mysterious old houses, and ghosts who have unfinished business like Caspar. 

Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: This could probably be in both categories but it's about a girl who is offered a game where if she loses she has to face her worst fear, sounds pretty creepy!

The Classic

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: And yet another book about ghosts! It's been awhile since I read a classic, and I really enjoyed my last Henry James book so I am excited to check out this one out. It seems pretty Gothic and ominous.

Thrillers 

The ARCs

Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: A creepy retelling of an Edgar Allen Poe story and historical thriller that involves gruesome deaths, mysteious experiments, and potentially nonexistent love interests. Sign me up!

Blackbird by Anna Carey (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: A mystery/thriller about a girl with amnesia who has to try and remember who she is while escaping from people trying to killer her. Did I mention it's told in second-person?

The Pierced Heart by Lynn Shepard (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: A Historical Mystery involving Dracula. That is the premise for this book and one of my favorite books of all time that I read last October, The Historian

Recent Fiction

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Amazon / Goodreads)

How it Fits the Theme: This has been in my TBR for awhile, and with the movie coming out I want to read it soon. It's a traditional murder mystery but I've heard it's a tough book to stomach because the characters are terrible people. The kind of book where you suspect everyone of murder. 

This is an incredibly heavy load for me this month. Last month was very slow but the books were much longer and more involved. This month the books are shorter and I'm hoping that they will be quick reads so that I can just power through a few of them and get off to a good start for the month. \

What are you planning to read this October? Heave you read any of these books? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!