Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Darlington!!
....you can't just talk about statues and stained glass and libraries and not expect me to not obsess over it...
oh the rabbit makes sense now.
"we do what we have to. that's the job of a survivor"

TIL that these guys (Pygmy Slow Loris) are venomous:

......I'm looking up symbolism, everyone shut up.
COSMO. I LOVE HIM.
Can I make Danny Phantom jokes? Cause.... Danny Arlington
OH MI GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
496 Pages

TS Song: Vigilante Ish, Mad Woman, Labyrinth

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The re-read before Hell Bent.
Me realizing that I was distracted by all the Ivy League vibes and missed all the Trauma.
The second read was so much better.
480 Pages

2021 Reads -- Nora

Inheritance Cycle, Christopher Paolini, 2782. (4 books) This series got me through my final senior semester. It's an old favorite and I have always loved the relationship between Eragon and Saphira and was one of the first books I read that sparked my love of dragons.

Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens, 370. I wanted to read this ever since it rose to popularity a year or so ago and I can say I was not disappointed. The story switches between the mystery surrounding the murder of a community member and the story of a girl trying to survive on her own out on the bayou. Both stories progress together until they merge for the final few chapters.

The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, Leigh Bardugo, 1215. (3 books) I re-read this series because Netflix was announcing its adaption to television. I fell in love with the world that Bardugo had created in this trilogy and now cannot wait to see how she continues to build it in the next series she is writing in the same universe.

 

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Christopher Paolini, 856. I don't often read space epics but this one came highly recommended and it absolutely blew me away with the story, imagery, and characters. Kira discovers an ancient alien relic that becomes bonded to her, just in time for war to erupt in her star system with the relic somehow being the key to either saving everything Kira knows and utterly destroying the universe.

Red Queen Series, Victoria Aveyard, 2048. (4 books) While this series contains many of the usual love triangle-dystopian novel tropes, the twists definitely make it worth a read. It contains a society divided between a red blooded people and silver blooded nobility who have strange powers that they use to suppress the "Reds" until one red girl who has lightning in her hands changes everything.

Read by Nora Wesselmann

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Did I switch over to audiobook so that I could finish this because I can't read for crap anymore...yes
So I have some mixed feelings. 
I'm always here for the Zoya/Nikolai content.
All the Royai (Fullmetal Alchemist) vibes, and the Greedling vibes.
I don't have the strength to talk about some things, and I will probably never be able to talk about them.
Sooooo this is World War 2.
There's one of my babies. And another of my babies. And another. I'm counting them. And I'm taking them away from Leigh. 
Roooooolllling Thuuuuuuuunder
American Dragon.
They are so cute and I just want to snuggle them because he just...he loves her. 
Nikolai is iconic and I would die for him. 
Some of the character arcs felt a bit rushed and a bit ooc.
608 Pages

Lives of the Saints by Leigh Bardugo

Nikolai. All the crying emojis.
Sankta Felix--AKA St. Lawrence --"Turn me over; I'm done on this side"
And Sankta Lukin- (Denis) the Saint who never stopped preaching
ExCuSe Me- Sankta Mattheus...Ummm.. Don't hurt me like this. Not after Crooked Kingdom.
Really. Really Leigh. Really.
128 Pages

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Gosh I love Nikolai. He owns me.
Zoya. Baby. I love you.
Backstories. I can't.
I want to get behind a certain ship...but I can't...like...maybe it's because I'm still hung up on an old ship...
Ummm. no.. my child (who shall not be named) deserved better. I am and will continue to be in denial. 
Someone send help.
528 Pages

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

So I love all of my baby crows. I know Kaz is like...darkness incarnate, but he is adorable and I love him, and I will protect him with my life.
All of my babies deserve the world, darn it. I'm adopting all of them.
The found family trope, y'all.
The healing from trauma.
The character development.
The quotes y'all.
The fierce females. The cameos.
Don't mind me crying in the club.
I'm just gonna go look at pictures of Freddy (who's playing Kaz in the series and obsess for the next month) byyyyye.
576 Pages

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

So I hear this duology slaps. And I'm here for it. 
Yeah it slaps. The sass and snark. The found family. The backstories. The heists. Squad goals. The quotable-ness
I would die for all of these characters and any one of them could step on me.
496 Pages

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

...I am afraid of this book because I have heard things (vague things)
I love Nikolai.
Oh fudge crackers I think I know where this is going for my babies...
Ok so I was wrong. And I am ok with that.
Character development y'all.
Also I love the world building and the little children. And sassy cats.
480 Pages 

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

ohhhhhhhhhh THAT'S what the covers mean.
Do you ever just see how a character is headed and like..not like it...because like....children...stop.
496 Pages

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

So I read half of it, and listened to half of it...because apparently deadlines mean I am unable to read (because yes, I'm trying to read everything before the show comes to Netflix)
I don't know who to root for because ships...and I've seen fandom fawning over some characters (we all know who, I don't need to name him)
416 Pages

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The intrigue. The mystery. The Ivy Leagues. The secret societies. Beautiful.
When I think of Yale, I think of Gilmore Girls...but I love the grittier side with all of the magic and darkness.
Also someone hug Darlington and his overachieving butt... He's such a nerd

Ok but I love super elite private schools and the vibes they give off--with the old buildings made out of stone.
I always wanted to be tapped and part of a secret society.....

I need to know all of the secrets
All of the fall vibes. The found family, and the living in the dorms, and the shenanigans.
.....WHY ISN'T THE SECOND BOOK OUT.... 2020 IS TOO ROUGH...
480 Pages

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! And more, please!

If Leigh Bardugo and Sarah J Maas would join forces to create a book baby in my lifetime, I would die a happy woman. They both have the kind of creation magic that is untouchable. Maybe something with dueling POVs from completely different worlds who then bang together by the middle of the book. It would be glorious.

Pages: 527

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I will and do read everything by Leigh Bardugo, because I love her worlds and characters. This is another excellent read, but unfortunately, I didn't love this quite as much as all the others. The first book was definitely better, even though I was happy to have more time with these characters that I adore.

This is fiercely plotted, but still, the story feels just a bit drawn out at times. I hate that, because usually it's the longer, the better with Bardugo. However, there's a bit of spark missing from this story for me, at times, and most of it is in the interactions between characters. It's still well-written, so it's not exactly about the writing. I think I wanted the characters to grow a bit more than they apparently were capable of. That might have been unfair of me, but alas, I'm a greedy reader.

Also, I am not quite in love with how things ended up. I don't expect everything to be perfect and wonderful, but I just wanted something a bit more epic from the ending, since it's the last book in the series. It was off-putting that the final scene was from the POV of the villain, who I was already over and no longer cared about at that point. It's not how I wanted to leave the story. I would have rather it wrapped up from a better and more satisfying viewpoint.

Honestly, I think what this boils down to is that everything is great in how the fantasy/heist part of the story wrapped up, in general. I'm just not completely happy with how all the relationships developed and wrapped up, as I craved something more. I wanted the characters to dig to some deeper emotional levels.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still happy I read this book. It's good in a million different ways. But it's just shy of magnificent, and I have come to expect magnificence from Bardugo.

Pages: 560

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a fantasy heist novel, which is a great concept! I love Leigh Bardugo, because she writes rich worlds and complicated characters. This is the first book in a duology, and I've already started book 2. You will want to have it on hand, because book one ends dramatically.

Pages: 462

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Summary: *SPOILER "Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets--a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world."

Crooked Kingdom is the follow-up novel to Six of Crows, and it was a roller-coaster of the very best kind. The intricate plot and the well-rounded characters twisted up my emotions to where I didn't know right from wrong, good from bad or joy from grief. 

546 pages

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Summary: "Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager
A runaway with a privileged past
A spy known as the Wraith
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes 

Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first."

While I struggled with this book in the beginning, I unexpectedly fell deeply in love with the characters and this world. Kaz, Jesper, Inej, Nina, Matthias and Wylan have wound their way into my heart and will never let go! I cannot wait to get my hands on The Crooked Kingdom, which is the second and final book in this two-book series. 

Each chapter is from a different character's POV, which made for a fun story. With each chapter, the reader gets a little more backstory, piece by piece, to better understand the character's present situation and motivations. Matthias and Nina's story was intriguing and beautiful! I would read an entire book just dedicated to their history. 

Favorite Quote: “I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this oath.” 

465 pages