strange and random happenstance

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: October 8th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Alex Stern has been given an opportunity she never thought she'd get. At the age of twenty she is going to be a freshman at Yale with a full ride despite never having graduated from high school. How did she even get to New Haven? She had thrown her life away, living among the dregs and the drug dealers in California. Then she miraculously survived a gruesome multiple homicide that claimed the lives of her best friend and her boyfriend. That horrible night at Ground Zero she lay down next to Hellie hoping to never wake. But she did. In the hospital. While cuffed to her bed she was approached by Dean Sandow from Yale. He wanted her to tell him about the Grays. It turns out Alex has been able to see ghosts her entire life. Her "job" will be to join the Ninth House, Lethe, it is a regulatory body for the Ancient Eight, the eight secret societies at Yale, Skull and Bones being the only one that the general populace believes to exist. She accepts Dean Sandow's offer and is eastward bound. To a girl christened Galaxy by her hippie mother just the prospect of Yale's cafeteria is a dream come true, but being thrust into the world of the elite could take some getting used to. Take Daniel Arlington, Darlington, for example. He is there to mentor her, the Virgil to her Dante, and shepherd her in her duties to the other houses because once he graduates she will take over his duties. Darlington is the epitome of a Yale student. Like the members of the other houses, he is a golden boy, but underneath that golden exterior he's different, he's a true believer with an encyclopedic knowledge of New Haven. While the two of them are exact opposites when Darlington disappears Alex realizes that she might be in way over her head, not to mention her course load piling up on top of the demands of Lethe. Now Alex has a problem, find out where Darlington went and bring him back. But as the new moon ritual draws near she is drawn into a murder on campus. At first it looks just like a tragic death of a townie, something Yale really doesn't care about. But Alex sees herself in Tara and while her investigation brings up no untoward evidence when a gluma attacks her she knows her instincts were right. Tara was murdered. A Gray saves her and she realizes that something far deeper is at play at Yale. She will get to the bottom of it and find Darlington, though it might just kill her.

There are some books that need to be read at a certain time to work. There are some books that need to be reread in a certain frame of mind to work. The first time I read Ninth House I detested it. And detest might even be too forgiving a word for how I felt. The way this book deals with rape and rape culture is highly problematic. Trauma can not be erased by something bad happening to those who hurt you. It might be cathartic, but in the end it's nothing more than a temporary balm. It's dismissive to think that it is. But so much of this book is just trauma heaped on trauma all these characters are going to need a lifetime's worth of therapy just to start handling all that they have been through. The first time I read this book I just couldn't get past this. And yet so many people I know loved this book while acknowledging it's flaws. It wasn't these friends who led me to pick up Ninth House again but Leigh Bardugo herself. She is a fabulous writer and, well, there was a sequel now. I adore the Grishaverse and there were some books in that series, in particular Crooked Kingdom, which needed to be reread to be appreciated. Once I had to come to terms with the death of Matthias I could appreciate that book. Therefore I had to embrace the flaws of Ninth House before I could learn to love it. I mean, it's still not perfect, but this time I was able to enjoy the journey without quibbling about all my issues. I was prepared to face the dark with my armor of salt. And, as I write this, some of my issues, especially with regard to trauma, are being dealt with in the sequel, Hell Bent. But rereading Ninth House I can say I think the one thing this book does really well is capture just how overwhelming the adjustment to college life is. It made me nostalgic but it also made me have some serious nightmares about missing final projects and exams. And I'm not just saying this as a way to justify how Leigh Bardugo writes about Yale and New Haven with such an insiders view. Because while it might come off as pompous and elite, there's a part of me that gets it. This is the world Alex has been thrown into and she herself is trying to become an insider while she is very much an outsider. An outsider who is rather one-dimensional. She's basically the Katniss Everdeen of Yale. Reacting not acting. But I forgive her. She's been through a lot. Here's hoping she gets the therapy she so rightfully needs. And here's to second chances. Alex needed one and well, so did I with this book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Stern, College, Crooked Kingdom, Darlington, Grays, Grishaverse, Hell Bent, Katniss Everdeen, Leigh Bardugo, Lethe, Matthias, New Haven, Ninth House, Rape, Second Chances, Secret Societies, Skull and Bones, Top Ten, Yale

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: October 8th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Alex Stern has been given an opportunity she never thought she'd get. At the age of twenty she is going to be a freshman at Yale with a full ride despite never having graduated from high school. How did she even get to New Haven? She had thrown her life away, living among the dregs and the drug dealers in California. Then she miraculously survived a gruesome multiple homicide that claimed the lives of her best friend and her boyfriend. That horrible night at Ground Zero she lay down next to Hellie hoping to never wake. But she did. In the hospital. While cuffed to her bed she was approached by Dean Sandow from Yale. He wanted her to tell him about the Grays. It turns out Alex has been able to see ghosts her entire life. Her "job" will be to join the Ninth House, Lethe, it is a regulatory body for the Ancient Eight, the eight secret societies at Yale, Skull and Bones being the only one that the general populace believes to exist. She accepts Dean Sandow's offer and is eastward bound. To a girl christened Galaxy by her hippie mother just the prospect of Yale's cafeteria is a dream come true, but being thrust into the world of the elite could take some getting used to. Take Daniel Arlington, Darlington, for example. He is there to mentor her, the Virgil to her Dante, and shepherd her in her duties to the other houses because once he graduates she will take over his duties. Darlington is the epitome of a Yale student. Like the members of the other houses, he is a golden boy, but underneath that golden exterior he's different, he's a true believer with an encyclopedic knowledge of New Haven. While the two of them are exact opposites when Darlington disappears Alex realizes that she might be in way over her head, not to mention her course load piling up on top of the demands of Lethe. Now Alex has a problem, find out where Darlington went and bring him back. But as the new moon ritual draws near she is drawn into a murder on campus. At first it looks just like a tragic death of a townie, something Yale really doesn't care about. But Alex sees herself in Tara and while her investigation brings up no untoward evidence when a gluma attacks her she knows her instincts were right. Tara was murdered. A Gray saves her and she realizes that something far deeper is at play at Yale. She will get to the bottom of it and find Darlington, though it might just kill her.

There are some books that need to be read at a certain time to work. There are some books that need to be reread in a certain frame of mind to work. The first time I read Ninth House I detested it. And detest might even be too forgiving a word for how I felt. The way this book deals with rape and rape culture is highly problematic. Trauma can not be erased by something bad happening to those who hurt you. It might be cathartic, but in the end it's nothing more than a temporary balm. It's dismissive to think that it is. But so much of this book is just trauma heaped on trauma all these characters are going to need a lifetime's worth of therapy just to start handling all that they have been through. The first time I read this book I just couldn't get past this. And yet so many people I know loved this book while acknowledging it's flaws. It wasn't these friends who led me to pick up Ninth House again but Leigh Bardugo herself. She is a fabulous writer and, well, there was a sequel now. I adore the Grishaverse and there were some books in that series, in particular Crooked Kingdom, which needed to be reread to be appreciated. Once I had to come to terms with the death of Matthias I could appreciate that book. Therefore I had to embrace the flaws of Ninth House before I could learn to love it. I mean, it's still not perfect, but this time I was able to enjoy the journey without quibbling about all my issues. I was prepared to face the dark with my armor of salt. And, as I write this, some of my issues, especially with regard to trauma, are being dealt with in the sequel, Hell Bent. But rereading Ninth House I can say I think the one thing this book does really well is capture just how overwhelming the adjustment to college life is. It made me nostalgic but it also made me have some serious nightmares about missing final projects and exams. And I'm not just saying this as a way to justify how Leigh Bardugo writes about Yale and New Haven with such an insiders view. Because while it might come off as pompous and elite, there's a part of me that gets it. This is the world Alex has been thrown into and she herself is trying to become an insider while she is very much an outsider. An outsider who is rather one-dimensional. She's basically the Katniss Everdeen of Yale. Reacting not acting. But I forgive her. She's been through a lot. Here's hoping she gets the therapy she so rightfully needs. And here's to second chances. Alex needed one and well, so did I with this book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Stern, College, Crooked Kingdom, Darlington, Grays, Grishaverse, Hell Bent, Katniss Everdeen, Leigh Bardugo, Lethe, Matthias, New Haven, Ninth House, Rape, Second Chances, Secret Societies, Skull and Bones, Summer School, Yale

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: September 27th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Jan Van Eck has to pay. Not just for breaking a contract with Kaz and his crew but for kidnapping Inej. Therefore he must pay in a way he will understand. It's not just the money at stake anymore, it's Van Eck's entire life. His reputation, his wife, his legacy. Everything must be destroyed. Brick by brick. And if Kaz and his crew happen to get rich in the process, well, it's only proper. But the problem is Van Eck's version of what went down has made Kaz and company targets and they've had to go to ground. It isn't safe for them to walk about the city, let alone their beloved Barrel. They are wanted and this makes every plan put in motion that much more complicated because extra precautions have to be taken. Despite Van Eck trying to keep the real reason for the falling out under wraps this is Ketterdam and nothing can remain a secret for long when people are willing to pay good money for it. So the whole world knows that jurda parem exists and that the inventor is in Ketterdam. This means the Shu, the Fjerdans, and the Ravkans, have all sent delegations overtly and secretly to the city. But of those delegations only the Ravkans have a pure intention with regard to Kuwei Yul-Bo. He is Grisha, he is one of them, and they will make sure he is safe. But Kaz isn't ready to just hand over such a valuable asset. He went to a lot of trouble to break Kuwei out of the Ice Court and he lost his Wraith in the process, so he's not about to let go of his asset so easily. But first Kaz needs his Wraith. Which means dealing with Van Eck. Which means knowing how that man thinks and being one step ahead of him. After that, well, brick by brick Van Eck's life will fall. But things never run smoothly...Nina is still in withdrawal from jurda parem and her Grisha powers are acting oddly, Mattias is worried sick about Nina, Wylan has learned his life is a lie, Jesper's dad has shown up in Ketterdam, and Kaz, well, Kaz is just Kaz...It will be a miracle if they pull this off, but they've been known to do the impossible before.

Crooked Kingdom picks up right after the betrayal of mercher Jan Van Eck in Six of Crows and is a headlong rush to the finish, some five-hundred pages later. That level of intensity is hard to bear for that prolonged a period, making it a book that's hard to put down but it's something that needs to be done because you just have to catch your breath every once in awhile. The first time I read this book the pace and plot twists were just too much for me. What I reveled in in Six of Crows were the quieter, more emotional moments, not those requiring a serial killer like board to follow all Kaz's schemes. But so much has already been revealed about our characters in the previous volume it's up to Wylan Van Eck to carry the weight this time around, and luckily he's up to the challenge. Seeing his life and the more rarefied world in which he lived gives further dept to Ketterdam as a whole. We see the city come alive like never before. It doesn't hurt that instead of haring off to Fjerda the entire narrative is contained within the city. And I really appreciated the city more. I recently read The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton, and I really connected to Amsterdam and how that political microcosm of merchants worked. While that book let me down it added to my reading experience with Crooked Kingdom, once again proving that even a book you don't like has value. I felt Ketterdam come alive, a city that is Amsterdam at it's heart with just a dash of New Orleans as it's flash. So it might seem odd that I'm saying read the book for the location, but really the location in this instance is just another character, and this book lives and dies by it's characters. And yes, someone dies. In fact, Matthias's death might have been the predominate reason this book pissed me off the first time around. I ship Nina and Matthias so much it is painful. The way Leigh describes Matthias dying in Nina's arms is almost too much to bear. So while I can complain about this or that with regard to this book there is such an emotional wallop at the end that if you are prepared for it you will forgive every flaw that came before and just marvel at the fact you were so moved by a story.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amsterdam, Bardugo Bash, Crooked Kingdom, Fjerda, Grisha, Ice Court, Inej, Jessie Burton, Jurda Parem, Kaz, Ketterdam, Leigh Bardugo, Matthias, New Orleans, Ravka, Revenge, Shu Han, Six of Crows, The Miniaturist

Last year when the rest of the world finally discovered Leigh Bardugo through the Netflix series Shadow and Bone I felt a little smug because I've been a fan since the beginning. I also might have said "I told you so" to several bookish friends who immediately picked up the books I've been recommending for years just because they loved the show. But due to my ever expanding to be read pile there were a few books I hadn't gotten around to in the series. In other words, anything written after Crooked Kingdom. Therefore the show provided me with an opportunity to revisit my friends in the Grishaverse and to finally get to the King of Scars duology and the two companion books. I spent exactly a month held rapturously in thrall to Leigh Bardugo's gift of storytelling. I loved it so much I might just have to do it again in the near future. But until that time I can relive it all with you with my Bardugo Bash! A month long celebration of the Grishaverse! We have to do something to tide us over until season two or the next re-read right?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Bardugo Bash, Crooked Kingdom, Duology, Grishaverse, King of Scars, Leigh Bardugo, Netflix, Re-Read, Rule of Wolves, Shadow and Bones, To Be Read

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: September 27th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"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."

Anyone else think duologies are cool because you don't have to wait as long for the full story? Just me?

A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: September 27th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dr. Nikhil 'Nic' Joshi had it all—marriage, career, purpose. Until, while working for Doctors Without Borders in a Mumbai slum, his wife, Jen, discovered a black market organ transplant ring. Before she could expose the truth, Jen was killed.

Two years after the tragedy, Nic is a cruise ship doctor who spends his days treating seasickness and sunburn and his nights in a boozy haze. On one of those blurry evenings on deck, Nic meets a woman who makes a startling claim: she received Jen’s heart in a transplant and has a message for him. Nic wants to discount Jess Koirala’s story as absurd, but there’s something about her reckless desperation that resonates despite his doubts.

Jess has spent years working her way out of a nightmarish life in Calcutta and into a respectable Bollywood dance troupe. Now she faces losing the one thing that matters—her young son, Joy. She needs to uncover the secrets Jen risked everything for; but the unforeseen bond that results between her and Nic is both a lifeline and a perilous complication.

Delving beyond the surface of modern Indian-American life, acclaimed author Sonali Dev’s page-turning novel is both riveting and emotionally rewarding—an extraordinary story of human connection, bravery, and hope."

I got to see Sonali speak at an event back in February that I went to for Lauren Willig and have been meaning to pick up one of Sonali's books since then. Actually I would have gotten one at the event, but really rude booksellers tend to put you off. But now there's this shiny new book that looks really good. Can not wait.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Change of Heart, Crooked Kingdom, Duologies, Lauren Willig, Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows, Sonali Dev, Tuesday Tomorrow

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: September 29th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

What if Grisha could be more powerful? Not to just have their powers amplified but to have them changed. Magnified to a degree that the world itself changes before their eyes and anything is possible. Of course, such a discovery would be desired by the wealthy and the powerful, and especially the military. Bo Yul-Bayur is a chemist who accidentally created Jurda Parem from the common stimulant Jurda. While fatal to Non-Grisha, to Grisha it does all this and more, including making the user an addict after one dose. Afraid of what he has created he attempts to seek asylum in Kerch but is captured by the Drüskelle and taken to the Fjerdan capital of Djerholm and imprisoned in the impenetrable Ice Court. Who knows what the Fjerdan's will do with this technology, seeing as they have been carrying out pogroms on the Grisha "Witches" for as long as anyone can remember. This is where Kaz Brekker comes in. Kaz is the lieutenant of The Dregs and is known as the man who gets things done. So when Mr. Jan Van Eck needs someone to break Bo Yul-Bayur out of the Ice Court he turns to Kaz with the offer of a lifetime. The score from this impossible heist could set him and his crew up for the rest of their lives.

Kaz recruits Inej, the "wraith", Jesper, a born sharpshooter, Wylan, for his demolition skills and the fact that if need be he is Van Eck's son and could be used as a hostage, and Nina, because she's a Grisha who is a Ravkan Heartrender. But more importantly, Nina has a connection to someone who intimately knows Kerch and the Ice Court, former Drüskelle Matthias Helvar. Matthias is in prison because of something Nina said and she's been trying to make it up to him ever since, and breaking him out of prison for a big payday should make them even. Of course their master plan involves sending themselves to prison in Kerch, but at least it will be a change of scene from Hellgate. The improbability and complexity of their plan could go wrong at a million different places, yet it doesn't take them long to be enjoying the hospitality of the Ice Court's prison. This band of thieves will do whatever it takes to get their payday, and whatever obstacles, even those of their own making, must be overcome. They are all good at thinking on their feet, they wouldn't have survived in Ketterdam with all the rival gangs and dangerous alleys if they weren't. But is the payout really worth the risks? And when all is said and done, will they get that payout?

When I finished the Grisha Trilogy I was bereft. I had come to know and love these characters so deeply that I just didn't want to let go. But I could also see that their story was told. It was over and that was that. The light at the end of the tunnel was that Leigh Bardugo was working on a new duology set in the Grishaverse called The Dregs. Eventually retitled Six of Crows with the most amazing cover art I'd seen in recent years I couldn't wait until this book was released and was giving anyone I knew who was lucky enough to get an ARC the side-eye for weeks. OK, months, but you get it, I know you do. I wanted to be back in that world. I didn't care if it was a new country or a new cast of characters, I just wanted more of this wondrous land. And yet, when the time came, I just wasn't swept away. I think of all my book blogging and reading buddies I was the only one who didn't hail it as the best book of last year. In fact, it was nowhere near my top ten. There's even a part of me, looking back, that wonders if three stars was generous. The worldbuilding was still there, and still perfect. Yes it's a little darker, but the void of The Darkling needed to be filled somehow. Yet I just couldn't connect. This heist I had been waiting so long for suddenly didn't seem worth the wait.

The initial problem I faced was there were too many characters given to us too soon. We have six main characters and all their baggage to deal with while certain elements of their backstories are drawn out to excruciating levels with us not finding out answers until the last few pages. To keep this in perspective, A Game of Thrones, the first book in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, has only eight narrators in a behemoth book of teeny tiny print; and we're barely scratching the surface in that book. To expect THIS book to do more with less seems ludicrous. Also confusing. I need a little time to sink into the narrative of a book, have one character lead me into the world and acclimatise me to the environment before being smacked in the face with the whole gang. There's a reason Ocean's Eleven starts with just Danny Ocean and slowly introduces new characters in little vignettes before having the whole crew together. I think for a book SO like Ocean's Eleven: Ketterdam perhaps the basic framework of a heist film or book could have been better utilized. Instead of starting with the small heist at The Exchange start even smaller and then go bigger.

Yet for a book with six main characters I found one thing very very odd. The exclusion of Wylan Van Eck as a narrator. Six characters but only five POVs!?! That just doesn't add up. I mean yes, there are initially too many characters in this book until you finally get to know them, but then why eliminate a certain one? Why was Wylan left out? Yes, part of it could have been to do with the end twist, but, well, just don't have his POV near the end. Because eliminating him entirely versus just eliminating him for a section makes more sense. There's an imbalance in the book created by this omission. It seriously doesn't make sense to me that we never get Wylan's POV. Especially with his connection to the man who hired Kaz and the crew you'd think Wylan's input would be vital, but instead it's left to other characters to tell Wylan's story. Then there's the whole insulting aspect to this. Wylan is dyslectic and can't read or write. To not have his voice heard when he can't write his own story, WTH! It's just adding insult to injury. I can only hope that Wylan has a say in Crooked Kingdom, but I'm not really keeping my fingers crossed. Kaz's nemesis got a POV at the end of this book and still, no Wylan.

My main problem with the book though was the "problem" with the women. Some people might be saying, how can you have a problem with Inej and Nina when they kick ass and take names? My problem is rooted in the fact that once you look past all their strength their character arcs are oddly stereotypical. At times I thought I was having some sort of out of body experience where this book wasn't written by the writer of the Grisha series populated with strong women and a kick ass female in her own right, but a man who just wrote the typical subjugation line of women in science fiction and fantasy as sex objects and bargaining chips. Inej and Nina spend the entire book showing they are more than what Ketterdam tried to make them in the brothels. They are strong and fierce warriors with love in their hearts. And then all of a sudden they're dressing up as whores to sneak into the Ice Court and ending up as prisoners that only the big brave men can rescue. Excuse me? So all their growth, all their development was for naught? Because they just ended up back at the beginning, victims that need saving? This isn't a just fate for them. This is a cliched, hackneyed fate. They deserve better. I deserve better as a reader!

Though in the end I think the biggest letdown is that Six of Crows just shows us the futility of it all. From the very beginning Kaz's crew are given this impossible task, one at which they could fail at any second, but deep down you know they are going to succeed. But in succeeding they fail. And somehow I knew this. I just knew that they'd make it to the end and yet they'd fail. I don't know if it's all the heist movies I've watched over the years, but somehow I knew it would be like that bus dangling over the precipice at the end of The Italian Job, all that work wouldn't really be worth it in the end. We were left hanging, waiting for the second book. And yes, I'm going to read Crooked Kingdom, but I don't have the excitement anymore. I have a determined resignation. I have no hopes for this book, well, minor hopes that I have a feeling will be quashed quite quickly. Six of Crows was a disservice to the readers. We read a book whose narrative didn't matter. It was nulled and voided at the end and makes you wonder, why then did I bother to read it? Yes, we got to know these characters and to care for them, but it took a long time for that to happen and then it was like everything that had been built between the reader and the story was washed away. I also know that my voice is one small voice among the countless that are lauding this book. Yes, this is just my opinion, but I think a valid one. Leigh Bardugo created a world that I love and then diminished it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, Backlog Bonanza, Crooked Kingdom, Darkling, Dregs, Duology, Grisha, GRRM, Heist, Leigh Bardugo, Ocean's Eleven, POV, Six of Crows, Stereotype, The Italian Job, Worldbuilding