#Leigh Bardguo

[pridepages]

Silenced: Ninth House

I just finished Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. I have thoughts...

Here there be spoilers!

Ah, Dark Academia. The elusive genre. What is it, really? What does it require? A university setting? Studies into/around the arcane? Dabbling in evil? Whatever the recipe may be, all are present in Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House. But the evil worth discussing here has less to do with the ghosts, demons, or black magic running wild in this fictional Yale’s underworld and much more to do with the very real systemic and cultural injustices that women--particularly queer women--struggle against in the shadows.

Bardugo is no stranger to writing fantasy, but Ninth House is both her first new adult and her first foray into what might be known as ‘urban fantasy,’ the kind set against a very real, contemporary backdrop. As a real Yale alum, Bardugo would have been familiar with the very real ‘secret societies’ (aka ‘The Ancient Eight’) of the university. With that knowledge, Bardugo’s imagination ran to answer the question that all outsiders instinctively ask: what unsavory secrets hide behind these walls safeguarding power and privilege?

In Ninth House’s world, the answer is that the eight houses: Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, Manuscript, Wolf’s Head, Book and Snake, Berzelius, St. Elmo, Aurelian, are all specialists in different kinds of dark magic that keep the students--and by networking the alums--in power forever. But leaving a supernatural arsenal in the hands of a bunch of rich, privileged college kids? A rather dangerous idea. So, a secret Ninth house--Lethe--was invented as a kind of watchmen.

Enter Galaxy ‘Alex’ Stern, a girl with an unusual gift: she can see--and at times commune with--the dead. This is no miracle, the torment of contact with the uncanny drove teenage Alex to seek oblivion when no one believed her. Shunned as crazy, she leans into it: disappearing into a life of drugs and consorting with criminals just as a way to survive the burdens she cannot share. But when tragedy strikes, leaving Alex the lone survivor of a supernatural mass-murder, Yale and Lethe step forward and ask her to join their team: Detective Abel Turner (codename Centurian), Pamela Dawes (codename Occulus), Daniel ‘Darlington’ Arlington (codename Virgil), and now Alex (codename Dante). 

Alex agrees, entering into training alongside Darlington about the ways of the societies, the history of New Haven, and the kinds of occult crime that Lethe stands against. But when Darlington disappears and the murder of a girl outside the university starts raising some questions...Alex is forced to question what it means to serve the Ninth House.

Arriving at Yale, Alex is an outsider in every sense. She’s a poor, biracial woman who has been repeatedly written off as an addict or crazy. Alex has experienced repeated abandonment by the Great and the Good who represent authority and regulation. Fully aware that her free ride to Yale is a gift, Alex doesn’t hesitate to take it. But Alex refuses to allow that gift to blind her to the nature of the givers. “Where were you? All you wise men of Lethe with your spells and your chalk and your books? Where were you when the dead were following me home?” The only reason that Alex gets to be ‘special’ now is because she has become useful to the people in power. This is what ‘trickle-down’ looks like in practice.

Even the hallowed halls of sterling academia cannot protect some of the most vulnerable people in society. Over the course of her investigation, Alex uncovers misuse of magical drugs that enable--and consequently cover up--a series of sexual assaults against women. When the murderer Alex is pursuing sets an invisible demon to attack her, Alex knows that the ultimate goal of the attack is to discredit her: “Did she seem depressed? She was distant. She didn’t make many friends. She was struggling in her classes. All true. But would it have mattered if she’d been someone else? If she’d been a social butterfly, they would have said she liked to drink away her pain. If she’d been a straight-A student, they would have said she’d been eaten alive by her perfectionism. There were always excuses for why girls died.” If Alex’s demise can be written off, then her suspicions will also be dismissed and the investigation into an innocent’s death will die with her.

The silencing of women lies at the heart of the novel. Some of the examples are lurid and obvious. A drug that compels people to serve makes it appear that the students who were assaulted were actually willing participants in their degradation. Therefore, they can’t possibly have been hurt, right? Nothing to ruin promising young men’s life over…The metaphor is about as subtle as a sledgehammer blow.

The Yalie girls who are victimized by men with this literal and figurative power deserve protection, but they already have some in the form of the credentials and the societies that they can fall back on. Girls like Alex, like the victim, Tara, or like Alex’s lost love, Hellie...they also deserve protection, but they can’t get it. They are dismissed by the powerful as unworthy, as easy to sacrifice because no one will need or miss them. In the eyes of privilege, some lives just mean more than others. And at the top of the pyramid are men, money, and memory--all of which are given priority over living women.

Some examples are more cunning. In a telling scene, Alex goes to report on her attack by the invisible demon during the course of her investigation. The dean she is reporting to refuses to hear Alex’s concerns or explanations. He neatly ties Alex’s unusual powers to the cause, that her nature must have drawn out something evil and unusual. Dawes steps up to challenge this approach:

“That sounds a lot like she was asking for it…Alex has indicated her own concerns regarding her assault, and instead of hearing her out, you’ve chosen to question her credibility. You may not have meant to imply anything, but the intent and effect were to silence her, so it’s not hard to think this stinks of victim blaming.” 

This kind of silencing is particularly insidious. It’s easy to for your hackles to raise when someone tells you to shut up, stop talking, be quiet. But when someone tries to get in your head with a plausible explanation...one that overwrites ill intent...one that circles back and seems to reasonably place the blame on you? That’s an easier spell to fall under. It’s one I certainly fell under when I was younger. I didn’t have a Dawes. Instead, I folded in, and I internalized the words. Of course it was my fault. Of course I was asking for it. And that narrative became one of the barriers along the way to my self-discovery as a queer woman. I became so consumed by the idea of needing to reclaim my memories of intimacy with men that I never stopped to question whether intimacy with men was something I even wanted.

Violence against women, particularly sexual violence, has become so common that it’s actually a default explanation for the bad things that happen to us. The easy solution to Alex’s case would be that Tara’s boyfriend killed her. It’s literally so common that no one thought to push harder without Alex, a kindred spirit, to demand justice be served. But even then, the institutions designed to mete out justice often let us down. The hint for us as readers was in the name...Lethe. The river designed to induce forgetfulness, to erase memories. Instead of punishment being publicly enforced, the deans speak of fines, of slaps on the wrist, of burying the truth in order to keep funneling alumni money and keep the magic flowing through the Ancient Eight. Despairingly, Alex wonders: “Had Lethe ever really been intended to protect anyone? Or were they just supposed to maintain the status quo, to make it look like the Houses of the Veil were being monitored, that some standard was being kept to without ever really checking the societies’ power?” 

I think that question is why we as readers are repeatedly bludgeoned with horrors against women. Some readers may be exhausted by the fact that pretty much every bad thing that happens to a woman in this novel involves violence against her by a man. It has been described as shock value, as excess, but I read it more as a kind of purging: this is the pain we see around us, the kind we carry inside, the kind we are told to bottle up and bury deep as it poisons us slowly over time. This is the pain that both makes us helpless victims (’oh no, poor girl’) and blameworthy harlots (’what was she wearing? who was she with? she should have known better. she was asking for it’). When we do ask for help, we are frequently silenced, internally and externally, told that we need to protect everyone else from the shame. Warned that if we don’t toe the line, we will be the ones to suffer more and more. So many of us, isolated and ashamed, lock that grief up inside ourselves and make ourselves a tomb. Bardugo has brought all the anguish, rage, and fear bubbling up, forcing us to see this phenomenon in every iteration. Whether the violence is against a princess of a private school or a poor, lonely, abandoned soul: none of us ever deserved it. All of us deserve to be heard.

But there is one bit of silencing that I have to lay at Bardugo’s door. Full disclosure: this was a re-read for me. I first read the novel when it was released in 2019, and when I did, I left without a single doubt that Alex Stern was a queer woman. I read it in her professed love for Helen “Hellie” Watson. Alex remembers Hellie as “golden...the girl she loved” with a “warm laugh, her easy way of looping her arm around Alex, the way she’d pluck a paperback from Alex’s shelf of thrillers and old sci-fi and say, “Read to me.” Hellie had made this life bearable.” On the day of Hellie’s death, Alex went out of her way to try and prevent Hellie from entering the den of a man Alex knew liked violent sex. Hellie went anyway, and ended up dying beside Alex due to some combination of injury and overdose. In the end, Alex sees her ghost and begs Hellie to stay. Possessed by Hellie, fueled by her rage, Alex is the one who commits mass murder against the men who killed Hellie and were preparing to get away with it. This deviation from Alex’s survivalist character, choosing fight over flight out of devotion to Hellie, to me translated instinctively as queer love. To my mind, Alex was a canonically queer woman. This time I realized: that’s never explicitly said. 

Some might argue that it shouldn’t have to be. That’s art, readers need to do some interpretive lifting. Unfortunately, the reality is that we live in a culture where women who love women are constantly dismissed: ‘they’re just friends! Sisters. Girls are just like that. Can’t anything just be platonic anymore? Why does everything have to be gay?’ We hear this cant over and over. To claim a woman as a queer character, their orientation has to be spelled out. It’s particularly a struggle when that character, like Alex, has also been connected romantically or sexually to men. A bi or pansexual woman has to all but scream out her queerness in capital letters to be acknowledged.

Well, Alex, I think Bardugo did you a disservice by not spelling it out. But I want you to know: from one queer woman to another, from one survivor to another, I see you. And I hear you: loud and clear.

#ninth house #leigh bardguo #queer lit #bisexual #pansexual #sapphic #wlw #queer #lgbtq characters #feminism #misogyny #tw sa

[kd-holloman]

Many readers are writers and many writers are also readers. I’m no exception. With The Traveler’s Gift available for the rest of the world to read, I find myself often wondering, “How can I get people interested in a book about bisexual mobsters with superpowers?” 

I’ve had several books to hyperfixate on since 2018-2019 when the first draft of TTG came out and I drew inspiration from several authors, characters, stories, and themes to come up with something I could call my own. 

The All for the Game series by Nora Sakavic 

I love Neil and Andrew’s relationship and the way Sakavic doesn’t try to cover the trauma her characters go through.  

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardguo 

Kaz Brekker is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time and the way he is a driving force in this duology is one of my biggest inspirations. Of course, I love Bardugo’s vivid descriptions and the world she’s created. 

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Who doesn’t love a soft boy with a hard edge? Ronan Lynch is one of my favorite characters. We all know I’m weak for a Scorpio man, but aside from him, Stiefvater has a wonderful way of incorporating magic into the mundane. I can’t forget to mention her lyrical, but not overdone, prose. 

The Green Creek Series by TJ Klune

From the rampant LGBTQ+ representation, to the themes of found family, and magic with limits, everything about this series is perfect. I cannot wait to order a hardcover for my bookshelf! 

And the Villains series by V.E. Schwab

The funny part of this is I had never heard of Vicious or Vengeful until one of my beta readers sent it to me. She said, “Have you ever read Vicious by V.E. Schwab? Her writing style really reminds me of yours.” And obviously, I had to get my hands on these books. When I read them for the first time, the thought that somebody could compare my writing to these stories made me cry actual tears.

But that’s neither here, nor there. Vicious and Vengeful share the most similarities to The Traveler’s Gift than any other story in the list. It features characters with superpowers who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty for the sake of revenge. It’s dark, gritty, fast-paced, and I couldn’t put the series down until I finished. 

TLDR: 

If you like any of the books mentioned above, please check out The Traveler’s Gift on Amazon! It’s available in ebook and paperback! 

#the traveler's gift #mobsters and mayhem trilogy #aftg #tfc #andreil #neil josten #andrew minyard #soc #six of crows #kaz brekker #kanej #the raven cycle #trc #pynch #ronan lynch #green creek series #ox matheson #joe bennett #gordo livingstone #villains series #victor vale #eli ever #eli cardale #bookblr #writerblr

[thetypedwriter]

Hell Bent Book Review

Hell Bent Book Review by Leigh Bardugo 

I just didn’t like this book. I really wanted to. I love Leigh Bardugo and her Six of Crows duology are some of my favorite books of all time. However, her adult novels just don’t do it for me. 

One, I barely remember anything from the first book. Now, this one is on me. I could have reviewed more or even re-read the first book. I liked Ninth House enough to buy Hell Bent, but I do feel like Bardugo could have also done a better job of reintroducing the last book’s important events. 

Any time previous events were brought up, it genuinely didn’t ring a bell for me and it lessened the impact of Hell Bent overall as a direct sequel. 

Additionally, Hell Bent has so much terminology that isn’t necessary in any way, shape, or form. I remember this being a criticism of Ninth House as well, but it is twice as bad in the sequel. 

Bardguo spent more time in the first installment describing and reminding readers of the societies and all the titles, but she tosses that to the wind in this book. 

If she thinks readers will remember what Praetor or Virgil or Dante are, she is absolutely wrong. Or, I’m just stupid compared to the average reader (which I don’t think I am), but the terms made things overtly verbose and pretentious without offering any kind of substance or value. 

The actual plot of the novel I found tedious. It can be summed up by: Alex and her hodgepodge group of friends make several trips into hell in order to save Darlington (Alex’s mentor from the first book), who is trapped there. That’s it. It should be exciting, but it’s…not.

 The trips into hell are nonsensical and long, Alex is whiny, and none of the characters had any reason or solid motivation to help Alex. Some of them don’t even know Darlington. Alex herself shouldn’t have wanted to risk life and limb to rescue Darlington. 

They were friends, but that was it. Alex had known him for a short amount of time and their relationship wasn’t strong enough for me to believe that Alex would risk her life and the lives of others multiple times in order to save him. 

None of it came across as realistic and I found all of it unbelievable to a high degree. 

This disillusionment was the nail in the coffin for this novel. None of the characters behaved in believable ways and I didn’t find any of the relationships dynamic, interesting, relatable, or moving.

 Alex as a protagonist gets increasingly irritating as the novel progresses and her staying involved with Lethe and the societies confused me further and further considering how risky, time-consuming, and damning it is (literally). 

Unfortunately, there isn’t anything about this book that I really liked. The writing is fine, some of Barudugo’s more imaginative chapters I appreciated, but as a story I found the entire thing lackluster and a monotonous use of my time. 

I did finish it (with much skimming involved) because I had already bought it and I do feel some kind of allegiance to Leigh Bardguo (although that indebtedness is gone after this drivel). 

I will say that I recognize that perhaps Hell Bent came at a bad time in my life where there’s a lot of other things happening. Maybe I would have liked it a year ago or around the holidays or during summer. But, in the time I read it, it did not scratch my reading itch and instead makes me want to swear off Bardugo’s adult novels forever. 

Recommendation: Ninth House should have been a standalone novel. 

Score: 3/10

#ninth house #hell bent #leigh Bardugo #3/10 #book blog #book review #favorite books #top books #Book Recommendations #book rec #book recs #popular fiction #Popular Books

[barethemusicalbutjasonlives]

My favourite books as musical theatre songs;

Gents Guide to Vice and Vertue- Mackenzie Lee; Poor Monty (Gentlemen’s guide to Love and Murder)

They Both Die at the End- Adam Silvera; One Day More (Les Mis)

Will Grayson , Will Grayson- David Levithan: I’m Just Like You (The Barbie Princess movie)

I’ll Give you the Sun- Jandy Nelson: Color and Light (Sunday in the Park with George)

The Song of Achilles- Madeline Miller: Death is Just around the Corner (Addams Family)

If this Gets Out- Sophie Gonzales: Best Kept Secret (Bare; A Pop Opera)

Good Omans- Terry Prachett: They’re Only Human (Death Note)

More then This- Patrick Ness: That’s what I Know (Beetlejuice)

Carry on trilogy- Rainbow Rowell: Gotta Get back to Hogwarts (A Very Potter Musical)

If we Were Villians- M.L Rio: Never Miss My Mark (A Killer Party)

Vicious- V.E Swarb: My super Friend (Supergirl Musical Ep!

The Secret History- Donna Tartt: Another One Bites the Dust (We Will Rock You)

The Raven Cycle- Maggie Stiefvater: Magic to Do (Pippin)

Loveless- Alice Oseman: I’m not that Girl (Wicked)

I was Born for This- Alice Oseman: Nobody (Fangirls the musical)

Radio Silence- Alice Oseman: Radio Gaga (We Will Rock You)

Aristotle and Dante- Benjamin Alire Sàenz: BFFs (Spongebob the Musical)

One Last Stop- Casey Mcquiston: Subway Ghost (Ghost the Musical)

RWARB- Casey Mcquinston: Snap , Click (alternatively) The Worst Job in England (Diana the Musical)

What’s if it’s Us- Adam Silvera and Becky Albertelli: What If It’s us (Dear Evan Hansen)

The seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo- Taylor Jenkins Reid: Cut , Print , Moving On (Bombshell the Musical)

Brideshead Revisited- Evelyn Waugh: I don’t Understand the Poor (Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder)

Under the Whsipering Door- TJ Klune: Dyin Ain’t So Bad (Bonnie and Clyde)

Six of Crows- Leigh Bardguo: Let’s be Bad (Bombshell the Musical)

Orlando- Virginia Woolf: Orlando (Book of Mormon)

The Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde: Getting bi (Crazy Ex Girlfriend)

Heartstopper - Alice Oseman: You and I (Bare: A Pop Opera)

#osemanverse #heartstopper #netflix #iwbft #charlie spring #nick nelson #trc #gentleman's guide to vice and virtue #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #they both die at the end #i’ll give you the sun #the song of achilles #if this gets out #good omens #carry on #vicious #if we were villains #the secret history #the raven cycle #loveless #radio silence #aristole and dante #one last stop #rwarb #what if it’s us #dorian gray #six of crows duology #the house in the cerulean sea

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

this is a random question lol, but what are some books that have the same (or similar) vibe to your fostered, moth work, or seventh virtue series? ❤️

omg I love this question!

I'll answer for the books that have actual comps, because otherwise... there's no comp because the books are unreadable LMAO (love them very much <3)

Books 1-3 (Fostered, Hunted, Resisted)

The Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken

I LOVE Alex, and these books kind of consumed my life as a kid!

Slated trilogy by Teri Terry

Pretty much the early Fostered books are TDM + Slated smushed together <3 I was such a Slated girlie, lmao

Books 4-6 just don't have any vibes, lmao!!! so no comps there!

Moth Work and Feeding Habits should have comps in theory, but I actually haven't personally read anything like them (though I'm sure books exist out there, I just don't know!). They're so niche in a way that it's hard to find a comp, lol! They are very much both like each other though!

Seventh Virtue

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

I realize now that this is just me expressing how much I love and support Alex's writing lmao, but this was the FIRST fantasy book I've read in a loooong time, and I read it coinciding with when I started SV, so it was super helpful for understanding the genre, especially since it's also contemp. fantasy and takes place in NYC! I'm thinking of re-reading it or getting the audiobook too since I'd like to revisit it!

Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore

This is an old favourite that I read when I was 12 or so, but I LOVE THIS BOOK! It's literally... literary fiction lmao, but fantasy for teenagers! I've read it so many times that I don't know the exact number. This is more high fantasy I believe, BUT the structure is sooo Seventh Virtue--lots of mini plots, larger cast of characters, very slow and ambling but in a fun way. If I could write this book, I would! Bitterblue as a character reminds me a lot of Reeve, haha. I just re-read this book in the fall, and I’m going to listen to it again because I just love it so much!

Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

New inspo for me since I read them in the fall, but I LOVE THESE BOOKS SM!!! I'm so late to the train, lmao, but the Netflix adaptation of Shadow & Bone initially prompted me to write SV, so it's only fitting that I love these books! They both share bird imagery in common, which I obviously love, and there's also an ensemble cast. I want to actually read this book since I listened to the fabulous audiobook, but I'd like to get a stronger grasp on Leigh Bardguo's craft which was so good it made me insecure for the first time in years, lmao yaaaas <3

I funnily don’t have any adult recs because I haven’t read any adult fantasy, so if you have recs, especially if they’re contemp. fantasy, send them my way!

Also, if anyone has anymore questions about my books, feel free to send them because I’ve been having a hard last couple days, and talking about my book makes me feel better, lol!

Thanks so much for this!

#asks #fostered

[2000sandtoday]

Shadow and Bone season 2 review: How Not to Adapt A Book Series

Shadow and Bone season 2 review: How Not to Adapt A Book Series. #shadowandbone #netflix #shadowandboneseason2

The Grishaverse by Leigh Bardguo is actually one of my favorite book series. I’ve read all of them multiple times over and I was completely obsessed with season 1 of Shadow and Bone when it was released. Naturally, with any book adaptation, there are always going to be changes. In season 1, the changes made to the series actually helped. The Six of Crows characters from the books were brought in…

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#alina starkov #amita suman #archie renaux #ben barnes #books #entertainment #freddy carter #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #jessie mei li #kaz brekker #kit young #leigh bardugo #mal oretsev #netflix #shadow and bone #six of crows #television #the darkling

[codenamebooks]

August Book Haul

I bought five books this month, and I think I have a decent range of options. I also read more than I have in a while so it feels like a nice treat to get each of these for myself, especially to see my small apartment shelf is filling up. Here are my five new books:

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado | Goodreads

The amount of amazing things I've heard about this author and this book is astounding. I went to a flea market with a friend of mine who is a big fan, so when I saw it at the pop-up bookstore stand, I had no choice but to choose it. I call it part of my move towards literature away from YA once I get back into reading more consistently.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson | Goodreads

On the same day as the flea market, that friend and I ventured over to Barnes & Noble and the BOGO 1/2 off YA paperbacks, so I bought them. My friend said that this book was really good and I've seen it on social media for long that I figured it'd be time to get even though––get this––I barely know anything about it.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardguo | Goodreads

The companion for half-off was this. I now have three Leigh Bardguo books on my shelf and have not read a single one. I just know that if I ever even want to glimpse at the Shadow and Bone adaptions, I will also have to read this book (which I've wanted to for many years now), so I figured it might as well rest on my shelf for a reasonable price.

Anna K by Jenny Lee (Anna K #1) | Goodreads

I've heard the most about this book from Peruse Project. I know it's an Anna Karenina retelling through the lens of a rich, Korean, New York high schooler. I don't even know the original story that well but I believe this one is being adapted so I decided to go ahead and grab it here at The Book Loft in Columbus.

China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2) by Kevin Kwan | Goodreads

Also at The Book Loft I bought this one so that I might finally complete the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. I read the first book back in early high school and loved the adaptation before I even knew it was a trilogy (that's on me). When I finally get the copy of the first book from home, I'll reread it and continue on.

#august book haul #her body and other parties #carmen maria machado #goodreads #i'll give you the sun #jandy nelson #barnes and noble #six of crows #leigh bardugo #anna k #jenny lee #china rich girlfriend #crazy rich asians #kevin kwan

[two-sapphics-reading]

introducing liv!

Hey hey! I'm Liv, half of the dynamic duo that makes up two-sapphics-reading. I'm a theatre, history, and dnd-loving gal who uses fantasy and artistic expression as a way to enjoy reality more! I love to listen to Ethel Cain, K-pop girl groups TWICE & Red Velvet, Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers, and Taylor Swift. The pink bow is my symbol, so when you see reviews marked with it, know it's me behind the keyboard 🎀

While you know what our blog generally wants to do, I thought it would be nice if you knew a little about me as a reader! So, without further ado:

Favorite Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, and YA

Favorite Books: Date & Time by Phil Kaye, Indecent by Paula Vogel, Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardguo, and The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

What I Love to Re-Read (besides my favorites!): Bubble World by Carol Snow, The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer, and Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Favorite Themes & Tropes: Ball scenes, femme friendships, friends to lovers, found family, high fantasy, mutual pining, queer characters & love stories, strong yet flawed femme MCs, unique & well-utilized magic systems, and witty dialogue

What Gives Me the "Reading Ick:" Any portrayal of bigotry (homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia, etc.) that is excused, femme MCs losing their powers, love interests that feel forced or are just plain mean, muddled worldbuilding, "perfect" MCs, rushed pacing, and sacrifice/death for the sake of shock value rather than to serve the plot

Last Book I Read: Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales (a gift from Kate!)

Currently Reading:

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

That's it! Right now, I'm flying through A Magic Steeped in Poison and am finishing up The Raven Boys (I think I'm about 15 audio tracks away from finishing?), so reviews for them will pop up soon. For now, bye!

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

(As noted elsewhere, this icon is from @hellosunnycore's TOON ME! Piccrew; thank you for your hard work!)

#introductory post #introduction #introducing myself #booknerd #book blog #books and reading #reading #book review

[tuesdaysinoctober]

Me, explaining why I like Kaz Brekker: yeah, and so he kills only when necessary and he doesn't own a brothel, which is big in Ketterdam --that's where he lives-- in fact he actually got one of the main characters out of a brothel and he was traumatized in a very gruesome way, he -- do you want me to say it?

My Very Christian™ Father, whose face has gotten continually more sour: just say it's gruesome

Me: okay, so then--

#my morally grey child #i refuse to believe he's a literal teenager #he wouldn't even be a senior where i live #can you imagine him taking the SATs #kaz brekker #six of crows #leigh bardguo #queued my dude

[thedeadpoesy]

I'm a slut for two things in particular.

1. Kaz Brekker

2. Leigh Bardugo's dialogue

Thanks for coming to my ted talk

#studyblr #english literature #reading #currently reading #student #crooked kingdom #six of crows #kaz brekker #leigh bardguo #young adult #YA #books #book review #booklbr

[boyfriem-moved]

Me: I love all my kids equally. Kaz, Jesper, Wylan, Inej, Nina, Matthias, *looks at smudged writing on hand* Kawaii

#six of crows #crooked kingdom #soc #grishaverse #leigh bardguo #lmao kuwei is hella overrated

[pridepages]

Manners, might, and know-how. One will always do the trick.

Darlington, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

#ninth house #leigh bardguo #lgbt reads #queer lit

[babvblue]

nothing irks me more than thinking about people giving their characters a touch phobia or just no liking being touched to be qUirKY or seem more mysterious 

#nothing triggers my fight or flight like reading #doesn’t like to be touched #in an intro #like buddy … WHY don’t they #there is always /some/ reason #how does it make their life hell #are you actually gonna write it #leigh bardguo is the only writer i trust to write touch phobias #and me ❤️

[endlessgalore]

do i name an oc who’s been nameless for > 1 month after an instagram comment. yes/no

#ok hear me out #i saw this comment that was like 'the ph in sophia is pronounced f and the ph in stephen is pronounced v #and if you switch those you get sovia and stefen which basically sound the same' or something #and i was like WAIT SOVIA SLAPS so i might name this character that #im not sure if it fits her but it can. #i may be making this up but to me it seems like it has leigh bardguo vibes? #like how half the soc characters names are 1 letter away from regular names #like inej/ines jesper/jasper kaz/baz? wylan/dylan? #wait never mind i looked it up and jesper is a real name #but the point stands for the rest #now that im ranting in the tags let me tell you about inej #so inej is not a real name (going by nameberry who have a very loose definition of name already) #(it's full of 'gems' like aabbee and doctor as baby names) #but it sounds like ines/inez #which are variations of AGNES? #so inej's name in an alternate universe could be AGNES?????? #talkin

[dreaminginvelaris]

Nesta: Your past does not excuse your actions

(I am not tagging anti because this post focuses more on being critical of Nesta's character/behavior than outright hating or shitting on her. If you’re one of the few who do not use any excuses towards Nesta’s behavior then this is not addressed to you.)

Since Sjm won't address the toxicity that goes on in her fandom when regarding those who use Nesta's past as a defense to the emotional, mental, and verbal abuse she inflicted on Feyre, and her behavior to others, I will use a quote from Leigh Bardguo from the podcast Write or Die, s2 ep1 to support my view.

For context: Leigh is talking about why she didn't give the Darkling a redemption arc etc. She then goes on to say, "Don't pretend that just because you had a rough childhood you get to be an asshole and an abuser."

What Bardugo said here is pure facts. Your childhood will never be an excuse for the way you treat others. Yes, your childhood can explain certain things, and it can explain why someone is the way they are. Nesta's childhood explains why she's cold and reserved and pushes others away. But it by no means excuses the abuse she inflicted on Feyre and even on Elain if we really wanna talk about it. (I am in no way excusing Elain for the part she played in Feyre's abuse, simply stating she was also a victim of Nesta's abuse in certain aspects)

Throughout A court of silver flames, this is exactly what Nesta did when acknowledging her behavior of all those years to Feyre and her behavior to others. She used the abuse of her Grandmother, the neglect and manipulation of her mother, the feeling of lack of love from her father, and the pressure she felt from society and parents to marry into an advantageous marriage, as well as the neglect her father displayed during the cabin years to excuse her treatment of Feyre during the years at the cabin and presently.

Instead of expressing regret for the actions and words she committed, she uses her past as a shield, as a valid reason as to why she abused her sister for years. She blames her parents and her upbringing for the way she is now, but the only thing you can blame those parents for is the childhood they gave her that lacked any warmth, compassion, or love. But Nesta's behavior, her attitude towards literally anyone, cannot be excused nor justified by her past. That she must take accountability on her own, something she has yet to actually do without making an excuse for herself and to ask forgiveness for the one person who deserves it.

Before anyone comes at me, I'm going to address it first. Rhysand. Yes, Rhys is an asshole, and yes he has committed abusive actions in the past. I can wholly admit that because it's the truth that I cannot nor will deny. But here's the difference: he never uses his childhood or trauma as an excuse. Remember it's usually some of the stans who do this for him, who use his trauma as a shield. This also goes to the Nesta stans because yes many of y'all do this often. But Rhys has never used his past as an excuse, for being an asshole. He owns up to it. When he gets called out on his shit, he admits to it and apologizes instead of using buts and ifs and half-assed excuses.

Nesta stans (some) have a habit of using her upbringing as a defense for her cruel behavior, not just to Feyre but others, and when you try to call them out on it, they'll deny it and say they're just "explaining her behavior not excusing it" which is literally bullshit because we all know what they're doing except for apparently them.

The reason I am using Leigh Bardugos words on the Darkling is because Leigh Bardugo is one of the most highly regarded authors in the book community. So if you cant take my word on it, that your past doesn't excuse your present actions, take it from Leigh Bardugo, who is a beloved and highly esteemed author, that I know many of us respect. I hope that you hear her words and understand there is no excuse whatsoever for what Nesta did. I hope you hear her words and understand that I nor others are not being "unsympathetic" to people like Nesta who had a hard life. I simply will not have her past be used as protection to Nesta's shitty behavior and treatment of Feyre and others.

"Don't pretend that just because you had a rough childhood you get to be an asshole and an abuser." -Leigh Bardugo

#acotar #acomaf #acosf #acowar #acofas #a court of silver flames #feyre archeron #elain archeron #rhysand #nesta archeron #nesta critical #sjm critical #leigh bardugo #pro feyre #feyre deserves better #nesta and feyre #sjm fandom

[snailjamsge]

Leigh Bardguo’s cameo in Shadow & Bone was SO COOL 😭 I hope Soman will be able to have a cameo in SGE too! (Maybe as Mr. Deauville? It would be a cool nod to him)

#school for good and evil #the school for good and evil #agatha of woods beyond #sophie of woods beyond #soman chainani #sge #sge movie #shadow and bone #leigh bardugo