Tag: leigh bardugo

contemporary, fantasy, Five Star Book, ya

💉 A to Z Book Tag 💉

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

Okay guys, this week and last week has been insane. I’m a nurse, so you can only imagine what work has been like. I’ve been reading All the Stars and Teeth for daysssss. It’s so good, I just haven’t had time to read, let alone blog!

So when I don’t have a post, I love finding book tags! I found this one over at Lynn’s Books, but I think it originated at The Perpetual Page Turner.

💉 Author You’ve Read the Most Books By:
I’ll have to say Leigh Bardugo! I’ve read all her books and loved them. She’s also my favorite.

💉 Best Sequel Ever:
Ooo I’m gonna say A Court Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas. I love Rhys, like everyone else, so I loved seeing that relationship develop!

💉 Currently Reading:
All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace. I swear I’ll finish soon!

💉 Drink of Choice While Reading:
Coffee 100%. I fall asleep way too easily.

💉 E-Reader or Physical Book:
I like to collect physical books, but I read exclusively on my kindle. I can read on my phone while out and about, I always have a book with me, and I’m able to dim the light when I’m putting my kid to bed or my husband is sleeping.

💉 Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Dated in School:
Kaz Brekker. I always had a thing for the bad boys.

💉 Glad You Gave This Book a Chance:
Wilder Girls by Rory Power. I hated the ending, but the rest of the book was amazing.

💉 Hidden Gem:
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson! It was amazing!

💉 Important Moment in Your Reading Life:
Reading The Hunger Games when it came out. I hadn’t read a book for years. YEARS. This book reignited by love for reading and for YA!

💉 Just Finished:
The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz. 4 stars!

💉 Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:
If you follow my Down the TBR posts, you know I don’t like adult chick lit or Amish Christmas stories!

💉 Longest Book You’ve Read:
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin. It took me over a month to read.

💉 Major Book Hangover:
My last one was from Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith!

💉 Number of Bookcases You Own:
Just one. But I need more because I have books EVERYWHERE.

💉 One Book You’ve Reread Lots:
I’ve really only reread A Court of Thorns and Roses.

💉 Preferred Place to Read:
On the couch with a blanket, window open, rain outside, and a cup of coffee.

💉 Quote that Inspires You/Gives You All the Feels from A Book You’ve Read:
I’ll choose the one from All the Stars and Teeth: “I’ve a collection of men who I intend to repay for how generous they were to me. Dismemberment for anyone who ever tried to touch me. The tongue flayed from those with wicked mouths. And the hearts eaten from any man who’s ever told me to smile.” YAAASSS QUEEN. I mean, haven’t we all felt this way?

💉 Reading Regret:
Not reading for all those years. I missed out on so many great books. Now I have to catch up and try to keep up! Too many books, so little time.

💉 Series You Started and Need to Finish (All Books Are Out):
Oh gosh. I guess The Young Elites by Marie Lu or Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas!

💉 Three All-Time Favorite Books:
1. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith

💉 Unapologetic Fangirl For:
The older YA dystopians – Matched, The Hunger Games, Delirium. All of those. You know the ones. I want more!

💉 Very Excited for This Release:
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson! I loved A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and can’t wait for the next installment!

💉 Worst Bookish Habit:
Falling asleep reading. I do it literally every night. And I’m not talking about late. I’m talking about at like, 7:30 pm.

💉 X Marks the Spot – Start at the Top Left and Pick the 27th Book:
Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton

💉 Your Latest Book Purchase:
Oof. I think it was Good Girl, Bad Blood.

💉 ZZZ- Snatcher – Last Book that Kept You Up Way Too Late:
The one that kept me up latest was Verity by Colleen Hoover. But the last one to do it was A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

I loved doing this tag! It made me want to reread all my favorites! I am going to tag Sarah @ Bookish Bug and Erin @ Eager Beaver Reader to join in on the fun! And you! If you end up doing it I’d love a tag so I can see your answers!

What was your last ZZZ-Snatcher? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

adult, ARC, contemporary, fantasy, Five Star Book, Memoir, thriller, ya

My top 5 reads of 2019!

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

I cannot believe it is the last day of the year! What?! This year has flown by. I’m noticing the years are going faster since I joined book battle and since having Mylzs!

Here I am going to tell you my top reads of 2019. There were some great ones!

Let’s dive right in.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House was my top read of the year! Yes, Leigh is my most favorite, but man this book was good. It was dark, it was creepy, there was romance. Let me tell ya, I’m ready to go to Hell! In book 2, that is.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Next up is The Grace Year. Such a powerful read. The ending left me sobbing and hoping for a brighter future.

Verity by Colleen Hoover

So Verity was my first CoHo book and honestly, I’m not sure I want to read her others! I know this wasn’t her normal genre, but it was SO.GOOD. I was thinking about the ending for weeks after.

Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Girl power seemed to be a theme with me this year. I think because I have found some amazing friends in Words & Whimsy! This was another powerful tale of what happens when girls stick together.

Over the Top by JVN

Last but certainly not least, is Over the Top. I love JVN. He’s a self care QUEEN. I loved learning from him and learning about him. Still hoping he’ll be my bff one day.

Well guys, there’s my top 5! What were your top 5 reads this year? Did you like any of these? Let me know in the comments below! I would love to discuss!

Until next time…

adult, fantasy, Five Star Book

Ninth House Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: Ninth House
  • Author: Leigh Bardugo
  • Publisher: Flatiron Books
  • Publish Date: October 8, 2019
  • Book Form: Ebook
  • Pages: 462
  • Genre:Fantasy, Adult
  • Rating: ★★★★★

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.

– Goodreads

Queen Leigh has done it again. She’s completely engrossed me in a world in which I wish I lived.

What I liked:

Only everything. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Leigh Bardugo is an exceptional storyteller. She pulls you into her stories so quickly and easily. You just become immersed in this world that you want to be a part of. Her characters are all so diverse, interesting, and morally gray – which makes them oh so real.

What if there was an underground world of secret societies at Yale that really does control, well, everything? They use magic to do it. And what happens when the balance gets out of wack? People die. And that’s where Lethe, the Ninth House, comes in. They investigate crimes the most powerful eight houses commit and try to right their wrongs.

Alex knew the girl was murdered. When she was written off, that only made her want to find the truth more. I loved the investigative parts of this story. I’m a huge crime junkie so this was mixing two of my favorite things into one.

I loved the magic. There were different ways to use the different types of magic, and no one mastered them all. It was distinctly different from Shadow and Bone, which I appreciated. And like all good magic stories, you can’t just use the magic. Something has to be taken to use it. I loved the ghost element of it as well. That only certain people could see ghosts, and even fewer could talk to them.

What I didn’t like:

I guess I’ll just put this here. There were a lot of trigger warnings for this book. In my opinion, they were blown way out of proportion. I know different people will see this differently, but it wasn’t too bad for me. Also – this is an ADULT book! Please do not confuse with her YA series. It’s adult and oh so good!

Would I recommend?

Is the world round? Is the sky blue? Yes, of COURSE I would recommend! I already have! Seriously, this is a perfect Halloween book and everyone needs to read it. Leigh did an amazing job with her adult debut. I can’t wait to go to Hell in book #2!

Until next time…

fantasy, Five Star Book, LGBT, ya

King of Scars Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: King of Scars
  • Author: Leigh Bardugo
  • Publisher: Imprint
  • Publish Date: January 29, 2019
  • Book Form: Ebook / Audio
  • Pages: 527
  • Genre: Fantasy, YA
  • Rating: ★★★★★

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

– Goodreads

Sorry for being absent for a month. First we had family over for labor day, then my husband was sick, then my baby had double ear infections. It’s been a wild month. But I’m back with book reviews! I’ve read a few so far this month! But first we’ll pick up with a book I finished in August and was obsessed with – King of Scars!

Thanks, giphy!

What I liked:

Okay. First off, I have to say Leigh is my Queen and I will forever love her. If she publishes a grocery list, I’ll read it. I just.love.her.so.much.

Why did I wait so long to read this? Part of it was I was sad that I wouldn’t have another Leigh book to read and I didn’t want to run out of her amazing stories. Dumb, I know. I won’t do it again.

I fell in love with Nikolai in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology. I was so excited to dive into his book and his backstory. The banter was amazing. I loved getting an insight to his thoughts and feelings. And the budding romance. I am SHIPPING.

The story was action packed. It followed two story lines – Nikoli and Nina. More on that later. Both stories were intriguing and I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened with each. I love being in the Grishaverse. The world building and descriptions are so on point. If I could choose a fictional world to live in, it would definitely be with the Grisha.

Also – THAT ENDING. WHAT?!?!?!?! No spoilers, obviously, but I have theories on what will happen. Message me to know more. I’d love to talk about your theories, too!

What I didn’t like:

So. I mentioned earlier that the novel followed two story lines. I felt like I was reading two books combined into one. Maybe it was just me selfishly wanting another book by Leigh, but I thought it would be better if Nina’s story was a separate book. They didn’t seem to cross over at all. But Leigh is a master and I’m sure she will make them come together in the most amazing way possible in book two!

Also, I started with the audio and quickly switched to ebook. I felt like I wasn’t getting the full effect of the novel. Just a personal preference I guess.

Would I recommend?

Duh. Yes. I recommend Leigh’s books whenever I can. She is a master storyteller and I can’t wait for her next book!

Until next time…

ARC, ya

August TBR!

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

Another month, another TBR!

This one is aiming high, I know. Also this month I HAVE to read King of Scars. I’ve put it off too long.

Thanks, giphy! Also, Latrice Royale for life ❤

So, most of these are ARCs that release this month. Wilder Girls and Spin the Dawn have already released, but they are club reads this month and I am super excited to dive in!

Nevernight is an older release. I started it, loved it, not sure why I never finished so definitely doing that this month.

King of Scars I haven’t read because I don’t want to be without a new Leigh book to read. Dumb, I know, but it is what it is. I’m doing it this month though!

Can’t wait to share all my reviews with you! What are you reading this month? Are we reading the same things? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time…