Hi friends!

Blogmas 2019 day 12 is about books that surprised you! You did not expect to love them so much or you had low expectations.

One book fits the bill perfectly: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

I chose that one because the Grishaverse trilogy did not impress me much!

Don’t throw rocks at me but the first book began great and from that one it went downhill!

What decided me to try Ninth House? The controversy! Some reviewers gave it bad reviews and said it was dark, not what they expected, with taboo topics etc.

And my interest was picked! I wanted to give Leigh Bardugo a second chance!

Verdict?

The beginning of Ninth House was … laborious.

I struggled with the concept of modern world and magic without magicians.

I could not fall into it as I did not understand what I was reading! I had to read a page twice and still I did not get it. I feared this would be another failure.

It also did not help that you alternate between present and two past times with few clues in the beginning about what happened to Alex in each of these past times!

But by page 50 I began to understand that world and once I got my baring I literally could not stop anymore! I ended up reading late and doing nothing else while I knew I had to reply to comments, blog, bookstagram etc because I just wanted to stay in that story!

You have mystery, murder, magic, action, betrayal, horror, morally grey and complex characters with a dash of gentleman mentor on top. And let’s not forget the building of a crew throughout the story.

What are you waiting for?

Oh and a cliffy of course and I really need the next book now!!!!!

What’s your best surprise/discovery in 2019?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie