Review: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had heard mixed things about Ninth House before I picked it up, some people having loved it, others having not been so keen on it. At first, I wasn’t that keen. I didn’t like Alex’s perspective, I didn’t really understand what was going on and, there were some really graphic assault scenes that I wasn’t prepared for. After reading one assault (because multiple take place in this book and I think that even if you haven’t read this book yet, that’s something you need to be aware of), I took a week off reading because it was just too much, it really shook me and although it made me understand the characters, I would have happily gone without reading it.

 

Once the pace of the story picked up and Alex’s more recent history was delved into, I enjoyed this book a lot more. I liked reading about the different magic systems that could be used and undercovering the mystery behind what was happening in New Haven. I raced through the last 150 or so pages and stayed up until 1am just so I could finish the book that night because I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t finish it beforehand. On top of that, the ending of the book was really quite satisfying and made my enjoyment even greater.

 

Overall, despite me taking a while to get into this book, I really enjoyed it. I think the trigger warnings for this book (specifically sexual assault, physical assault and injury detail) should be made clear to anyone before they read this book because I think me being unprepared for that to happen was something that really put me on edge and I wouldn’t want anyone to have a worse reaction than the one I suffered. I would have also enjoyed more parts from Darlington’s perspective because he was a great narrator and a great character that I wish we had been able to see more from. However, the story this book told, and its dark academia feel engrossed me and I would definitely read another book set in this universe. 

Review: Working Hard, Hardly Working by Grace Beverley

 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Going into reading this book, I was apprehensive. I follow Grace Beverly on Instagram and so have seen her productivity posts and watched the YouTube videos of her working insane hours when she was at university. I mean, in my time at university I’ve been guilty of overworking myself, but I’m someone who can’t work well past 5pm so it was more “not give myself any rest days” rather than “working late into the night”. As well, I feel like this book came out at just the wrong time for me. I’m finishing up my degree and going into a job where I can’t implement these techniques. However, what I have applied to my last few weeks at uni has been really helpful.

One thing I initially wasn’t sure of was “micropassions”. Grace gave an example of mind-mapping and that couldn’t be further from what I like to do and seemed so work-orientated in a way that I couldn’t relate to that I was turned off by the whole idea. However, after speaking to my friend she said that she really likes having a job where she can count money and that’s something she’s enjoyed since she was a teenager. Suddenly my whole perspective on micropassions changed and whilst I haven’t figured out what mine are yet, it has given me a more positive attitude to finding out.

The one thing from this book that I’ve been able to implement with a lot of success has been calendar blocking. As my deadlines were handed in one by one I found myself with a lot less to do and therefore was subject to Parkinson’s Law - carrying out a task over an extended period rather than taking the amount of time the task actually needs. Here the suggestion of calendar blocking really helped me; I found myself less beholden to Parkinson’s Law and had more free time.

The goal setting aspects of this book I think will take me longer to implement and I need

to read back over those sections again. Being in education for the past 18 years or so I haven’t found the need to set goals because the next thing I have to do is put in front of me. As I begin a career it will be interesting to try to implement it.

The “hardly working” side of this book was a bit of a let-down. It felt like a lot of waffle and a lot of repeating itself, which was a shame because so much of the book talks about the dangers of “hustle culture” etc. but then it doesn’t address it as much in the second section of the book as I would have hoped. That is the main reason for my star rating dropping down.

Still, this was an interesting and useful read and a book I think I’ll be coming back to refresh the ideas in my mind and to make sure I implement things to improve myself.