Hell Bent

A third book is coming! I am...not sure about how I feel about the major plot point of it, though. That said, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the little references to actual New Haven (I worked at Blue State Coffee!), and the funny historic references through the artifacts. I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because I do feel like it jumped the shark with one specific plot addition which I won't mention to avoid spoilers.

I was a little hesitant to pick this up because I didn't really connect with the first book. I kept thinking about the Dresden Files and how if I was going to read something so similar to it I might as well read some more of that series. But the premise was interesting and Leigh Bardugo really knows how to lead into a sequel. I took a gamble on this one and damn dude, this shit rocks.

Before I jump into this sequel I want to address a few of the flaws that held Ninth House back for me. I guess I didn't like Alex's nature in the first book, I'm all for a flawed main character but she just kind of face-rolled the scenario while complaining the whole way through. She came off as overly slick and unreliable. I wasn't buying it and I don't care how tragic her back story was. That disconnect lowered the sense of stakes for me, I didn't like Alex and I didn't especially care about what happened to her.

I want to highlight these failings because Hell Bent has totally filled in the gaps for me. This book has one major change from the first; Alex is kind of the badass now. She's a badass now, and I buy it somehow. I think that this book starts off strong and does an amazing job filling us in on Alex's summer, and it does a lot to rehabilitate her character for me. It seems like Alex has matured/is maturing into the role of Virgil, and her previous weakness is largely written off as inexperience. But she's a badass ghost bitch now, and Darlington is trapped in hell.

This whole book had a Stranger Things meets Hell Boy meets Dresden Files vibe to it, and that's such an amazing combination of ideas and themes. I think that I have fully accepted that we're playing by the Dresden Files set of rules and I am more than okay with it. I am glad that this series is pulling from the strengths of DF and not its weaknesses; if Alex gets a duster and a wide-brim hat and starts to wax poetic on how old-fashioned she is in the next one I think I will burst a blood vessel. I think that explains a lot of my shift in opinion, this is better than the Dresden Files in all the ways that matter.

(Since you asked, I don't cringe when Alex interacts with the opposite gender, and I don't have to look past how much of a dork she is because she's not a dork.)

Let me stop meandering.

Hell Bent is damn good. I was really impressed by the jump in quality across the board, but hey this series is not in the highly marketable Grishaverse so we had to wait four years. The book is better off for it, Leigh Bardugo continues to evolve as an author, and this book is proof. The choppy pacing is gone, the prose is much improved, and this book really banks on the world-building of the previous entry.

Alex Stern is going to hell, and nothing is going to get in her way. That's the plot and we stick to it this time, no pauses to let us know how Pam is feeling or how fucking cool these 150-year-old arches are. No, we are going to hell, we are getting Darlington and that's what's happening. I really love the plot this time around, it's as simple as it gets but the places it goes are unexpected and interesting. I won't spoil it suffice it to say we get as many answers as we do new questions concerning the nature of Alex's powers and the nature of magic in this universe.

I like that the references this time were more Shakespearean in nature, it's cool to have those English surveys from college count for something. I like that the story occupies the span of a year so the chapter titles aren't as confusing as they were the first go around. The story is still non-linear but not to the obnoxious degree of the first one.

The biggest change between this and Ninth House is the absence of social commentary. We've been there and done that, and now we can get to unofficial Lethe business. I have to say I prefer it this way, the more grounded focus really lets this book piggyback on the gritty charm of the Dresden Files.

The only thing holding this book back is that you need to read Ninth House first. I am looking forward to the next one.

 Leigh Bardugo is easily my favorite author that I discovered in 2022.  Before last year, I wasn't familiar with her work, but I checked out the Shadow and Bone trilogy due to a friend's recommendation.  I eagerly devoured that and the other four books in the Grishaverse before checking out Ninth House, her first book not primarily targeted at a YA audience.  Ninth House absolutely blew me away as Bardugo proved herself capable of bringing her same writing chops to a more adult and horror-based book.  After finishing Ninth House, I was eagerly looking forward to reading its sequel Hell Bent.    I am pleased to say that Bardugo continues to reward my faith in her as Hell Bent is a really strong sequel.  Generally fantasy sequels build upon their predecessors by expanding the world and raising the stakes.  Hell Bent does both, but in an unusual way.  Ninth House and Hell Bent both primarily take place at Yale University, but Hell Bent (fittingly) doesn't expand geographically, rather metaphysically as many characters literally go to Hell.  I really like what Bardugo does with Hell in this book.  She makes it more of a concept than an actual place and keeps it so that the idea of it is almost more frightening than the place itself.  Of course it still is plenty scary and Bardugo really gets to have fun with the creatures she designs here.  One thing that really stands out about Hell Bent compared to its predecessor is the imagery Bardugo uses.  Making the reader feel present is a key part of making a horror or horror-adjacent novel work and Bardugo's descriptions of the fire and corpses and other terrifying concepts really transplant the reader right next to Alex as she's experiencing everything this book throws at her.    Speaking of Alex, one thing that I really prefer in my sequels is character development and once again Hell Bent provides that.  The quartet of ‘pilgrims' in Alex, Dawes, Turner and Tripp all get a ton of really great stuff here.  Alex was already great, but she cements herself as a top-tier fantasy protagonist here.  Dawes and Turner make strong leaps to become main characters in their own right.  But the biggest pleasant surprise of this book has to be Tripp.  In Ninth House, Tripp is a doofy trust-fund kid with minimal stuff to grab on to, but Bardugo makes him a genuinely sympathetic character here.  Darlington also works really well throughout the book as someone who is always present even if not necessarily in the physical sense.  Every character here is just so good and they make Hell Bent something truly special.    I normally don't start book series before they are finished as I don't want to enter another ASOIAF situation where I am excited for a book that never comes.  I broke that rule due to how much I like Bardugo's writing and I'm glad I did because it allowed me to experience Ninth House and Hell Bent sooner.  Unfortunately it means I have to wait however long for the conclusion of the Alex Stern trilogy to come out.  Needless to say, I eagerly look forward to it.  

Hell Bent smijt je echt het verhaal in, met een griezelige flash-forward proloog die meteen al de toon zet en een dreigend gevoel van onheil creëert voor de rest van het boek. Daarna keren we terug in de tijd, naar niet lang nadat boek één eindigde.

We worden meegenomen in een kronkelig, duister, occult en thriller-achtig verhaal, boordevol actie en academische puzzels. Tegelijkertijd krijgen we een dieper en meer emotioneel begrip van onze personages.

Dit verhaal was echt dwingend en verslavend om te lezen. Soms kwam er naar mijn gevoel wel iets te veel op ons af, waardoor ik niet alles ten volle kon laten bezinken. Wel werd ik constant op het puntje van mijn stoel gehouden en werd ik nog verliefder op deze wereld van Leigh Bardugo.

Ik ben razend benieuwd hoe dit verhaal verder zal gaan, want helaas eindigde Hell Bent ook met een cliffhanger.

I know who my ship is now lmaooo. I'm way too much of a sucker for the fall-at-your-feet-in-service-and-love to go any other way.
I have a great time with Alex in these books! There are times when it gets a little ridiculous in terms of how things just happen to fall into place.
The magic also goes full swing in this one. If I thought the end of Ninth House was just bordering on the line into too much magic, this book definitively crossed it. I still had a great time, but that's why it doesn't reach the same height as the first.
I still can't get over the fact that these characters will simply quote a million different authors and scriptures without batting an eye as if it's normal for a whole group of people to simply have that kind of memory.
That aside, I love the dynamic between the characters. I love the way Dawes loves so easily, and the way Alex protects so fiercely. I love women <3

march 2022
there is a TITLE and a COVER and a RELEASE DATE
ARE WE ALL FREAKING OUT OR IS IT JUST ME

march 2024
“I'm bound to you, Stern. To the woman who brought me out of hell. I will serve you ‘til the end of days.”
asdfghj
LOVED how plot-heavy and fast-paced this book was, but it didn't wow me the way ninth house did. can't fkn wait for the next book tho bc i love every character

Silly me for thinking this was the final book in the series, of course it'd be a triology!

I've noticed a pattern with Leigh Bardugo's books, the beginning is slow and hard to get into. But once the action starts I can't stop reading until the end. Hell Bent was no different, the time jumps at the start felt like we were meandering and rehashing parts of Alex's life outside of Yale. Once we stayed in present day it was a lot easier to get engrossed in the story. The puzzle within the puzzle plot line was clever, it added extra paranormal elements to the book.  I really loved how Mercy & Alex's friendship was portrayed in this book and can't wait to see how it plays out in the next book. 

I had a good time with this book, but was disappointed with the uneven pacing. It made the book feel way too long. I found myself often re-reading as settings or timelines abruptly changed. And Darlington's demon cock....why?

I went into this book with a lot of warnings from other folks who did not like it as much as the first book in the series. However, I found it as good, if not better, than the first book.

Of course, Hell Bent did not have the flip flopping time line that Ninth House had which made it a ripping fast read.

However, the characters had a lot of depth and became even more fleshed out in Hell Bent.

My one grumble? The ending or the absence of an ending. I honestly wanted this to be a duology but the ending left no question that there will be a third book. Cliffhanger city. OR more exactly, it stopped in the middle of an action scene. Sigh. These sorts of tactics just reek of a cash grab by the publishers.