The Hellsblood Bride

I don't know if it was because I read [b:The Blue Blazes 16071824 The Blue Blazes (Mookie Pearl, #1) Chuck Wendig https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1362732677s/16071824.jpg 21865829] too long ago. Or maybe it was just because I wasn't in the right head space for this book. But I decided to read The Hellsblood Bride because I remembered how much gory, angry fun the first book was, and I like gory, angry fun, especially when I'm feeling cynical and mad at the world. Maybe I was wrong though, because something about this book fell really flat for me.Mookie and Nora Pearl are slow moving boulders when it comes to character development. They are stubborn as all hell. They insist on being terrible, on making the worst, most selfish choices. It was more exhausting than I anticipated. Trapped in hell after Mookie uses the mysterious Ochre pigment to bring her back to life, Nora will do anything to walk on the surface again. She discovers an easy fix - marry a daemon, and they'll trade abilities to walk Above and Below. Naturally, there's a downside, and it happens to be the apocalyptic kind. I had an idea pretty early on about how this book was going to end, and combined with knowing that there is no third installment and there may never will be, I didn't feel a dire need to finish this book. The vibe of this book overall was pretty dark and pretty heavy, and it wasn't really what I was looking for right now. That said, the finale was cool, and I liked where Nora and Mookie ended up.This book very much feels like a middle installment - it's got action, but overall it's more stagnant. The interesting stuff was supposed to happen next. I would love to see more of Nora's story, especially if her evolution continues. Hopefully, that book will happen someday.