Hardcover, 496 pages
English language
Published Nov. 9, 2023 by Flatiron Books.
Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell.
Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.
Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going …
Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell.
Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.
Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.
Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, magic, violence, and all too real monsters.
I have been eagerly awaiting Hell Bent, and was excited to return to Alex's supernatural misadventures. This sequel went deeper into the characters, which I loved. It's not 5/5 despite my glowing review of Ninth House because Hell Bent came off as corny at times.
Contrary to other second parts this one assumes that you have all the events from Ninth House fresh.
Expanding the Yale beyond the veil universe.
While it's still entertaining I find that it harder to empathize with the characters.
Disclaimer: I am unreasonably fond of this series because part 1 ([b:Ninth House|43263680|Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553102141l/43263680.SY75.jpg|53348200]) pulled me out of a years-long reading slump, and holds a special place in my heart. Do not expect rational criticism.
The plot moves at a breathtaking speed, every chapter turned out to be a page-turner for me. Characters and plot lines are interwoven just the way I like it with seemingly negligible events popping up later, turning out to be relevant. It made the whole novel feel pleasantly dense, like perceiving a whole world, while we actually only follow a small handful of characters for some time.
Were some bits of "Hell Bent" slightly predictable? Did I not understand every aspect of the magic system at every point of the plot? Maybe. Do I care enough to subtract a star from my rating of this book? Definitely not.
There …
Disclaimer: I am unreasonably fond of this series because part 1 ([b:Ninth House|43263680|Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553102141l/43263680.SY75.jpg|53348200]) pulled me out of a years-long reading slump, and holds a special place in my heart. Do not expect rational criticism.
The plot moves at a breathtaking speed, every chapter turned out to be a page-turner for me. Characters and plot lines are interwoven just the way I like it with seemingly negligible events popping up later, turning out to be relevant. It made the whole novel feel pleasantly dense, like perceiving a whole world, while we actually only follow a small handful of characters for some time.
Were some bits of "Hell Bent" slightly predictable? Did I not understand every aspect of the magic system at every point of the plot? Maybe. Do I care enough to subtract a star from my rating of this book? Definitely not.
There is a lot going on, and much of it builds on the first book of the series, which you should absolutely read before starting "Hell Bent". For me it had been a while since I read "Ninth House", so I found a summary of it before I started this book... I recommend it, because there was a lot going on in that first book, too.
Content warning Heavy spoilers
As is customary, I'm reviewing it immediately after I finished it. It is 01:19.
What an improvement on the first! There was still some pacing issues in the beginning, but I think the slight lag in the beginning of this book was acceptable in contrast to the large lag in the beginning of the first book. This book gets the benefit of there already being significant setup for the main conflict of the novel in its predecessor, so it's able to get to things quicker than the first one did. I still think the beginning of the book could've been a bit punchier/quicker and would've been better for it, but I'll happily take this.
I think what really made me give this one whole star more than its predecessor is twofold: I felt like we got a real chance to get to know and appreciate Galaxy, and there was a lot of leaning into the lore of the world.
Alex felt significantly more real to me in this entry. Through her interactions with Dawes, Lethe's administration, Tripp, and Turner, we saw the Alex that is a loyal survivor to her core. We saw her conflicted over her mourning of Darlington while still trudging on with her work, we saw her sharing quiet moments with Dawes in between the chaos, we saw how she eventually got Turner's buy-in. Alex may not have remorse over killing the people in her past at ground zero, but she has real attachments to Yale and Lethe. Her connection to Darlington and how it built over time was intoxicating too —it was properly steeped in the mystery that accompanies all good fated connections. I also really love the Dante/Virgil imagery, and also the Orpheus and Eurydice imagery that popped in a little bit. Their chemistry in this book was absolutely magnetic.
Speaking of imagery... the world here is so rich. I love that it draws on real societies and the real campus of Yale while still altering it to give it a little bit more mystique. All of the deciphering around how we got to the library being the portal and the trickery of the demons was fun to decipher and look back on. I feel like the mystery actually slotted in this time, unlike in the first book. All of these separate strings beautifully wove together this time, and oh my god do I adore it. The only thing that was a little disappointing was how the praetor that took over after Anselm (I literally never remember his name, I only remember that it's hyphenated and starts with a W) felt like he was an issue then immediately dropped out. We never found out if demon Anselm met with the Lethe board or not. I assume he probably didn't and that's why nothing ever happened to Dawes and Alex, but I would've liked a confirmation on that. I would've also liked a confirmation on that praetor being in on it or not, even though it seems pretty clear from the hints that we got that he is.
Anyway, oh my god. I'll definitely be coming back for the third when it releases. What a whirlwind. Couldn't put it down for the back 60%.
As a parting note, I'm a little disappointed we didn't see the bridegroom in this novel because he quickly became my blorbo, but I'll excuse it. I'll be looking for him in the next book, Bardugo... (/half joke)
He’s gone, Alex. It’s time to accept that. Even if you were right, whatever survived in hell wouldn’t be the Darlington you know.
Well, this was a trip! I confess I didn't fall in love with this installment as much as I did with the first book, but this was still incredibly engrossing and entertaining. I loved getting to know the familiar characters more and seeing their relationships redefined. All the storylines held a lot of tension. The dark academia vibe was thick as ever. So much lore about the societies and the dark, death-soaked magic. And so many demonic puzzles to solve and dangerous libraries to survive! In other words, all the thrills.
I think the storyline I particularly enjoyed was the one where Alex had to work through that one big part of her past—I really don't want to start talking about it in more detail, because I …
He’s gone, Alex. It’s time to accept that. Even if you were right, whatever survived in hell wouldn’t be the Darlington you know.
Okay, generally I like this series, as you can tell by my star rating.
That said…
I’m glad Alex’s old crew are dead because they murdered her bunny, and I blame Hellie as complicit so… I’m honestly sorry that I spent two books being sad she was dead. JUSTICE FOR BABBIT RABBIT.
I'm really into this alternate-Yale urban fantasy tale that Leigh Bardugo is spinning. Looking forward to wherever it goes next.
A satisfying continuation of the series, but whereas Ninth House was gritty, dark, contemporary supernatural fantasy, Hell Bent is verging into YA supernatural. Which is fine, but the gritty darkness was what I liked most about Ninth House.
hell yeah!!!!
As a character. Not in a sexual way.
I'm hooked on these books. Bardugo's style is perfect. The world is open for another too!
4.5 because I was not hooked from the beginning but by the end I could die for Alex Stern and her squad.
Pleasantly surprised by all the fantasy aspects, and the relationships that Alex formed, all the snippets of "romance" were exactly up my alley (that I wanted more lol), and I enjoyed the plot and the magical tidbits associated with it^^
EDIT : i still think of this book, so the 4.5 stars is going to be 5 stars on goodreads^
Poor Babbit Rabbit. At least the cover makes sense now. Was a little slow to get going, but once it did, I loved the whole literal going to hell and back story. Lots of things introduced in this one that makes me hope there's more in this series.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I loved Ninth House and this is just as good! Loads of intrigue and ramped up suspense. Bardugo is absolutely ruling dark academia right now! The publisher doesn't want much to get out about it, so I will say no more.
