Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Hell Bent

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

146 reviews

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

After getting lost in the story in Ninth House, I was excited to return to the magical secret society, dark academia world of Yale/New Haven that Bardugo had created for this trilogy. The cover promised just as much creepy intrigue as the first book and I was ready.

The summer between her first and second years at Yale doesn't allow Alex quite as much downtime and recovery as she might have liked. Although the campus societies that Lethe oversees aren't as active, so she has less responsibility in overseeing their rituals, she still has to deal with the drama of replacing the Praetor, the reappearance of some evils from her past that she thought she left behind in California, and the plan that she and Dawes are putting together to break Darlington's soul out of purgatory...even if no one thinks he's actually survived this long, no one at Ninth House supports their effort and there's a chance that at best they get kicked out of Yale/Lethe and at worst they never make it back from their journey into Hell. But being on her own, without guidance and against all odds has never stopped Alex before. So, she and Dawes recruit some reluctant helpers (enter returning characters Turner and Tripp - who are either old favs or will definitely grow on you throughout this novel!) to make the descent with them. And through the process, they learn the societies' closely guarded secrets, histories, texts, and artifacts, confront old enemies (and memories) and make new ones, reckon with the demons from Hell face-to-face, and maybe, maybe, manage to bring back a version of Darlington.

Well if I thought Ninth House brought the vibes, that was nothing compared to this second book. Hell Bent is *all* vibes. In fact, for probably the first quarter or so, it was perhaps too much vibe and not enough....anything else. There is a chance that jumping into this while on vacation was not the right timing (maybe I needed a lighter sort of escapist fantasy in that situation), but if I'm being honest, I think things could have picked up a bit faster, plot-wise. Now, about a third of the way in, when the planning for the Gauntlet hit with greater force (and a vampire showed up!), the pacing hit its sweet spot in balance with aforementioned vibes. This still felt like a much slower reading experience overall, despite the fact that many things did happen, and I don't know if that's a result of the writing style or the (fantastic) theoretical gothic-magical academia energy of the story, but this is more of a "lose yourself in it" read than a "high speed plot" reading experience. This leant itself nicely to the slower middle-book build. And this novel did have a bit of that. There's a clear come-down from the events of the first and, once you get to it, a clear cliffhanger-into-the-finale sort of ending. But once I hit the real plot, with the Gauntlet, I enjoyed this further getting to know our primary characters. We get more from Alex, of course, with the way she must actually address the trauma of her recent (pre-Yale) history and the choices and monsters that still haunt her from that, plus the developments/changes in her ghost-seeing/communicating reality. Then, with the way the Descent gives her insight into each character's internal perspective of the situations that caused them to become killers (with bonus moral commentary on what counts as being "guilty" enough to be labeled as such), we get a lot of new depth on Dawes, Tripp and Turner as well. And Darlington! There are a couple points where Alex sees into his internal experiences too, and getting that background on him, letting the reader learn more about him even if he doesn't feature as prominently in this plot, knowing that he'll be abck in a major way in the last book, was important for connection and continuity. I also loved that Mercy got more involved as well! She got to live the dream of every "normal kid raised on stories of magic" - to actually be involved with magic. While the way it falls out feels like a let down (in that that's probably what it would be like, despite picturing/dreaming for it to be different), I can't argue with it. It's authentic in a way that is not usually depicted. And. I still loved to see it.

Alright, what else... Oh! The multiple meanings of the title are woven in so well (Darlington bent by time in Hell and Alex/Dawes hell bent on getting him back). Such awesome language play. I was a bit hesitant on a real-world murder mystery being included again; it felt too similar to the first and I wanted the narrative to have moved past that device. But it ended up being ok because it fell very much to the background by the final quarter and was tangled into the general thread of the story, but not central. And the narrative ended up expanding past the first book the way I wanted it to eventually as well. The connection(s) back to how these societies were formed as Alex and company figure things out (and reveals were revealed) were lovely growth and did a great job continuing some of the social and moral critical commentary that was introduced in the first, as Alex becomes ever more immersed in the worlds of power and money (and how the temptation for both tends to overcome any morals almost without fail).

Y'all, those last lines though. I want more now!! It took a hot minute, but by the end, I was sufficiently into the internal reckoning, the spooky and devilish, downright creepy and power-hungry evils, that this book gave the reader. The subtlety of the power-seeking/holding dark magic secret society we get here (under the radar, but worse for it), built spectacularly. And with that intensity from this book, and the promise of more action in the last book left in those final moments (and a little more to the mystery of Alex’s power and what Darlington has become), my anticipation is *high.* Plus, the change in the way Alex and Darlington are approaching each other after their experiences in this book...ohhh I neeeeeeeeeeed for them to get together so hard. I cannot wait for this finale!

“But this was what real magic looked like—indecent, decadent, perverse.”

“If I must be a prisoner I would desire to have no other prison than that library.”

“She was a cannonball. She wasn’t good for much at rest, but give her a hard enough shove, let her build up enough momentum, and she’d punch a hole through anything.”

“It was one thing to hurl yourself headfirst into the dark. It was another to feel like someone had deliberately turned off the lights.”

“That was the problem with love. It was hard to unlearn, no matter how harsh the lesson.”

“Take then this lesson: ‘When faced with death, better to dance than to lie down for it.’”

“Why raise children on the promise of magic? Why create a want in them that can never be satisfied—for revelation, for transformation—and then set them adrift in a bleak, pragmatic world?”

“The problem wasn’t books and fairy tales, just that they told half the story, offering up the illusion of a world where only the villains paid in blood, the ogre stepmothers, the wicked stepsisters, where magic was just and without sacrifice.”

“But she liked this life full of pointless beauty.”

“…she was going to protect what was hers – even if she didn’t deserve it, even if it might not be hers for much longer.”

“To pay your debts, you had to know who you owed. You had to decide who you were willing to go to war for and who you trusted to jump into the fray for you. That was all there was in this world. No heroes of villains, just the people you’d brave the waves for, and the ones you’d let drown.”

“A little magic. A talent for taking a beating. A demon at her side. That was all she had, but maybe it was all she needed.”

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victoriamark's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense

4.75

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imaginaryalchemist's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As soon as I finished Ninth House I knew I had to read the sequel, and it didn't disappoint!

One of my favorite aspects is the characters. They all play off each very well in my opinion. It's always entertaining to see Alex banter with everyone, I love how much of a smart ass she is. My favorite character would probably have to be Mercy, I'm glad she got more screen time and development in this novel.

I am curious to see how she handles everything moving forward, if she'll try to distance herself from Lethe and Alex.

I also enjoyed the murder mystery aspect, just like I did in Ninth House, and how it blended in with the overall story. I do wish the societies had played more of a role, they're very interesting and I'd like to know more about them.

I'll be eagerly awaiting the third installment in the Alex Stern series, and I plan on checking out Leigh Bardugo's YA series. I enjoy her writing style

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crownoflaurel's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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maregred's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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abbie52923's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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emmanating's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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hannahcstocks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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marinasjd's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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vagrantheather's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Dark, adventurous, grim, morally gray, loveable. The people are immaculate, the setting nostalgic, the writing clever. The senses of adventure and fear, the hope and grief and shame. The characters are thoroughly developed, deep, real. Their motives make sense.

I read Chai's 2 star review criticizing the lack of quiet moments for processing, and I get that. It probably could be a more powerful story if the pace relented for just a moment and let our dear Galaxy think. But it doesn't diminish my absolute delight over this book. Still a 5 star read from me.

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