Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

53 reviews

wardenred's review

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.0

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 will just start spewing spoilers. But then there was all the magic, too, and assembling the crew to go into actual hell, and lots of characters from the first book getting to be more front and center. I loved Alex's friendships with Dawes and Mercy, and getting to know Turner better.

What I didn't fully love was how all of this was pulled together. The "making plans and assembling the party to go into hell" part dragged on for entirely too long, and then things started moving a bit too fast and, more importantly, unevenly. It was like the intermediary resolutions and plot points were coming at entirely the wrong places. The juggling of multiple timelines and gradual reveals didn't work nearly as effectively as it did in The Ninth House. I was also not a fan of certain aspects of Darlington's storyline, but that's something I can chalk up to taste. The book's weird composition, though, objectively detracted from my enjoyment, even though it's SO full of things I enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, and Vomit

emmanating's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Addiction, Death, Police brutality, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

samreadssometimes's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

i really liked this book. there were multiple plot twists i didn't expect but could have figured out if i paid more attention and didn't read this over four months. despite being a fun fantasy novel, it touched on important real world issues in an amazingly sensitive way. please write another!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Violence, Cursing, Death, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

marinasjd's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Grief, Misogyny, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Slavery, and Blood

isabellejpg's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow. I thought Ninth House was good but this was just next level! I am so excited for the third book and conclusion to this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gore, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Stalking, Blood, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Sexual harassment

risaleel's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Torture, Violence, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Minor: Mental illness, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Sexual assault

uncreativeoops's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

cfoley's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexism, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Self harm, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Animal death, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Abandonment

molly_storm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I put off listening to Hell Bent for ages after getting it on Audible, because I figured I would really need to focus on it - the time skips in Ninth House had really baffled me at first but by the end everything made sense so I figured this one would be the same. 

I was definitely not disappointed in the plot! Three nights in a row, I stayed up past 4am listening to this audiobook after going to bed. It flows beautifully - I know a lot of people have said that it’s too fast or feels rushed but I disagree wholeheartedly. 

I’m excited for the story to continue in the 3rd one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Blood, Police brutality, Addiction, Death of parent, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, Torture, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Excrement, Drug abuse, Medical content, Drug use, Mental illness, Confinement, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

By and large, the above triggers I feel are present are handled appropriately and are not there for gratuitous reasons.

courtchase's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, and Mental illness