Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

14 reviews

prairieraven's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Car accident, Gore, Addiction, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Rape, Abandonment, Sexism, Slavery, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Sexual content, Violence, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Vomit, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Cursing, Police brutality, Racism, and Toxic friendship

paduckling's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Classism, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit

andra_mihaela_s's review

mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, Classism, Child abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, Abandonment, and Addiction

Minor: Animal cruelty

theespressoedition's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Gore, Cursing, Violence, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

jakobmarleymommy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Gore, Animal death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Suicide

bi_n_large's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Blood, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Racism, Gore, Slavery, and Animal death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Rape

Minor: Torture and Drug use

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.

frankieclc's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Drug use, Blood, and Drug abuse

Minor: Rape

lovelymisanthrope's review

adventurous dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I read "Ninth House" last year and was captivated by the story, and absolutely dying to see the resolution to the cliffhanger ending
"Hell Bent" is the sequel to "Ninth House" and continues to follow Alex Stern in her journey to free Darlington from purgatory. Alex and Dawes are forbidden from attempting to save Darlington, so they assemble their own team to get the job done.
I did enjoy this story, and I did appreciate how much of an urban fantasy this felt to me, but I was a little bored at times. This book and the series as a whole has a lot of world building because of the magic system. With this being the second book, I wanted to get to the meat of the story faster. I felt at times that there were entire sections that could have been cut out of the book. Perhaps there re easter eggs that will feel more important for the next book, but right now, it felt unnecessary.
I do still really enjoy Alex as a character. She is rough around the edges and so relatable with her chaotic energy. I also really appreciate how committed she is to rescuing those that she loves. Darlington was so good for her, and she is hell bent on saving him.
The mystery that is going on was very okay. I was not super invested in all of the murders and trying to resolve what was happening, but I was not entirely bored by it either.
Will I keep reading this series? Probably. I am invested in Alex as a character, and I do love Leigh Bardugo's writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Torture, Stalking, and Murder

cady_sass's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Struggling to put together the words to express my disappointment. The second installment lacks all of the dark academia, secret societies, and cult vibes that I loved about Ninth House. Of course they are still AT Yale, but there is little actual school content, there’s even less discussion about the actual Lethe work and the other 8 houses and the rituals, which is the content I want. 

The entirety of this novel is about Darlington, which, as I said in my review of Ninth House, we don’t know nearly enough about nor did we spend enough time with him in the first book to actually care about him. Everything else about the world they built falls away and the only thing that matters is finding Darlington and bringing him home, and the hell that comes along with it (pun intended). To that point, it’s completely nonsensical and out of character for any of these characters to care about Darlington too, except for Pam who is by far the best part of the whole book. Tucker has no reason to join them in their endeavors. The friend (I literally already forget his name) has no reason to risk his life here. ALEX has no real reason here either- they make a point, over and over again, to tell us how she feels nothing and everything she does is self serving. NONSENSE, all of it. 

I get that this might do it for some people but for me it’s a let down. I’m sorry, I just don’t care about Darlington. Give me more secret society shady dealings and unsanctioned rituals and detective work and leave the hell portals at home. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, Body horror, Classism, Kidnapping, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Misogyny