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chloegierling's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
sydc27's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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? Yes
5.0
ivilla1225's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
tina_21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
amy14's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
mercedes_lara's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book as the continuation of Ninth House is extremely good. I would say that the dark academia vive that was present on the previous book fades. The setting is still mainly in Yale but it does not have the same feeling. Either way, I enjoyed the turns that happened here as well as the development of all the characters and the -kind of- found family that is created.
rianebh's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
sikastew's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
aceinit's review
2.0
I have been waiting for Hell Bent ever since the release of Ninth House. I devoured the first book in a way I have seldom devoured others, and could not wait for a return to that world.
But, ultimately, Hell Bent proved to be, for me at least, more frustrating than fulfilling. The elements I truly loved about Ninth House – the mysteries around the societies, the general supernatural murder/mystery arc, the slow, almost languid character development and revelations, are all shoved aside in favor of (gestures vaguely) whatever happened here.
A list of things that frustrated me:
• The entire mess of plot threads feels incohesive and ill-plotted, as though a bunch of dark academia, suspense, and sci-fi/fantasy tropes were thrown into a hat and a few pulled out to make up the guts of a novel. Hell Bent feels very much like a book that is trying to tackle too many subjects and ultimately feels empty because there is no central focus.
• The mysteries and mysticism regarding the societies are dropped almost entirely in favor of a DaVinci Code-esque puzzle solve of ancient riddles, with characters often acting erratically as they run to and fro deciphering clues from architecture buildings and obscure texts.
• Demons with perpetually erect glowstick penises.
• The sudden appearance and incessant mentions of Alex and Hellie’s (Helly’s? I listened to the audio for both installments and am a little bleary on the spelling) beloved pet rabbit, who was so special and so everything to both of them and yet poor bunnykins was somehow never mentioned once in the first novel (I went back to check, even though I literally just finished rereading Ninth House last week).
• The fact that the entire gauntlet ends up being almost a misdirect in itself (since Alex ultimately has the power all along) feels cheap and, honestly, a lot of items in this book feel like afterthoughts, or not-thoughts.
• The reappearance of Eitan (again, sp?) for no other reason than to be a convenient plot device at the end of the novel.
• The appearance of vampires for no other reason than to give Alex something else difficult to go up against, and which ultimately served no plot purpose other than the Eitan angle.
• The sudden appearance of vampiric familiars at the very end of the book to explain close up the plot hole/fraying story thread of Why Is Michelle Acting Weird? The book would have been better just letting her ‘nope’ out of helping save Darlington for her mental health instead of throwing her into a conspiracy. Does it ultimately matter that she was spying on them for the vampire? Not at all. So, like, why even make it a thing?
• Trying to smoosh together the vampire storyline and the demons-eventually-turn-into-vampires-because-vampires-are-just-demons-anyway storyline in general.
• The murders of Darlington's parents feel especially out of place, especially after Alex runs them off after their initial visit. When did they return? How did the demon find them and lure them back? Who knows? Who cares?
• The faculty murders are ultimately throaway plot devices that barely garner looking into by our leads.
• Killing off Tripp and replacing him with Hapless Demon!Tripp, just when Tripp himself was starting to get interesting.
• Darlington being able to shift between Darlington and horny (horned) perpetually-erect glowstick-penis Demon Darlington, except now apparently the glowstick penis can apparently be contained since it is never mentioned again once he puts on pants.
• The fact that, despite our characters enduring a lot everything, in one way or another, somehow ends up being too easy/too convenient for our characters in the end. IE: the gauntlet being unnecessary because Alex can travel to Hell any time, Eitan being an oh-so-convenient evil sacrifice for Hell, Alex being able to house living souls and not just greys so that Darlington can escape once the vessel is destroyed, everyone at Lethe Oversight who should be keeping an eye on Alex and Dawes somehow being ultimately compromised themselves, etc.
• The complete and utter failure to deal with events on an emotional level. There is no real connection between the characters beyond a hug here or a word or two there. Everyone just kind of moves on to the next plot point without dealing with any emotional baggage or reactions. They just barely fail in bringing Darlington back to hell? Oh well, on to cajoling everyone to try again instead of talking about how that actually impacted them. Darlington back from hell but still not fully Darlington? Fuck talking about it or having some nice quiet moments or with the characters, we got demons to kill. Now, don't get me wrong, Bardugo can occasionally turn out a great line or two with an emotional whallop, but Hell Bent is ultimately devoid of the kinds of interactions, moments and introspection that allow readers to truly connect and feel for the characters. The book literally ends with our heroes running off into the night to fight evil like a dark academia Batman and Robin, for crying out loud. Where is the actual impact for readers?
The whole novel just felt like a bad parody of the first, without any of the satisfaction I felt from reading Ninth House.
Will I still be around for the final volume? Absolutely. And I will try a re-listen of this volume in a few months to see if my opinion of it changes. But I don’t feel this novel sticking with me (haunting me, if you will) the way Ninth House did.
But, ultimately, Hell Bent proved to be, for me at least, more frustrating than fulfilling. The elements I truly loved about Ninth House – the mysteries around the societies, the general supernatural murder/mystery arc, the slow, almost languid character development and revelations, are all shoved aside in favor of (gestures vaguely) whatever happened here.
A list of things that frustrated me:
• The entire mess of plot threads feels incohesive and ill-plotted, as though a bunch of dark academia, suspense, and sci-fi/fantasy tropes were thrown into a hat and a few pulled out to make up the guts of a novel. Hell Bent feels very much like a book that is trying to tackle too many subjects and ultimately feels empty because there is no central focus.
• The mysteries and mysticism regarding the societies are dropped almost entirely in favor of a DaVinci Code-esque puzzle solve of ancient riddles, with characters often acting erratically as they run to and fro deciphering clues from architecture buildings and obscure texts.
• Demons with perpetually erect glowstick penises.
• The sudden appearance and incessant mentions of Alex and Hellie’s (Helly’s? I listened to the audio for both installments and am a little bleary on the spelling) beloved pet rabbit, who was so special and so everything to both of them and yet poor bunnykins was somehow never mentioned once in the first novel (I went back to check, even though I literally just finished rereading Ninth House last week).
• The fact that the entire gauntlet ends up being almost a misdirect in itself (since Alex ultimately has the power all along) feels cheap and, honestly, a lot of items in this book feel like afterthoughts, or not-thoughts.
• The reappearance of Eitan (again, sp?) for no other reason than to be a convenient plot device at the end of the novel.
• The appearance of vampires for no other reason than to give Alex something else difficult to go up against, and which ultimately served no plot purpose other than the Eitan angle.
• The sudden appearance of vampiric familiars at the very end of the book to explain close up the plot hole/fraying story thread of Why Is Michelle Acting Weird? The book would have been better just letting her ‘nope’ out of helping save Darlington for her mental health instead of throwing her into a conspiracy. Does it ultimately matter that she was spying on them for the vampire? Not at all. So, like, why even make it a thing?
• Trying to smoosh together the vampire storyline and the demons-eventually-turn-into-vampires-because-vampires-are-just-demons-anyway storyline in general.
• The murders of Darlington's parents feel especially out of place, especially after Alex runs them off after their initial visit. When did they return? How did the demon find them and lure them back? Who knows? Who cares?
• The faculty murders are ultimately throaway plot devices that barely garner looking into by our leads.
• Killing off Tripp and replacing him with Hapless Demon!Tripp, just when Tripp himself was starting to get interesting.
• Darlington being able to shift between Darlington and horny (horned) perpetually-erect glowstick-penis Demon Darlington, except now apparently the glowstick penis can apparently be contained since it is never mentioned again once he puts on pants.
• The fact that, despite our characters enduring a lot everything, in one way or another, somehow ends up being too easy/too convenient for our characters in the end. IE: the gauntlet being unnecessary because Alex can travel to Hell any time, Eitan being an oh-so-convenient evil sacrifice for Hell, Alex being able to house living souls and not just greys so that Darlington can escape once the vessel is destroyed, everyone at Lethe Oversight who should be keeping an eye on Alex and Dawes somehow being ultimately compromised themselves, etc.
• The complete and utter failure to deal with events on an emotional level. There is no real connection between the characters beyond a hug here or a word or two there. Everyone just kind of moves on to the next plot point without dealing with any emotional baggage or reactions. They just barely fail in bringing Darlington back to hell? Oh well, on to cajoling everyone to try again instead of talking about how that actually impacted them. Darlington back from hell but still not fully Darlington? Fuck talking about it or having some nice quiet moments or with the characters, we got demons to kill. Now, don't get me wrong, Bardugo can occasionally turn out a great line or two with an emotional whallop, but Hell Bent is ultimately devoid of the kinds of interactions, moments and introspection that allow readers to truly connect and feel for the characters. The book literally ends with our heroes running off into the night to fight evil like a dark academia Batman and Robin, for crying out loud. Where is the actual impact for readers?
The whole novel just felt like a bad parody of the first, without any of the satisfaction I felt from reading Ninth House.
Will I still be around for the final volume? Absolutely. And I will try a re-listen of this volume in a few months to see if my opinion of it changes. But I don’t feel this novel sticking with me (haunting me, if you will) the way Ninth House did.