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addie's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Animal death, Murder, Blood, Death, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide attempt
cfoley's review against another edition
- 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
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
kattybusiness's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
North was my favourite in Ninth House, but since he wasn't here, I'd say my Hell Bent favourite is Darlington. I really like his whole obsessive-knowledge-seeker thing, and although he's kinda cliché, that's kinda the point.
I don't really have much bad about it to say other than that it was pretty predictable. There was never an «Oh, shit,»-moment, and I really missed it.
The prologue caught my attention immediately, and I just couldn't wait to know what happened next, but I never really got that same feeling throughout the rest of the book.
However, finishing off with a positive comment, it is an interesting story, with interesting characters, and an interesting setting nonetheless. I love how Bardugo depicted demons, vampires, and probably most of all: ghosts.
I recommend this to anyone who's interested in reading a dark academia, mystery, urban fantasy type story with an fantastic take on ghosts.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Racism, and Misogyny
Minor: Grief, Bullying, and Alcohol
mlewis's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Racism
Minor: Slavery
nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Gore, and Violence
krisalexcole's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual assault, Vomit, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Blood
Minor: Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Body shaming
listette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Most of the action was at the final pages and I must say that hell was a bit of a letdown.
The characters are still so loveable and I’m looking forward for more
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Racism
blissofalife's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Drug use, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
morganish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I don't typically have a lot of books that I anticipate, but I've been waiting for this one since I closed the pages on the last one. I hate that this is true, but it's actually pretty rare for me that I finish one book and then immediately feel the need to read the next (if it's available). So when it happens, it's just... a next-level positive reading experience for me. Ninth House gave me that, and I'm happy to report that, for the most part, Hell Bent did, too. This second entry in Leigh Bardugo's Alex Stern series finds our main protagonist building a tentative alliance with some familiar names (and dealing with some mysterious/dangerous subplots) as they work to figure out how to save fan-favorite Darlington from Hell.
What Worked For Me
The Worldbuilding: I don't have anything especially grand to say, and I don't know that I think other people will love how the magic functions here, both literally or as metaphor. Magic is very much a metaphor for power here, a tool that is utilized to help the privileged accomplish their goals. There are some moments throughout the series of people doing casually horrific things tied to real-world brutality and exploitation. The metaphor at times becomes intentionally thin, so that you're not really looking at magic at all, just at people with power behaving in predictable yet awful ways, without much in the way of growth or clean justice. But I do like how Bardugo writes magic, as something that even the powerful don't really know how to use, but something they hoard. It works in a very academic sense, too; knowledge of ritual and language and incantation which builds upon itself. There's an interesting sense that magic (and knowledge) is meant to be safe, but that actually there are no rules, and no one is really in charge, but that there are a lot of scholars and rich people and bureaucrats that think if they establish organizations like the societies, they'll get a grasp on it. It also allowed magic and what exists in the sort of magical sphere to feel much, much bigger than the books suggest, but to show you very little of it; only what our protagonists care about pursuing, and what they accidentally interact with.
The Characters: I just like them! This isn't some sort of objective statement about how all characters should be like this (although I've made my feelings about a preference for protagonists like Alex Stern known in other reviews before). I just like them, they all worked well together, and they all felt realistically gray and flawed enough to feel three-dimensional and real, which is probably one of the things that helped me sink into the world so easily.
What I Have Mixed Feelings About
What Wasn't My Thing
Who This Is For/Content Warnings
The Alex Stern series really does earn the moniker "dark fantasy" in a more traditional, classic sense. Lots of really fucked up stuff happens, the characters absolutely morally gray (at times walking the knife's edge of believability). While there's sexual content and hints of romance, I'd say this isn't the kind of "dark fantasy" you see in the type of fantasy romance books for adults that are popular right now. It might have the same types of archetypes and tropes, but I'd say this leans a bit more toward the ASoIaF side of content - most of the violence (including sexual violence) exists in this series to highlight the themes. The grimdark elements here do NOT exist here as primarily tonal choices. The goal doesn't seem to be, at least to me, to shock or titillate the audience only for its own sake, or to create cheap stakes. There is theme work happening here. On the flip side, so far the way the dark elements work in this story have been what I would call expository, rather than conclusive. Which means, it's trying to draw stark, unflinching attention to the horrific realities of ivy league academia, not really in trying to offer solutions. If you like that (or can hang with it) and you like dark academia, urban fantasy, and/or a series with a lot of dangling mysteries/questions, jump right in. And if you're a fan of the first, I have a hard time imagining you not liking this one... unless the only thing you care about is Darlington being immediately returned to the real world on page 1.
Warnings for:
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Sexual violence, Racism, Gore, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Violence, Gun violence, and Rape
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Slavery