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badwaifu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Blood
Moderate: Sexual violence, Police brutality, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Death, Drug use, and Murder
blissofalife's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? Yes
4.75
As convoluted and detailed as the first! It all comes back around, and every little thing tied in. And I mostly followed all of it. Great character building and witty writing. Can’t wait for the next!
Content Warnings
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
theotheleo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Murder, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Cursing, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Torture, Child death, Racism, Blood, and Mental illness
Minor: Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Death of parent, Suicide, Slavery, and Medical trauma
thegothiclibrary's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Enjoyed this one even more than Ninth House, if possible!
Check out my full review: https://bookshop.org/a/2138/9781250313102
Check out my full review: https://bookshop.org/a/2138/9781250313102
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Death, and Drug abuse
beebeewin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.75
Once again Leigh Bardugo killed it with this novel! I loved how this novel built the world of magic at Yale out, with the magic extending beyond what we learned last time. That meant the story was kept fresh as I still felt like there were all these mysteries that needed to be unfolded. Also, I appreciate that some of the mysteries are still yet to be solved. It was very interesting to learn more about all the characters and it really deepened my understanding of their motives and personalities. I will say my one fault with the novel is I felt like Michelle was the one character I didn't learn anything about before her death. I don't know if this will be something rectified in later novels, but I wanted to hear more of her story. Overall, the plot was interesting with how all the parts weaved together and the charcters relationships felt like they developed beautifullly. It will be interesting to see how the relationships and lingering plot poonts from this novel feed into the next. This novel was a perfect addition to the last one and I didn't want to stop reading at all. I am so excited for the next novel as I want to see how everything plays out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism
morganish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
Well, dear reader, I thoroughly enjoyed Hell Bent.
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.
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 Pacing, and Balance of Plotlines: I honestly got so sucked in that I didn't take much time to smell the roses or do too much critical analysis. I just... enjoyed it. I liked almost all of the plotlines. Unlike Ninth House, where as much as I loved it, the main plot felt confusing and murky to me at times, and the book overall seemed just a bit overstuffed. Maybe it's just because I know the world better, or because the main plotline's stakes revolved around a character we actually know.
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.
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
The Themework: This is complicated. I really do like, on certain levels, how the book casts an unflinching light on the way that wealth and academia can operate together, enabling hyper-privileged elites to do great harm in the world. Bardugo largely doesn't play at metaphor; she states directly into the text over and over and over that power and privilege harm the system and everyone standing downwind. But there are times the protagonists are in some ways the very people she's speaking about. She doesn't take them to task nearly as harshly, or she makes excuses for them because they have trauma in their pasts. (She does not state this directly. More it's implied by how the text treats those characters). The underprivileged characters never quite learn how to detach from the powerful umbrella they've suddenly found themselves under. And no one seems to really learn the "right" lessons about systemic privilege. Alex herself repeats over and over that the only good she knows is how to protect the people she cares about in her immediate sphere, and that there is no other morality. Because the book ends in a certain way, I'm not 100% sure there are going to be any future books. (Probably, but the ending seemed like it was left in a such a way that if there wasn't, it wouldn't be completely infuriating.) So it's unsure if the novel just leaves us there, with a bunch of characters who both seem to know the system is bad, but who still like Lethe and Yale and magic, still identify with it and see it as a kind of home. The reality is, IMHO, that none of these characters are quite ready to fully fight the system yet. And are actually in pretty real danger of simply being absorbed into it, whatever the narration may state to the contrary.
What Wasn't My Thing
Not Much! There were a couple of moments where my engagement (which was overall very high) stuttered out for a chapter or too. And I do think the story goes to a place around the last leg of the journey where my investment did wane a bit. But knowing other readers and what they liked from the first book, I think I'll be in the minority there.
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.
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:
Multiple conversations referring to past sexual assault, short description of implied magical sexual assault (maybe inside the protagonist's head). Lots of gore and violence. Ghosts, and corpses in various unpleasant states. Police investigations and police characters, several scenes focused on racism within the police force, including the immediate aftermath of the murder of young Black man by police. Use of a magical artifact which had been used to hunt escaped slaves. Casual mentions of violence toward homeless people; a scene which takes place in a mental hospital, with other mentions of a past time in mental hospitals. Bullying of children, including one intense scene which almost leads to death. Bodily injury and blood rituals. Brief mentions of drug use and cravings. Murder is a major theme of this book, including by protagonist characters. High-ranking members of the military proactively plotting murder. Stealing and a pretty weird desecration of a foreign national's corpse. Graphic, prolific on-page nudity. Lol, at this point, I figure you get the picture; this is just probably not a great series for people with major triggers, or readers who prefer fluffier reading material.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Sexual violence, Racism, Gore, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Violence, Gun violence, and Rape
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Slavery
locajohanna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Racism
carlyoc's review
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.75
An excellent second installment that sets up for a third. Alex Stern works for a magical secret society called Lethe at Yale whose job is to keep the other magical secret societies in line. It's now been a year since her mentor Darlington disappeared, swallowed by a Hell Beast. She is beginning to feel confident taking on his role of Virgil, as opposed to Dante, the one in training. But then her past comes back to haunt her when a big deal drug dealer whose brother she had murdered back home blackmails her into doing some jobs for him on the east coast.
Meanwhile, Alex is determined to rescue Darlington from Hell, even if it means going there herself and dragging him out. But the only person in Lethe willing to help her is Dawes, a grad student who fills the role of Occulus, as the researcher and healer of the group.
To top things off, there are a series of murders of faculty on campus that seem to have a supernatural element, that Alex is tasked with helping to solve.
Oh, and turns out vampires are real, too.
Alex and her companions will each have to face their demons quite literally as they attempt a descent into Hell and clean up the chaos unleashed by messing with doors between the realms.
Meanwhile, Alex is determined to rescue Darlington from Hell, even if it means going there herself and dragging him out. But the only person in Lethe willing to help her is Dawes, a grad student who fills the role of Occulus, as the researcher and healer of the group.
To top things off, there are a series of murders of faculty on campus that seem to have a supernatural element, that Alex is tasked with helping to solve.
Oh, and turns out vampires are real, too.
Alex and her companions will each have to face their demons quite literally as they attempt a descent into Hell and clean up the chaos unleashed by messing with doors between the realms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Murder
Moderate: Police brutality and Racism
Heads up arachnophobes, here's a pretty intense spider scene but it is over quickly.martinatan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
Leigh Bardugo owns this ass
ok ok some thoughts that ran through my head, but not a cohesive review because I will always be too insane and biased about her writing to write something balanced:
- she strikes again with the calculated development ofunconventional and intense romance! i swear that she makes an art of slipping in well-placed sentences that convey barely restrained emotional tension. I feel like similar to Kaz and Inej in the Crows duology, Alex and Darlington have such a specific set of neuroses that make them tragically terrible for each other but maybe even worse if they were to be paired with anyone else or left alone. Their dynamic is heartbreakingly good with a little sexual tension as a treat. the rest of the plot was pretty good too.
- Also I am enjoying this crew becomingmore monstrous, as their world becomes increasingly hellish. There’s something inherently queer and found family-ish about a bunch of university age adults coming together over murder and blood magic. don’t @ me.
- She did a great job of introducing antagonists into the story and slowly revealing and resolving conflicts throughout. This is something that was done well in the first book and I was pleasantly surprised that it was still so satisfying and fresh in this one.
- I was similarly worried about attempting to replicate the mixed timeline format from the first book but it was just as effective, just made me wary at first because the opening to this series was such an immediate draw for me and to see it attempted again felt like she was setting myself up for disappointment. but it did NOT disappoint.
- I was also anticipating more backstory and development for characters introduced in the first book. This met my expectations and I found their histories to be really compelling, if not admirable or enviable.I was so delighted by snippets of Dawes and Turner POVs, and I really hoped Dawes would become a more central perspective. This didn’t quite happen but I see a lot of room for that in the next book.
- The book deals with issues of race and exploitation in an okay way.I think Turner’s story was important to tell, and his actions in the moment of his flashback made the most sense for a “sympathetic cop” character to me, but all the same, his decision to not leave the force even after this traumatic moment in his career feels maybe disingenuous to me? I wish there had been more follow up about how this moment affected him afterwards. In fact, his emotionlessness being sort of explained away as a defense mechanism or a technique he developed for professional settings does not bode well for me. A Black character, by a white author, written to have no emotions? In the face of an extremely painful and fucked up line of work that sees the death of a lot of Black people? I’m sure Bardugo did her best to deal with it, but I assume it’s near impossible to do justice to Turner’s storyline in her position. Still processing this. That’s what I’ve observed and analyzed about the situation with regard to Bardugo writing a Black character in a low fantasy setting.
I could say more but I’m done ranting for now. This book truly thrilled me and I was happy to delve into this world again.
ok ok some thoughts that ran through my head, but not a cohesive review because I will always be too insane and biased about her writing to write something balanced:
- she strikes again with the calculated development of
- Also I am enjoying this crew becoming
- She did a great job of introducing antagonists into the story and slowly revealing and resolving conflicts throughout. This is something that was done well in the first book and I was pleasantly surprised that it was still so satisfying and fresh in this one.
- I was similarly worried about attempting to replicate the mixed timeline format from the first book but it was just as effective, just made me wary at first because the opening to this series was such an immediate draw for me and to see it attempted again felt like she was setting myself up for disappointment. but it did NOT disappoint.
- I was also anticipating more backstory and development for characters introduced in the first book. This met my expectations and I found their histories to be really compelling, if not admirable or enviable.
- The book deals with issues of race and exploitation in an okay way.
I could say more but I’m done ranting for now. This book truly thrilled me and I was happy to delve into this world again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Body horror, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Classism, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Sexism, Slavery, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm
tanishah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Cursing
Minor: Slavery and Police brutality