Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Hell Bent

this is one of those series i read and can't help but feel envious of both the characters and the author. the characters for getting to live this life, and the author for having been able to dream it up.

“Life is cruel. Magic is real. And I’m not ready to die.”

one character that i really came to adore was mercy. i feel like she was all of us readers, wishing so badly to find a way in to live magic and leave the real world behind. tripp was also a very endearing character who brought some lighthearted comic relief in as well. i did not care for hellie after this book, esp bc the babbit rabbit story.

“Fuck off.”
“I did miss you, Stern.”

the agonizing slowburn of alex & darlington is SO DELICIOUS oh my god i just know the pay off is going to be well worth it.

“Come on, Darlington,” she said. “Let's give them hell.”

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simplykatherina's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Once again I want to travel to Yale solely to see the architecture described in this book. I felt like we got really good character development from everyone in this story, and I connected with Alex way more in this book than in the first one. I also really enjoyed the snippets taken out of diaries and catalogues that were sprinkled throughout the book because they actually related to the story and weren’t used solely for world building purposes.

This book had the ability to be dark and creepy without feeling overwhelmingly so, which I really appreciated. I felt that the pacing really worked in this book, and even though it took a while to get to the crux of the story it didn’t feel like anything was unnecessary along the way.

I definitely thought that this was a duology so I feel a little bamboozled by that, but I’m anxiously awaiting book #3 now!

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leexpenandpages's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.75

📝 SYNOPSIS:
I love you to Hell and back. Immersed in a world of occult magic, Alex vows to return her mentor from Hell with the help of her friends and a magical gift that is hers alone.
👩‍🏫⛪️👻📜💀🐇😈🧛‍♂️🎩

👍🏻 RECOMMENDATION:
💚 READ it!

💬 FAVORITE QUOTES:
[PENDING]

👓 FORMAT:
🎧

📑 COMMENTS:
• Um, this is a sequel? LOL I jumped in here, and it works fine.
• In the contemporary fantasy setting, Bardugo captures the dark academic aesthetic well. When it comes to the real-life setting, the northeast and California are believable (but I haven't spent enough time in Connecticut specifically to judge that). The magic system is convoluted, but the loose logic does fall apart at the end.
• The characters are complex, three-dimensional, and flawed. Their races and genders influence them in meaningful ways. Some are more lovable than others, but they are all understandable. Mercy & Turner are my personal favorites! The antagonists are rounded, too.
• Apt imagery and metaphors flow into the prose. There's plenty to dissect if that's your thing. (It's mine!) I'd love to see it on the page, particulaely to see the tome excerpts.
• Why did they switch audiobook narrators so late into the story? It was jarring, and it pulled me out of the story! The character's voice is defined, but I also hate it. It adds nothing to the story. Overall, Part Two lags.

Content Warnings

itsheyfay's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

dearhaleynicole's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

I LOVED this sequel to Ninth House! The eerie setting was still there but Leigh really built on what she did with the first book. I thought the stakes were there and big fan of more Darlington in this book. For obvious reasons if you read Ninth House.

Had no idea there was set to be a sequel but that makes me so happy because I need more!!

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