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A review by cajeck
To Hell and Back by Lilith Saintcrow
4.0
Good action. Good tension. Epic climax. But is it perfect? Certainly not.
I feel this book is more like 3 1/2 stars, but because I don't want to scare people away, I clicked on 4 instead of 3. It's accurate enough. I look at To Hell and Back more favorably than unfavorably. Still, this is perhaps my least favorite of the series, which is a shame, since this is the last installment for Dante Valentine.
If you want broader details of the good points in this book, just look at my other reviews for the books in this series. The good points are pretty much the same. The only thing I could possibly add regards the cast of characters. By this point in Dante's adventures, she surrounds herself by some pretty interesting people.
My biggest frustration with this book, I suppose, was how so many questions are left unanswered. I can forgive some things being left up to the readers interpretation, but I think too much was left open ended. For example: What happened to Leander? Just what are Vann and McKinley if not human? Why does Dante feel particularly drawn toward the fear of humans? What becomes of Eve's plans for Hell? Why is Jace appearing to Dante as a loa? What the hell are Abra and Jado? What is the story behind Fudoshin?
Yes, I know. I can infer answers to all of these. But in my opinion that's quite a broad range of things to have to guess at for the ending of an otherwise epic series. I know the focus of the series was on other things, but just because these questions didn't take up the core of the plot, that doesn't change the fact that as a reader I was interested in learning about them.
I also found myself a little underwhelmed by the revelations regarding hediairas. I had already surmised a lot of what the "revelations" were. As I stated above, one of the curiosities I was interested in regarded Dante and her unusual attraction to fear. Sure, you can explain that away as, "It's because she's a demon." But that feels like such a lazy answer. Every time Saintcrow brought up Dante's drunken reaction to the fear of others, I thought she was going to suggest that perhaps Danny could feed off of fear the way Japhrimel fed off of blood and sex. It would have added an entirely new aspect to the story, and perhaps a new challenge for Dante as she had to control this. Saintcrow never really went anywhere with it though, and it felt like an opportunity lost.
Also, in my last review, I mention how Dante gets pretty bratty a few times. In this installment, she doesn't get as bratty as often, and I say that because her rash behavior was not "bratty." It was the actions of a person on the edge. A lot of reviewers complained about Danny's disagreeable thinking, but geez give the girl a break. From book 3-5 she's been running in fear, and pain, and emotional turmoil with practically no breaks in between. Wouldn't you get a bit crazy if you were hunted by demons, lost numerous friends, were physically and emotionally violated, and lied to by the one person you cannot help but love? Less understandable is how Dante insists on trusting Eve blindly, without more facts, or at least better understanding what it was that Doreen meant when they spoke in the afterlife. I thought their exchange was on the side of ambiguous, but Dante bullies onward as if a geas was laid on her.
Oh, and the repetitive thinking. Yeah, that's still an issue.
Last negative: By the fifth book, you'd think we'd ease up a bit on the world-building information. Not really. Saintcrow still goes to incredible lengths to explain Dante's world as if this were the first book in the series, not the last. 75% of the way through the book, I got really impatient and skimmed these parts. They really bogged down the story's pace.
The ending felt bittersweet, and I definitely felt there was room for the series to continue. It seems it won't, though Saintcrow might have hinted in her appendix in the DV anthology that she might resume writing Dante Valentine if she feels it would be natural to do so.
I don't regret my investment in the series, though. I'm curious to see what else the author has done.
I feel this book is more like 3 1/2 stars, but because I don't want to scare people away, I clicked on 4 instead of 3. It's accurate enough. I look at To Hell and Back more favorably than unfavorably. Still, this is perhaps my least favorite of the series, which is a shame, since this is the last installment for Dante Valentine.
If you want broader details of the good points in this book, just look at my other reviews for the books in this series. The good points are pretty much the same. The only thing I could possibly add regards the cast of characters. By this point in Dante's adventures, she surrounds herself by some pretty interesting people.
My biggest frustration with this book, I suppose, was how so many questions are left unanswered. I can forgive some things being left up to the readers interpretation, but I think too much was left open ended. For example: What happened to Leander? Just what are Vann and McKinley if not human? Why does Dante feel particularly drawn toward the fear of humans? What becomes of Eve's plans for Hell? Why is Jace appearing to Dante as a loa? What the hell are Abra and Jado? What is the story behind Fudoshin?
Spoiler
Did Dante really fail her promise to Doreen, or did she perhaps misinterpret what was otherwise a very brief meeting with her former lover in Death's country?Yes, I know. I can infer answers to all of these. But in my opinion that's quite a broad range of things to have to guess at for the ending of an otherwise epic series. I know the focus of the series was on other things, but just because these questions didn't take up the core of the plot, that doesn't change the fact that as a reader I was interested in learning about them.
I also found myself a little underwhelmed by the revelations regarding hediairas. I had already surmised a lot of what the "revelations" were. As I stated above, one of the curiosities I was interested in regarded Dante and her unusual attraction to fear. Sure, you can explain that away as, "It's because she's a demon." But that feels like such a lazy answer. Every time Saintcrow brought up Dante's drunken reaction to the fear of others, I thought she was going to suggest that perhaps Danny could feed off of fear the way Japhrimel fed off of blood and sex. It would have added an entirely new aspect to the story, and perhaps a new challenge for Dante as she had to control this. Saintcrow never really went anywhere with it though, and it felt like an opportunity lost.
Also, in my last review, I mention how Dante gets pretty bratty a few times. In this installment, she doesn't get as bratty as often, and I say that because her rash behavior was not "bratty." It was the actions of a person on the edge. A lot of reviewers complained about Danny's disagreeable thinking, but geez give the girl a break. From book 3-5 she's been running in fear, and pain, and emotional turmoil with practically no breaks in between. Wouldn't you get a bit crazy if you were hunted by demons, lost numerous friends, were physically and emotionally violated, and lied to by the one person you cannot help but love? Less understandable is how Dante insists on trusting Eve blindly, without more facts, or at least better understanding what it was that Doreen meant when they spoke in the afterlife. I thought their exchange was on the side of ambiguous, but Dante bullies onward as if a geas was laid on her.
Oh, and the repetitive thinking. Yeah, that's still an issue.
Last negative: By the fifth book, you'd think we'd ease up a bit on the world-building information. Not really. Saintcrow still goes to incredible lengths to explain Dante's world as if this were the first book in the series, not the last. 75% of the way through the book, I got really impatient and skimmed these parts. They really bogged down the story's pace.
The ending felt bittersweet, and I definitely felt there was room for the series to continue. It seems it won't, though Saintcrow might have hinted in her appendix in the DV anthology that she might resume writing Dante Valentine if she feels it would be natural to do so.
I don't regret my investment in the series, though. I'm curious to see what else the author has done.