A review by pages_with_panda
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • 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

3.75

✅ Finished Jan 16, ‘22 

"We do what we have to," Alex said. "That's the only job of a survivor."

I don’t know if I liked this book as much as Ninth House. The reason being that this book felt sooo similar to NH. We don’t resolve the cliffhanger of the last book until more than halfway of this book. We still don’t have Darlington, there’s still murders on campus, Alex is still on the verge of losing everything and paying for the crimes of her past.

I love the characters but the plot/story and pacing were a bit slow. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Bardugo has a great writing style - very descriptive and poetic almost. 

I loved the literary quotes sprinkled about, the history of Yale, the academic privilege that’s talked about. The imagery of the rabbits and it being a sort of guilt that Alex carried about. It’s an interesting book with very real meaning about who gets power, who’s really in charge.

The “twist” was a bit predictable and I’m a bit confused why Alex hadn’t seen it sooner. Darlington was MIA for the majority of the book (again) and we see more about him from Alex’s memories. Their reunion was a bit underwhelming but I think Bardugo does a good job of explaining why Alex wouldn’t be so much more receptive to him. I wish they would’ve had more than one conversation in this book too.

The plot wraps up pretty nicely while still leaving enough for a third book. I love all the characters in this - Turner, Tripp, Dawes and even Mercy. They were all great and I’m glad we got more backstory to them. 

Overall a solid second book, looking forward to the third! 

"You're the ones who fought for me. You're the ones I want to fight for."

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