Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
SPOILER FREE REVIEW
Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory - even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.
Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.
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The descent into Hell is never easy but flying through this book sure was! I could not put it down and I’m SO HAPPY that it lived up to and exceeded all of my expectations. Ninth House is my favourite book so I’ve been anticipating this sequel for what feels like ages and finally getting my hands on it felt unreal. This story lived up to the dark academia and dark “arts” of the first novel, kept our loveable cast of characters, expanded on character growth, and had a fantastic and intricate plot that kept me in shock right from the start. The prologue was so terrifying and creepy that I was hooked right from moment one and I could not get enough. This series is like a drug and if you haven’t read it yet, go now! This review will be completely spoiler free so I won’t be getting into it as much as I would like but, given it’s still pretty new (released Jan 10th, 2023), I don’t want to ruin even any small moments for anyone who hasn’t had the chance to read it yet because its worth the surprises. But buckle in because this book was a wild ride.
In this sequel, much like the first book, we start midway through the story and then go back to the beginning. So right from the start, there’s a horrifying mystery that we need to figure out and get the shortest glimpse of. This was a great hook and, even though it was a similar starting point to the first book, I found it so much more intriguing now that we know what to expect from this type of story from Leigh. As we go back to the beginning, we get to start a new year at Yale with Alex where, even though she has the daunting task of fetching Darlington from Hell in front of her, she also gets to enjoy the quiet calm of a new semester with the friends she made from book 1. However, even though Alex has had some tremendous growth when it comes to herself and personal relationships, that scrappy nobody is still in there and she definitely hasn’t lost the edge that that brings her. I loved how she didn’t just leave her old self behind after her growth in book 1 and that there was still ways for her to change and learn but still accept her past self. Her character development and relationship development in this book was top tier. She doesn’t trust easily but she’s more willing to give a little than she used to and admits to needing help in the quest before her. Her sisterly friendship with Dawes, her kinship with Mercy, even her fun “no magic related” relationships with Lauren and other Yale classmates was so good to see after the loneliness she went through in the first book.
All of the “side” characters really leapt off the page in this book as well. I loved seeing more of Turner’s back story. It explains why he seems to hate everyone but really is just doing the best he can to get by. Dawes’ anxiety being a main focus of her character was so relatable and I loved that even though she was able to become a little more confident and come out of her shell a little more, the anxiety wasn’t just shown as an obstacle to overcome. It’s a big part of who she is and having her learn to balance it a little more was amazing. The relationships in this book really took it to the next level as well. I won’t say who exactly as I don’t want to spoil anything but there were some pretty interesting dynamics that came out of this book and I’m very excited to see these new relationships explored in the next book.
As we get further into the book, Dawes and Alex are trying to find various ways of breaking into Hell and snatching Darlington back out, if he’s even still the Darlington that they know. A lot of my theories from the first book ended up panning out in this one so I was pretty proud of myself, however there were still a ton of surprises waiting around the corner for me. The societies take a bit of a back seat in this one as we focus more on the history of Lethe and the research of past Virgils. I loved the tidbits about the artifacts donated to Lethe from other houses and how those little informational pieces became woven into the story. There were also a lot of “side quests” that surprised me that made this entire plot a lot more intricate and dangerous. It seemed like there was a villain or authority figure around every corner that our crew had to circumvent in order to get into Hell. Who knew it could be so difficult?
I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed it just as much as the first one and it has cemented the fact that this definitely is my favourite series ever. If you’re a Bardugo fan or enjoyed Ninth House, you won’t be disappointed! And if you like Dark Academia and books that study the occult but HAVEN’T gotten into the series yet, nows your time! This is 5 stars but I’d give it 5 million if I could.
Happy reading!