It’s time to review Hell Bent. But first…

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Series Rating: 4 out of 5

Genre: Sci-fi/ Fantasy, Horror, Series

People who should read this: If you loved Ninth House, like lush, atmospheric reads, or dark stories.

For how Ninth House ended, I expected to get to hell a lot faster. And if you’re curious to hear my thoughts on Ninth House listen to the Dark Side of the Word podcast here. Otherwise, I’m warning that there will most definitely be spoilers for the first book.

Moving on… Because all this prelim stuff is boring.

Hell Bent… Hell is in the title dammit. Where was all the Hell? I was very skeptical about the second book. The only jumping-off point was that Darrington was in Hell. Maybe I was the only person not invested in learning more about Alex seeing ghosts. So… It’s a thing she can do. She makes power sources by absorbing the life of the living. What more is there to say? 

Well, I needed this second book. *I say that as a crazed person*

Just like in Ninth House, Hell Bent drops the reader into the story a few months in the future. That’s fine. I was ready for the confusion this time. There are a lot of questions, the biggest one being, why isn’t Darrington back if it’s already November? I would think the longer someone spends in hell, the worst they’re going to be. Was I the only one thinking they were going to rush to the rescue right away and not eight months later? Not after taking the summer break. Wouldn’t it have been easier to find the Gauntlet without the campus full of students?????

Clearly, I’m the only rational one here.

My confusion doesn’t stop there. 

Here I go in thinking they’re going to rush off to Hell, but the real beginning of the story is at the start of the semester. After the summer. Months after the previous book. *scratches head* But wait… We’re dumped into the scene of Alex visiting a random gentleman with glamor on, claiming that she’s doing this side hustle for someone else. Not for Yale or Lethe or whatever that organization is called. Maybe I’m forgetting something from Ninth House, but I read it a month ago. I shouldn’t feel this confused. And it felt like pulling teeth to receive information from Bardugo. It was a decent amount in before the pieces started to fall into place and the inner workings could make sense (sort of). Alex and the drug dealer were a thing to explain something else at the end. She also needed him as her introduction to the vampires.

Yes… you read that right… there are vampires in this book. Cool huh…

And that’s where we come to my biggest complaint about the book. This plot was a study of an author constantly changing her mind. One idea or plot point would be thrown in only to be forgotten later or completely decided against. There are actual moments where Bardugo goes nope, we’re not going to follow that train of thought anymore. Time to throw it out the window, not change what I’ve already written, and plow forward. Some people could call that a plot twist. I call it being lazy. Even though a conclusion was eventually reached in the end, nothing was exactly wrapped up. Don’t even question the nagging plotholes that we’re going to need to ignore. 

That’s a lot to complain about. How then did I give it four stars? 

Time for the good points…

I’m dying for the next book and I’m really annoyed that I’m going to have to wait so long. This is the very reason that books sit on my shelf for so long. I end up buying the whole series without even knowing if I’m going to like it because I don’t want to sit waiting for the next book to come out. I don’t have the time to reread the books. But this might be the one instance where I’m going to have to buck up buttercup. I don’t want to be confused. 

I want more Alex. She makes the entire series for me, especially after Bardugo built up the rest of the cast in Hell Bent. I can’t believe that I’m going to admit this… Please forget I ever said this… I’m not reading this book for the plot. *BLAAAAAHHHHHH* For those of you that know, I hate character-driven stories with a passion. I want the plot. I want the twists. I want the story to crash forward without apologies. And yet, here I am, complaining about the entire plot and sticking around for the characters. Oh, and the lush atmosphere doesn’t hurt as well. for the characters. I think the lush atmosphere and entire setting play well into that as well. 

This series is a very weird beast. I can't say that I would rush out to recommend it to anyone. Maybe a person who's here for the characters. Maybe someone who loves lush, atmospheric stories with a really great location. Maybe someone that wants a slight twist to all the fantasy out there. I can’t say that Bardugo didn’t get original with Hell and the monsters. I’m also a strange person that sometimes likes books because I like themt. End of story. There’s no putting my finger on the reason.

Comment your thoughts on the series.

Happy Reading.

Kait