You want to open a door that isn't meant to be opened. You have no idea what might come through.
Hell Bent
by Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Dark Academia
About: Darlington is stuck in hell and Alex knows it's her fault. Determined to bring The Gentleman of Lethe home, she and Dawes are done playing by the rules. No one in the society plays by them anyway. But some rules are there for a reason and saving Darlington will come at a cost, because magic is never kind.
The Good
The writing is really lush. I love the vibes, the intensity, the twisted darkness to the magic. The world feels like its whispering at you to stay away. Only you can't. Every page sank me deeper into this story that gets bigger and bigger. I loved learning more about the lore - Leigh Bardugo teases you with extracts on magical artefacts and diary entries which are not just important to the plot, but build up a world that is vast and full of secrets.
There are some fantastic twists in this book. People are never quite who they seem and I definitely didn't see some of the reveals coming. I also loved the evolution of certain characters. This book doesn't just focus on Alex's journey, or Darlington's, it really broadens the net of characters we come to care about.
But god, I love Alex and Darlington. We don't get nearly enough of Darlington in this book but what we do get is delicious. The relationship between the two of them is so interesting. I love their bond; it's both personal and literally magical.
The Bad
The pace wasn't quite as exciting as Ninth House. I actually enjoyed the confusing timeline of the first book, whereas in this one I forgot it starts in a different timeline so when we flashed back to it towards the end I didn't feel the tension of that moment.
The pace also drags because so many scenes start with Alex being somewhere only to slip into a memory of her being their with Darlington or a memory of something that happened earlier in the day. We don't stay in the present action a lot of the time. Even that it's beautifully written and often emotional, it does disrupt from the immediacy of the plot.
And the descent into hell was awesome, until it became repetitive. Not only do we get long scenes of multiple character memories, but the path to hell turns out to be a lot easier than the build up suggested. We don't go once. We don't go twice. We go three times to hell.
The Somewhat Iffy
I don't remember Babbit Rabbit being mentioned in Ninth House and its introduction in Hell Bent was really confusing to me because Alex references this pet so many times as something very significant to her that I had no context for. We do get the scene towards the end of her whole history with this rabbit (and it is devastating) but I needed that scene before all of the references to give those moments weight.
Also a beacon is mentioned in regards to Wheel Walkers but I didn't understand why Daisy had been immune to it.
Overall
I loved this. The pace did have some issues for me but there are so many hidden details and the writing is so beautiful that I'm sure it's a book I'll enjoy even more on a re-read.
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