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Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (Review #243)

 WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE ALEX STERN SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 2. CHECK OUT NINTH HOUSE FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1!

"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. 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.”

Review:
ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER LEIGH??? REALLY???

Oh my gosh, Miss Bardugo has yet again knocked it out of the frickin' park!!! I absolutely loved this. 
So, to begin, we left off at the end of Ninth House with a mission: rescuing Darlington from Hell. And without skipping a beat, our adventure takes off right at page one. Alex and Dawes are hardened and ready to find the Gauntlet and open the portal that'll take them to their dear Virgil. But this Dante and Oculus can't go alone. 

I swear Leigh Bardugo has such a talent for creating the best teams of lovable scoundrels (see Six of Crows for proof) and I fall in love with them every time! So of course we know Alex and Dawes by this point, and we know Turner, yet again pulled into the occult antics of Lethe. And we also get a new bud in Tripp, a spoiled lil rich boy who's hiding from responsibility and looking for a little fun. And maybe some quick cash as well. However, much to their surprise, Hell is not all fun and games and battles and good vs evil. This foursome don't come back the same. And they don't come back alone. 

Aside from an awesome team, this book still had this haunting and gruesome and cruel overtone that felt like a veil hanging over every scene of the book, and I mean that in the best way. It was unsettling but also satisfying for a tale of traveling to hell and stealing their dear friend and mentor Darlington back. SPEAKING of Darlington... Man, I had the hots for him before let's be so for real, but now he's part demon????? That's hot. Also speaking of hot, the sexual tension between Darlington and Stern is fucking crazy. I want more of that please. 

I don't want to spoil anything, but there were so many scenes where I was like "yeah this is what I'm here for" and it was so amazing and UGH I ate it up Reiter style iykyk. Before I spill anything else, let me leave you with this: I simply CANNOT wait for the next installment of this, because one thing about Leigh is she's gonna leave you begging for more, and here I am; begging. 

As always, let me know your own thoughts and feels down below in the comments, and I'll see you all on the next one!

Want more from Leigh Bardugo? Check out her other books on my page like Six of Crows and Wonder Woman: Warbringer!



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