Hell Bent
A Novel
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4.5 • 627 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
#1 New York Times Bestseller • Goodreads Choice Award Winner
"A tour de force of suspenseful pacing and empathetic writing." ―The New York Times
"All hail the queen of dark academia!" ―NPR
Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. The Ivy League is going straight to hell in the sequel to the smash New York Times bestseller Ninth House from #1 bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.
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.
Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House follow-up brims with dark magic and intense action. Galaxy “Alex” Stern is trying—unsuccessfully—to put her past as an L.A. drug dealer behind her at a fantastical version of Yale University that’s a little like a very grown-up Hogwarts. During her second year, Alex has her hands full investigating faculty murders, keeping a demonic presence at bay, and trying to rescue her mentor, who was sent to purgatory in the previous book (which we certainly recommend reading first if you can). With wildly impressive world-building, Bardugo wraps us up in her grand, sinister tale. Her wry humor is perfectly balanced with the harrowing excitement of the plot and a cast of strange and lovely supporting characters, each with their own rich backstory. This is a sweeping fantasy to fall in love with.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Bardugo, best known for her YA Grishaverse novels, returns to the more adult struggles of Alex Stern, low-level L.A. drug dealer turned Yale scholarship student thanks to her ability to see and corral ghosts ("Grays"), in this thrilling sequel to 2019's Ninth House. Now employed as a Virgil by Lethe House, the Yale body that oversees the magical rituals of the campus's many secret societies, Alex is pulled in several directions as she tries to fill the role left empty when her upperclassman mentor, Darlington, was sent to Hell by a diabolical dean. Ignoring her patrons' instructions to move on, she persists in digging into the secrets of Lethe's past, searching for a way to open a portal and bring Darlington back. Alex's own past will not stay hidden either; her L.A. supplier, Eitan Harel, having learned of her ability, comes calling with jobs for her, including intimidating a strangely unaging former Yalie. Bardugo surrounds Alex with fascinating supporting players, among them a damaged New Haven cop and a naive roommate excited by the lure of the supernatural, while keeping the story's drive firmly in Alex's grip for another scrappy underdog tale. The taut plot, often grisly magic, lavish scene-setting, and wry humor combine to make this just as un-put-downable as the first installment. Readers will be wowed.
Customer Reviews
Outstanding sequel
Sophomore slump who? This was excellent. I loved every little twist. Well-written, relatable, darkly funny, just delightful. Give us book 3 right meow.
3.5/4 stars
Honestly, it’s between a 3.5 - 4 stars for me. However, I do want to see where the series takes Galaxy Stern and her hodgepodge of misfit friends in future books, so I feel it would realistically be a 3.75 stars.
Anyways, I waited patiently for this book to come out, because I had enjoyed the first one a lot. This one definitely had some twist and turns. I probably should have re-read the first book in the series before reading this book, because I forgot a lot of the plot line and a refresher would have been nice. After all, I read the first one in the early days of the pandemic - and boy was that a long time ago.
Worth the wait
I have been waiting for this since about three days after Ninth House was released. When I started reading, I had forgotten enough that I then need to reread Ninth House first. I felt like I was never going to get to finish this story. Now I’m so grateful that there’s more and that I get to feel that way a little longer. This is one of my all time favorite series. Well written, amazing characters and perfection in the form of world building. Read this and be grateful that it’s not over yet.