In January, my sister, sister-in-law, and friend who might as well be a sister started a book club mainly as an excuse to see one another more (and, of course, read more books). This is the first book club I’ve ever been a part of and so far it’s been a pleasure!

For February, we read Leigh Bardugo’s latest release since we had all read Ninth House prior. After leaving our discussion, I felt compelled to dive a little deeper and summarize our thoughts in this Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo review.

Please be warned that this blog post will be riddled with spoilers for both Ninth House and Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo.

Recap of Ninth House:

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo follows the story of reformed delinquent Galaxy (Alex) Stern as she uncovers the mystical underbelly of Yale University. There are nine houses in this secret society of magic and Lethe House was the one to recruit Alex and save her from her past. Alex battles ghosts, criminals, and her classes with the help of her mentor Darlington. During the events of Ninth House, a hell beast swallows Darlington and Alex can’t shake the feeling that he is alive.

This leads us into the premise of Hell Bent.

Recap of Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo:

Hell Bent focuses on Alex’s trials and tribulations of saving Darlington from hell with the help of everyone’s favorite Oculus, Pam Dawes. They pressure Scroll and Key into using their house for a “routine check” (that’s a lie) where they try to open a portal to hell. The ritual goes south and right before the portal is closed, they hear Darlington’s voice. When they venture to Black Elm, Darlington’s home, they discover a demon version of him (complete with a glowing erection) appeared in a circle of protection.

Finally having the proof that Alex needs to know he is alive, she and Dawes start researching a gate to hell called The Gauntlet. The problem is they need four murderers in order to get it open. They form an unlikely team with Detective Turner and frat boy Tripp to have the remaining people for the ritual. They become The Soldier (Alex), The Scholar (Dawes), The Priest (Turner), and The Prince (Tripp). To stand guard as they perform this ritual, Mercy, Alex’s roommate, volunteers herself, thus is brought into the fold of Yale’s secret societies.

All the while, Michael Anslem, the board member acting as Lethe’s Praetor, told Alex and Pam to let Darlington go. (They didn’t listen to him).

There are other things going on in the background like a new (sexist) Lethe Praetor, Alex’s drug dealer past coming back to haunt her, and her doing mediocre at school. Oh, and vampires. That was an… interesting tie in.

Our Thoughts:

Our book club met and discussed what we like and didn’t like about Hell Bent.

Here’s what we didn’t like:

• What happened to the houses?

• Throughout Ninth House, we were immersed into this hidden world of magic and rituals through the secret societies of Yale. In Hell Bent, they’re just there. We experience and see very little. Our book club was hoping to learn more about these societies, the magic, and the world building around them, but we were ultimately let down. (What was the wolf run all about? Why couldn’t we see that??)

• Michael Anselm being the big bad.

• You’re telling me after Dean Sandow, the Lethe Praetor, was the big bad in Ninth House only to have Micahel Anselm, temporary Lethe Praetor, being the big bad in Hell Bent? Not a fan. Felt less of a twist and more of an unfortunate, predictable pattern now.

• Vampires?

• Our book club was mixed on this. On one hand, Leigh Bardugo did some of the legwork to explain how vampires could actually be demons, which means they fit into this world. However as soon as traditional vampire lore is brought into the mix, the concept gets muddled, especially when those details weren’t also tied back to demons. Like, you know, vampire familiars… which brings me to the biggest grievance we could all agree on.

• Michelle Alameddin was a vampire familiar???

  • This plot twist was less of a twist and more of a drop. Where were the hints? Yes, Michelle was acting weird and lied about when she went home, but nothing tied her to Reiter. It made the conclusion feel completely unsatisfying. The lack of foreshadowing coupled with the vampire lore issue made this the biggest frustration we had with Hell Bent.

Phew, okay. Done with the bad and onto the good!

Here’s what we did like:

• The last 20% of the book

• We all agreed the book came alive when Alex confronted Anselm at Black Elm. That’s also when Darlington made a real return.

• Darlington

• Demon Darlington? Glowing cock? Incredible. You love to see it. Most importantly, we finally got a new POV at the end of the book with Darlington, who has now been changed by hell. I hope the third book has even more of his POV.

• Mercy

• Unexpected but we loved seeing more of her in the story. Her acceptance of the world and of the adventure crossed with her reaction after Eitan’s death added another layer to the story.

• Alex’s Growth

• Watching Alex come into her own while acting as Virgil was rewarding, especially compared to the girl we met in Ninth House. 

• The Found Family

•  The found family between Alex, Dawes, Trip, Turner, and later, Mercy, was a level of comradery I wasn’t expecting to read and greatly enjoyed. Also, how cool is the Priest, the Scholar, the Prince, and the Soldier? 

• Turner’s Backstory

• Until we learned his backstory, readers were led to believe that he was good to the point of “holier than thou.” Seeing his moment of murder proved that he is much more complex than his personality would ever let on. 

• Vampire Tripp

  • We all agreed that vampire Tripp was the best part of this book.

Overall, no one committed to a full 5-star rating but the consensus was that we all enjoyed it.

For March, we’ve been reading The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten so keep an eye out in April for that review!