Leigh Bardugo

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, magic, violence, and all too real monsters.

Alex Stern #2

Hell Bent

Nicky 

Galaxy Stern, Darlington said, his eyes flashing gold, I have been crying out to yon from the start.

Lauren

“But you're going to have to change," Alex said.

“Of course. I know I haven't been the most responsible member of the team, but I believe in transformative growth-“

“Clothes, Tripp. You're going to have to change your clothes."

If only the evil did terrible things, what a simple world it would be. 

To pay your debts, you had to know who you owed. You had to decide who you were willing to go to war for and who you trusted to jump into the fray for you. That was all there was in this world. No heroes or villains, just the people you'd brave the waves for, and the ones you'd let drown.

"How do you know all of this?” Alex aaked.

“I was a really lonely kid. The advantage to being unpopular is you get a lot more reading done."

Because magic never did the kind thing. There would be no prize at the end of all your suffering. There was no reward but survival, And dead was dead.

She wasnt made like Alex or Darlington. She was a scholar. She was a rabbit, timid and defenseless, no claws or teeth. Her only choice was to run. But where would she run with Darlington gone, the dean, Alex? Who would she be if she did nothing?

bri 🍂

She wanted to tell him every last terrible thing and see if he flinched.

Why raise children on the promise of magic? Why create a want in them that can never be satisfied — for revelation, for transformation — and then set them adrift in a bleak, pragmatic world? 

Alex traced her fingers over the letters. “Darlington was. He’d go to hell for me, for you, for anyone who needed saving." 

Alex," Michelle said, dusting off her skirt, "he’d go to hell just to take notes on the climate."

She read paperbacks too, one after the next like she was chain-smoking— romance, science fiction, old pulp fantasy. All she wanted to do was sit, unbothered in a circle of lamplight, and live someone else's life. 

Comfort was the drug she hadn't understood until it was too late and she was hooked on cups of tea and book-lined shelves.

Bethany Jenkins

Dawes had left a note on the coffee table: 

Going to Beinecke. Breakfast on the counter. Call me when you're up. Bad news.

When wasn't it bad news? When was Dawes going to leave her a note that said, 

All good. Go work on that paper so you dont fall further behind. Left you fresh scones and a couple of puppies?

Jennifer

"I have appetites, Stern. They are not entirely wholesome.”

That’s all hell and the afterlife are. Theories. Because the people who get to see the other side don’t come back to tell about it.

All her life, she’d been able to see Grays; now she could hear them too. They were that much closer, that much harder to ignore.

But maybe she hadn’t really understood what salvation would cost her at all.

Emily McMeans

“Our bodies are food for worms. Why should our souls not be made meals too?”

Only Darlington’s ghost chased her here.

This has been highlighted a million times, but what's one more? 

Good gracious, I have no words...literally 

I silent screamed into my book at work..I really hope they turn this into a movie cause i NEED this scene 😭 

Shanelle M.

"I'm bound to you, Stern. To the woman who brought me out of hell. I will serve you 'til the end of days." 

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” – Albus Dumbledore (J. K. Rowling)

"Stories exist in all worlds. They are immutable. Like gold." 

Alina

Part of him wanted to tell Alex not to stop there, to let the whole house burn down to nothing, to let them burn with it too. Instead they stood together in the dark shadows of Black Elm, until there was nothing left but ashes and the old stones that might stand forever but would never mourn.

How to dispose of a body. How to dispose of your mother’s remains. It was all too bleak. What he really needed to know was how to grieve for people he had done his best to stop loving years ago. His parents had come and gone from his life like unexpected gaps in the clouds, and if he had spent his days waiting for those brief hours of sunlight, he would have withered and died.

Camila Medeiros

“The devil knows your name now, Galaxy Stern” 

Maybe they were just two killers, cursed to endure each other’s company, two doomed spirits trying to find their way home. Maybe they were monsters who liked the feeling of another monster looking back at them. But enough people had abandoned them both. She wasn’t going to be the next.

Emily Wisnesky

“Come on, Darlington,” she said. “Let’s give them hell.” 

I didn’t think I would LOVE hell bent as much I do right now. I dare say it might be one of my favorite books of all time 😭 I’m so ready for book 3 (miss leigh PLEASE give us more darlingstern I BEG) 🫶🏻 Alex Stern, Wheelwalker, you have become one of my favorite characters of all time, I loved her development and how you could see her transform into somewhat of a leader to our newly found family 🫶🏻

It took me a little bit to get into this one but I think that was because I was busy. But over all a really good read once I got back into it.

Lauren Dale

akynn 

Dani

Fun, intense, witty. Exceeded my expectations! Darlington is everything.

She's gotta stop writing these because I will keep reading them.

Regan Martin

Tatiana

5/5 give me time to recover. Holy shit this book was insane & such a wild ride. I could NEVER guess what was coming next. Incredible.

nina 

chloé

A little magic. A talent for taking a beating. A demon at her side. That was all she had, but maybe it was all she needed.
“Come on, Darlington,” she said. “Let’s give them hell.”

fuck. that was so good.

shellybn

Another adventure in which things are not always as they seem. I hope Galaxy Stern is able to overcome her setbacks and live her life exploring her new powers. I really like the supporting characters as well, especially Turner.

I am still bothered by the characterization of the Israeli gangster, but I suppose that I would find that a Russian gangster would negatively stereotype Russians, and a French gangster would negatively stereotype the French. 

I hope there is a 3rd book.

Cass Paul

It is still early into 2023, but I think I am already in a severe book hangover after this one. There is something about secert societies, magic, and the supernatural that just hit all the right buttons for me. And Leigh Bardugo definitely didn't disappoint in that department. Hell Bent had me hooked right from the very beginning, and made it almost impossible for me to put down. I cannot wait to explore more of this world, and hopefully more of Darlington and Alex's relationship as they navagiate what this new 'binding' means for them and just everything else!

Phenomenal. ‘Hell Bent’ kept the momentum of each Bardugo book impressing me more than the last. The story was phenomenal, it had so much depth. Every character had a distinct personality and world view, and the magic system stayed consistent throughout, though you can tell Bardugo is holding back a full understanding of it. Indeed, one of the things Bardugo does best is to have full control of the story she is telling and allowing the reader to figure that out as the plot resolves. That skill works especially well for this book, whose genre sits at an intersection of fantasy, thriller, dark academia, and mystery.

I am enamored with the characters and their relationships to each other. I am inspired to travel to New Haven just to walk the streets. I cannot wait to see how the plot resolves in the next book. I will be (im)patiently waiting.

Phenomenal. ‘Hell Bent’ kept the momentum of each Bardugo book impressing me more than the last. The story was phenomenal, it had so much depth. Every character had a distinct personality and world view, and the magic system stayed consistent throughout, though you can tell Bardugo is holding back a full understanding of it. Indeed, one of the things Bardugo does best is to have full control of the story she is telling and allowing the reader to figure that out as the plot resolves. That skill works especially well for this book, whose genre sits at an intersection of fantasy, thriller, dark academia, and mystery.

I am enamored with the characters and their relationships to each other. I am inspired to travel to New Haven just to walk the streets. I cannot wait to see how the plot resolves in the next book. I will be (im)patiently waiting.

I love the atmosphere of these books and the use of a magic that isn’t pretty. This one I feel suffers from middle book syndrome - I was left wanting more - what I thought was going to feel like a major resolution & relief, ended up feeling like a set-up for the next book. 

Despite that, I still couldn’t put this down - there’s something that Bardugo sprinkles into her writing that keeps me reading - I was rooting for the characters and wanting the best for them, curious about what twists and turns the story would take. If you can get past Alex’s constant self-loathing, I think this is worth the read. 

Alli

I love the atmosphere of these books and the use of a magic that isn’t pretty. This one I feel suffers from middle book syndrome - I was left wanting more - what I thought was going to feel like a major resolution & relief, ended up feeling like a set-up for the next book. 

Despite that, I still couldn’t put this down - there’s something that Bardugo sprinkles into her writing that keeps me reading - I was rooting for the characters and wanting the best for them, curious about what twists and turns the story would take. If you can get past Alex’s constant self-loathing, I think this is worth the read. 

Definitely would say more of a 4.5. I don't know why my brain can't lean fully into the 5 stars, but my brain is missing something there. It wasn't too short and I definitely devoured all almost 500 pages of it, and loved the plot twists, but there's something that I'm left wanting still - or maybe it's just the lack of sleep from not wanting to put this one down. With how this ended, I'm definitely excited to see what's to come.

samantha lias

         In the grand tradition of all things sequel, I didn’t like this one as much as I enjoyed the first one.  This one reminds me of why The Walking Dead TV series fizzled out as spectacularly as it did: nothing good ever happened.  It’s difficult to continue to watch or read anything when the characters you like get killed off (or in this case, become a demon), and nothing positive seems to happen to anybody.  Everything they try to do that should lead to a positive outcome fails, and everybody is just disappointed (or facing severe consequences both legally and academically) ALL THE TIME. 

            We ended the first book with Alex desperately trying to figure out how to free her mentor from the depths of hell…quite literally.  She gathers an unlikely crew to embark on this journey, and we watch as they fail, get sabotaged, and get attacked repeatedly.  It became frustrating.  Alex was facing adversity from not only the depths of hell, but from adults she is supposed to be able to trust, and adults that wish to exploit her for nefarious gains.  After becoming increasingly exhausted at all the negativity this poor kid had to go through, we do get a small batch of sunshine (which I can’t divulge, I won’t spoil), and there’s hope for the next book in the series. 

            HOWEVER, in yet another grand tradition, it took Bardugo four years for this follow-up, so lord knows how long we’ll have to wait for the next one (we’re all still scarred by JRR Martin’s utter failure to give us even a little Game of Thrones closure). 

Kristen Claiborn

         In the grand tradition of all things sequel, I didn’t like this one as much as I enjoyed the first one.  This one reminds me of why The Walking Dead TV series fizzled out as spectacularly as it did: nothing good ever happened.  It’s difficult to continue to watch or read anything when the characters you like get killed off (or in this case, become a demon), and nothing positive seems to happen to anybody.  Everything they try to do that should lead to a positive outcome fails, and everybody is just disappointed (or facing severe consequences both legally and academically) ALL THE TIME. 

            We ended the first book with Alex desperately trying to figure out how to free her mentor from the depths of hell…quite literally.  She gathers an unlikely crew to embark on this journey, and we watch as they fail, get sabotaged, and get attacked repeatedly.  It became frustrating.  Alex was facing adversity from not only the depths of hell, but from adults she is supposed to be able to trust, and adults that wish to exploit her for nefarious gains.  After becoming increasingly exhausted at all the negativity this poor kid had to go through, we do get a small batch of sunshine (which I can’t divulge, I won’t spoil), and there’s hope for the next book in the series. 

            HOWEVER, in yet another grand tradition, it took Bardugo four years for this follow-up, so lord knows how long we’ll have to wait for the next one (we’re all still scarred by JRR Martin’s utter failure to give us even a little Game of Thrones closure). 

marie

it was a mess but i enjoyed it still (couldn’t put it down and it got me out of my reading slump)??? 
there will be a third book (which i will definitely read)???

Meghan Thompson 

this woman is brilliant do you hear me?!? BRILLIANT 

this was so much better than ninth house and i love ninth house

Galaxy “Alex” Stern can do no wrong and technically no right but that is beside the point. she will always be perfect to me. she has grown so much more than the first book and just watching her be relatively more confident in herself is genuinely my fav thing ever. also the hell aspect and just ugh her being the deep rooted connection to hell and also being the one who accidentally damned Darlington but also the person to save him. i love it here. 


Turner, Darlington, Alex are my three fav characters with an honorable mention to Mercy. being able to see more of them in this book and actually learn more about them as characters was a riot. this book held my interest the entire time and that’s saying a lot because fantasy is not my thing. 

Leigh Bardugo you are a brilliant women and this was a very close masterpiece.

Best book I've read so far this year. This book made me feel every emotion there is!

Cameryn Wright

Uuughhhhh.  Again can we cut out 75% of this and just get to the important bits? 

Ashley Hernandez

definitely way faster-paced than the first book, which i partially appreciated, but i think bardugo overcorrects it here. in contrast to the slow, gradual unfolding of yale's mysteries in book 1, book 2 is pretty heavily action-packed. would have loved for the last half or last third or so of this book to have been a little more drawn out tbh, or conversely if the first half/first third was trimmed a bit in deference to later events.

otherwise, i think this is a successful and highly enjoyable sequel to ninth house, and alex continues to be an excellent, scrappy, and compelling protagonist, whose tumultuous background actually gives her an incredibly valuable perspective on the old boys' club that is yale and the secret societies. i don't find this book to be particularly dark - i suppose the ninth house series, being in the adult genre, is inherently more graphic than what most people know bardugo for - and i personally found the gruesome details and darker plot elements to be appropriate to the narratives bardugo was trying to convey with both the overarching plot and with individual characters. overall, a highly enjoyable read that delivers everything you could ask for in a dark academia occultish setting.

definitely way faster-paced than the first book, which i partially appreciated, but i think bardugo overcorrects it here. in contrast to the slow, gradual unfolding of yale's mysteries in book 1, book 2 is pretty heavily action-packed. would have loved for the last half or last third or so of this book to have been a little more drawn out tbh, or conversely if the first half/first third was trimmed a bit in deference to later events.

otherwise, i think this is a successful and highly enjoyable sequel to ninth house, and alex continues to be an excellent, scrappy, and compelling protagonist, whose tumultuous background actually gives her an incredibly valuable perspective on the old boys' club that is yale and the secret societies. i don't find this book to be particularly dark - i suppose the ninth house series, being in the adult genre, is inherently more graphic than what most people know bardugo for - and i personally found the gruesome details and darker plot elements to be appropriate to the narratives bardugo was trying to convey with both the overarching plot and with individual characters. overall, a highly enjoyable read that delivers everything you could ask for in a dark academia occultish setting.

Krista Alamo

I feel like I have a love/hate relationship with this series. I genuinely don’t know how to feel but am enjoying the process of figuring that out 😅

Based off of where Book one had taken us and left off I thought I knew where this was going. 

Though I had a good idea and was usually right the twists, and turns of the book was...surprising. 

I'm not sure i agreed with all the choices made by the characters. But the highlights speak for themselves, I loved every page and every turn. 

As I said in the Ninth House review- I really hope this comes to screen. There are certain moments and phrases I NEEED to see on screen. 

Though Ninth House was DARK, and thrilling and chaos ensued- Hell Bent was a little more colorful and held more light to the darkest parts of our characters and adventure. 

♡fun fact: Hell Bent was originally titled Gentleman Demon. 😈

Based off of where Book one had taken us and left off I thought I knew where this was going. 

Though I had a good idea and was usually right the twists, and turns of the book was...surprising. 

I'm not sure i agreed with all the choices made by the characters. But the highlights speak for themselves, I loved every page and every turn. 

As I said in the Ninth House review- I really hope this comes to screen. There are certain moments and phrases I NEEED to see on screen. 

Though Ninth House was DARK, and thrilling and chaos ensued- Hell Bent was a little more colorful and held more light to the darkest parts of our characters and adventure. 

♡fun fact: Hell Bent was originally titled Gentleman Demon. 😈

Claire Cantlon

4.4/5. I definitely should’ve re-read the first book bc I found myself super confused & having to google often what happened in Ninth House. With that being said, still a well-written, unique and unpredictable book.

"To pay your debts, you had to know who you owed. You had to decide who you were willing to go to war for and who you trusted to jump into the fray for you. That was all there was in this world. No heroes or villains, just the people you’d brave the waves for, and the ones you’d let drown."

Hell Bent is an absolutely amazing sequel to Ninth House, even better than the first book, in my opinion. This arcane, dark adventure is exactly what I was looking for when I picked up the first book and while I really enjoyed Ninth House, I didn't fall in love with it the way I was expecting to, with Hell Bent that feeling is blown out of the water - I loved this book. Where I found the first book slightly tedious and repetitive, Hell Bent picked up the pace a bit more - it still had that torturous slow burn feel to it but in a way that made you crave more instead of having you feel exhausted. I guess you could say this book was feeding on my curiosity the way a demon would 😉

"Four pilgrims. Four children trembling in the dark. Four fools who had attempted what should never be dared. Four shoddy heroes on a quest who were meant to survive this reckless endeavor together."

Hell Bent follows Alex and Dawes on their quest to rescue Darlington from Hell, following on a few months later since learning that Sandow set the trap to bring a Hellbeast through a portal to snatch Darlington away. A new Praetor of Lethe has been selected which means Alex and Dawes are rushing against the clock to find a way to get to Darlington without getting themselves kicked out of Lethe for dabbling in forces they've been warned away from, plus Lethe seems to be contented with brushing it all under the rug and pretending Darlington is just dead, or "in Spain". They attempt to open a portal one night and things go pretty horribly wrong, now they've got a gentleman demon trapped in the ballroom of Black Elm, a serial killer on the loose on campus and the need to find four willing murderers to complete a gauntlet into Hell.

The actual adventure aspect of this book was absolutely thrilling - the descriptions of what they went through were raw, heartbreaking and slightly terrifying. The academic side of the story, the uncovering of the puzzle that would lead them to finding the gauntlet was well thought out and interesting - not too bogged down in overly intellectual complexities and not too confusing that you couldn't follow along without your head spinning on your shoulders. I loved trying to figure out the little riddles that Darlington left for Alex and Dawes and trying to solve the tangled web of mysteries alongside them. This book also had a really strong feeling of found family and camaraderie which I absolutely loved, seeing the way the relationship between Alex, Dawes, Mercy and Turner blossomed was really something special, with Tripp adding that extra layer of humor as well.

I felt a lot more connected to Alex in this book, I'm really loving the way her character is developing in this series so far - in the first book I wasn't too sure on her, I always love a morally grey character but she fell a little bit on the side of annoying initially - but in this book I really came to love her and what she was willing to do for the people she cares about. Darlington, as usual, was absolutely amazing, I have adored his character from the beginning - I just hope we get a bit more of Alex and Darlington's relationship in the next book - as much as it's predictable, I am really rooting for a bit more of a romance subplot in the third installment. Speaking about themes and plot, the dives into understanding guilt, remorse and acts of self-defense and sacrifice were really fascinating in this book, plus the way it studied the blurred lines between good and evil was great too.

"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit. Everything changes, nothing perishes."

Overall, this was almost a five star read - just brought back slightly by a few small pieces - things like the overuse of metaphors eg the comparisons and multiple mentions of a capella groups weirdly got to me after the 5th time, and the - in my opinion - unnecessary use of crude imagery and shock tactics eg [SPOILER.....] Not-Hellie mentioning how she was abused and basically raped by Ariel, the glowing cock references and even Darlington's small mentions of desire he felt for Alex felt a bit excessive and done in a way to force reactions out of the reader which just felt a little disingenuous to me. [END SPOILER] 

I am super excited for the next book in this series, and absolutely love the last line in Hell Bent - it really made me want to dive straight into the next book, but unfortunately we have to wait for it to be completed 😫

Genevieve 

"To pay your debts, you had to know who you owed. You had to decide who you were willing to go to war for and who you trusted to jump into the fray for you. That was all there was in this world. No heroes or villains, just the people you’d brave the waves for, and the ones you’d let drown."

4.75 ⭐

Hell Bent is an absolutely amazing sequel to Ninth House, even better than the first book, in my opinion. This arcane, dark adventure is exactly what I was looking for when I picked up the first book and while I really enjoyed Ninth House, I didn't fall in love with it the way I was expecting to, with Hell Bent that feeling is blown out of the water - I loved this book. Where I found the first book slightly tedious and repetitive, Hell Bent picked up the pace a bit more - it still had that torturous slow burn feel to it but in a way that made you crave more instead of having you feel exhausted. I guess you could say this book was feeding on my curiosity the way a demon would 😉

"Four pilgrims. Four children trembling in the dark. Four fools who had attempted what should never be dared. Four shoddy heroes on a quest who were meant to survive this reckless endeavor together."

Hell Bent follows Alex and Dawes on their quest to rescue Darlington from Hell, following on a few months later since learning that Sandow set the trap to bring a Hellbeast through a portal to snatch Darlington away. A new Praetor of Lethe has been selected which means Alex and Dawes are rushing against the clock to find a way to get to Darlington without getting themselves kicked out of Lethe for dabbling in forces they've been warned away from, plus Lethe seems to be contented with brushing it all under the rug and pretending Darlington is just dead, or "in Spain". They attempt to open a portal one night and things go pretty horribly wrong, now they've got a gentleman demon trapped in the ballroom of Black Elm, a serial killer on the loose on campus and the need to find four willing murderers to complete a gauntlet into Hell.

The actual adventure aspect of this book was absolutely thrilling - the descriptions of what they went through were raw, heartbreaking and slightly terrifying. The academic side of the story, the uncovering of the puzzle that would lead them to finding the gauntlet was well thought out and interesting - not too bogged down in overly intellectual complexities and not too confusing that you couldn't follow along without your head spinning on your shoulders. I loved trying to figure out the little riddles that Darlington left for Alex and Dawes and trying to solve the tangled web of mysteries alongside them. This book also had a really strong feeling of found family and camaraderie which I absolutely loved, seeing the way the relationship between Alex, Dawes, Mercy and Turner blossomed was really something special, with Tripp adding that extra layer of humor as well.

I felt a lot more connected to Alex in this book, I'm really loving the way her character is developing in this series so far - in the first book I wasn't too sure on her, I always love a morally grey character but she fell a little bit on the side of annoying initially - but in this book I really came to love her and what she was willing to do for the people she cares about. Darlington, as usual, was absolutely amazing, I have adored his character from the beginning - I just hope we get a bit more of Alex and Darlington's relationship in the next book - as much as it's predictable, I am really rooting for a bit more of a romance subplot in the third installment. Speaking about themes and plot, the dives into understanding guilt, remorse and acts of self-defense and sacrifice were really fascinating in this book, plus the way it studied the blurred lines between good and evil was great too.

"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit. Everything changes, nothing perishes."

Overall, this was almost a five star read - just brought back slightly by a few small pieces - things like the overuse of metaphors eg the comparisons and multiple mentions of a capella groups weirdly got to me after the 5th time, and the - in my opinion - unnecessary use of crude imagery and shock tactics eg [SPOILER.....] Not-Hellie mentioning how she was abused and basically raped by Ariel, the glowing cock references and even Darlington's small mentions of desire he felt for Alex felt a bit excessive and done in a way to force reactions out of the reader which just felt a little disingenuous to me. [END SPOILER] 

I am super excited for the next book in this series, and absolutely love the last line in Hell Bent - it really made me want to dive straight into the next book, but unfortunately we have to wait for it to be completed 😫

Hell Bent Alex Stern #2

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