Hell Bent

I was a little hesitant to pick this up because I didn't really connect with the first book. I kept thinking about the Dresden Files and how if I was going to read something so similar to it I might as well read some more of that series. But the premise was interesting and Leigh Bardugo really knows how to lead into a sequel. I took a gamble on this one and damn dude, this shit rocks.

Before I jump into this sequel I want to address a few of the flaws that held Ninth House back for me. I guess I didn't like Alex's nature in the first book, I'm all for a flawed main character but she just kind of face-rolled the scenario while complaining the whole way through. She came off as overly slick and unreliable. I wasn't buying it and I don't care how tragic her back story was. That disconnect lowered the sense of stakes for me, I didn't like Alex and I didn't especially care about what happened to her.

I want to highlight these failings because Hell Bent has totally filled in the gaps for me. This book has one major change from the first; Alex is kind of the badass now. She's a badass now, and I buy it somehow. I think that this book starts off strong and does an amazing job filling us in on Alex's summer, and it does a lot to rehabilitate her character for me. It seems like Alex has matured/is maturing into the role of Virgil, and her previous weakness is largely written off as inexperience. But she's a badass ghost bitch now, and Darlington is trapped in hell.

This whole book had a Stranger Things meets Hell Boy meets Dresden Files vibe to it, and that's such an amazing combination of ideas and themes. I think that I have fully accepted that we're playing by the Dresden Files set of rules and I am more than okay with it. I am glad that this series is pulling from the strengths of DF and not its weaknesses; if Alex gets a duster and a wide-brim hat and starts to wax poetic on how old-fashioned she is in the next one I think I will burst a blood vessel. I think that explains a lot of my shift in opinion, this is better than the Dresden Files in all the ways that matter.

(Since you asked, I don't cringe when Alex interacts with the opposite gender, and I don't have to look past how much of a dork she is because she's not a dork.)

Let me stop meandering.

Hell Bent is damn good. I was really impressed by the jump in quality across the board, but hey this series is not in the highly marketable Grishaverse so we had to wait four years. The book is better off for it, Leigh Bardugo continues to evolve as an author, and this book is proof. The choppy pacing is gone, the prose is much improved, and this book really banks on the world-building of the previous entry.

Alex Stern is going to hell, and nothing is going to get in her way. That's the plot and we stick to it this time, no pauses to let us know how Pam is feeling or how fucking cool these 150-year-old arches are. No, we are going to hell, we are getting Darlington and that's what's happening. I really love the plot this time around, it's as simple as it gets but the places it goes are unexpected and interesting. I won't spoil it suffice it to say we get as many answers as we do new questions concerning the nature of Alex's powers and the nature of magic in this universe.

I like that the references this time were more Shakespearean in nature, it's cool to have those English surveys from college count for something. I like that the story occupies the span of a year so the chapter titles aren't as confusing as they were the first go around. The story is still non-linear but not to the obnoxious degree of the first one.

The biggest change between this and Ninth House is the absence of social commentary. We've been there and done that, and now we can get to unofficial Lethe business. I have to say I prefer it this way, the more grounded focus really lets this book piggyback on the gritty charm of the Dresden Files.

The only thing holding this book back is that you need to read Ninth House first. I am looking forward to the next one.