Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) by Leigh Bardugo

"Once Galaxy "Alex" Stern has a goal, there's no stopping her. And since, at the end of Ninth House she'd made it her mission to figure how to get Darlington out of Hell and back in Lethe where he belongs, well, Hell Bent is the perfect title and as wild of a ride as you can imagine."

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pros: Stern and Darlington's chemistry is exquisitely painful/Darlington is the gentleman Demon and I adore him.

Cons: Bardugo mixed the Eitan storyline in well but at the same time, you want Alex to be able to focus on one thing at a time/Sometimes too many side quests get this old brain confused.

Full Review***Diisclaimer - if you’ve not read Ninth House please go and do so and then come back and read this at your leisure. That way you’ll know what I’m talking about.***

It's been a long Summer for Alex Stern.

It's been spent mostly reading in the warmth of Il Bastons' safe, secure library and researching everything she can about how to get into Hell.

Once Galaxy (Alex) Stern has a goal, she's off like a shot, or like a cannon ball as she refers to herself on multiple occasions. It's only the beginning of the Semester and already she's managed to bludgeon through all obstacles and with the help of Oculus, Pamela Dawes, she thinks she may have figured out a way to get Darlington back. Four Pilgrims are needed, the Priest, the Prince, the Scholar and the Soldier and there's that one caveat, that in order to "walk the gauntlet" and open a portal to Hell, you have to have committed murder. So, Alex and Dawes set out to find their Pilgrims and walk the gauntlet in order to bring Darlington home.

There's also that pesky business of Eitan Harel, Len's old drug dealer and the cousin of Ariel, one of the men that Alex bludgeoned to death, using her unusual ability to absorb the strength of Greys, as a way to mete out punishment for people who owe him money.

Barudgo manages to keep the pace going and the plot interesting enough that you can't help but keep reading. She also seamlessly blends the existence of other supernatural creatures into her own mythos. I'm jealous of how well she introduced Linus Reiter and what he is. The characters reactions were absolutely priceless.

Though a lot happened at the end and I was a bit confused with all the moving parts, it was still a great read. I'll be looking forward to the next book, eager to see what kind of mischief Alex/Darlington and all the rest can get up to next.

Comments

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