Title: Hell Bent (Galaxy Stern #2)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Fantasy, dark academia
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: 2023
Page count: 478

Rating:

Hell Bent was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 and WOW. It was everything I wanted in a sequel. It’s been days since I finished and I’m still thinking about how everything unfolded and how much I enjoyed it. It was one of those books for me where I originally sat down to just read the first couple of chapters, and then accidentally ended up reading non-stop for three days straight until it was done.

As is typically the case at the beginning of a fantasy series, Ninth House was a lot of set-ups; a lot of establishing the magic systems, drawing out the nature of Yale University, and painting the picture of Galaxy (Alex) Stern and the supporting characters. Even with all of that setup, it was still a five-star read for me. What was beautiful about Hell Bent was that with those established aspects, Bardugo could double down on the concept and the characters. The plot was so unique and wonderfully flushed out, Alex grew significantly while still maintaining her edge. While Alex’s actual studies felt like they took a little more of a back seat in this installment, the setting was still a pivotal aspect of the plot and wonderfully woven in.

It’s not often that I find a series with two five-star reads in a row for me, but the Alex Stern stories have quickly become some of my favourites. If the rest of Bardugo’s work is as good as the Alex Stern books, then I can’t wait to read them.

Fair warning: spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read this or the other books in this series.

Book Review: Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Hell Bent picks up where Ninth House left off, with Alex and Dawes determined to go to hell to rescue Darlington. They’ve been attempting to pull together a plan with limited success since the previous Spring and now that they’re well into the Fall, they’re feeling the pressure to make it work.

In addition to spending her time plotting ways to get to hell and back alive, Alex is now in her second year at Yale and still trying to adjust to her new life. However, Alex seems more at ease in her surroundings than in the first book. She still finds school exceptionally challenging, but she’s doing well enough that she isn’t in constant fear of failing out. She’s also still battling imposter syndrome at Lethe but has improved significantly and can hold her own in her new role as Virgil. As a whole, Alex is finally in a place where she’s comfortable, a feeling she hasn’t had in as long as she can remember. The more comfortable she gets in her new life though, the more afraid she becomes of what will happen if she loses it. Losing it begins to feel like a real possibility when Eitan returns to draw her back into the world she’s tried so desperately to escape, and a series of murders begin on the campus that all seem to have some relation to the occult activities of the societies.

While balancing acting as a thug for Eitan and part-time detective for Turner, Alex, alongside Dawes, fairly quickly comes up with a plan to try to access Darlington in hell as well, but they find themselves alone in the pursuit. No one is willing to believe that Darlington might still be alive, and those that do are too afraid or think it is too dangerous to try to get him back. This leaves the girls to pursue their own means of getting Darlington back, which results in a botched ritual that accidentally opens a gateway to hell. While they do get Darlington back in a sense, he is not what they expect, and they quickly learn they’ll need to return to hell if they’re to have any hope of saving him. Alex and Dawes assemble a crew of murderers to return to hell with, but this ends badly, bringing back more demons to Yale and wreaking more havoc on those around them. A third trip to hell becomes their last shot at making things right and saving Darlington once and for all.

When Ninth House finished, it was clear that Alex wanted to go to Hell to save Darlington, but I had no idea how this would actually play out. What would hell look like? How would it relate to Yale, the setting I loved so much in book one? But I needn’t have feared. It all flowed together wonderfully, with the societies at the core of everything and the same capitalistic approach to magic that I enjoyed so much at the start of this story. I think that’s one of the aspects that I love the most about this fantasy universe as a whole. While the magical and occult aspects of the plot feel like pure fantasy, the way it’s distributed, and the nature of the people that Bardugo creates, are so realistic. It’s a society completely designed to favour the wealthy and elite, built off centuries of exploitation and discrimination, and it feels massively unfair and painfully realistic. It’s what I think magic would genuinely look like if it were found in these ways in our societies, and I think that adds a level of realness to the plot.

I also loved the focus on the characters that this book took. Alex is so well designed, she’s the perfect character to have to take on a quest as this book demanded. I hesitate even to call her morally grey because “grey” doesn’t feel like a sharp enough observation, but she’s fiercely loyal and she grows to really own her place in this world, which is something I think was overdue. She’s been through so much trauma and while it’s undoubtedly shaped her, it stops necessarily defining her. She finds a way to move on and even if the methods are questionable, a way to hold onto the life she so badly wants.  

I loved that we got to learn more about Turner, who may be a side character but is one that is endlessly fascinating to me, and I thought Darlington played out perfectly too. It was challenging to know what to expect from Darlington since you really only get to meet this rule-abiding, snobbish Yale male in book one. Still, his evolution as a character through his experience in hell brought more dimension to him. He’s now a character I’m more interested in seeing in the future.

What’s most challenging to articulate about this book is why it was really good. It was a combination of elements that brought it together so well, including the characters, the plot, the subplots, the setting, and the writing. It just felt like every single aspect hit the mark for me. I was super glad to see some set-up for the next book towards the end and loved the direction that Bardugo was headed in, so I’m looking forward to when the final installment is released. I’ve enjoyed this series so much too that I’m planning on picking up some more of her works in the near future as well.