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locajohanna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
jessereadsthings's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Rape, and Sexual assault
cjladygoodman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
laurenvoice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Torture
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pros:
- the ingenuity and originality of the magical system is fab, I love the dark rituals and magic that the societies come up with.
- the plot is intricate and intriguing, with plot twists, but theres always hints that the reader can spot afterwards
- I do really like the characters, they're all so different and their own people, Alex, Darlington, Turner, Dawes and Mercy, but also all the side characters have their own motivations
- the writing is very good, with some rly vivid imagery and turns of phrase that I wish I'd marked
- I love the extremely grey morality in how we have a lot of compassion for Alex, but she is a dark soldier of a character and so is Darlington. that's never minimalised and actually takes front stage in the book.
- the setting is basically a character itself and while I didnt really fall in love with it, I still appreciated the research and beauty of it all
- I also liked how it didnt shy away from linking magical exploitation to real life, like with the runaway slaves map, and how it was never brushed aside. it showed the dark side of the magical and wealthy.
cons:
- it's a dense book, with a lot of time switches near the start, which threw me. keeping track of characters can be tricky and I definitely needed the summary of the 1st bk to remember a lot of things. the complexity if the book all comes together near the end but it takes some getting your head round and was partly why it took me a longer time to read.
- I do kind of wish the series had started at a different point. leigh mentioned it might have been a much longer series and I kind of wish we'd seen the events with hellie and Alex's introduction to lethe by Darlington first hand, rather than in erratic flashbacks. it was hard to feel very invested in Darlington's return for a lot of it because we dont get to view himself ourselves, only through glimpses through Alex.
- sometimes things happened in the plot that felt a bit random, too much out of nowhere.
but overall I did really like it, especially the badass last scene and I very much want to read the next one. (it was also amazing to meet and see leigh talk, would do that again also)
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
focus on animal death and violence in one graphic scene. the self harm is to do with cutting an arm for a magical ritual the suicide attempt/thoughts are a brief mention by a side character but do come up a couple timeschristina95's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
ashleymartin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Suicide attempt
meliemelo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Even though it didn't quite captivate me in the same way Ninth House had (and I had just reread it), I did thoroughly enjoy Hell Bent, and was delighted to get all the characters back. There are some great ideas in there, and I like the way the universe gets expanded, although I felt this same expansion could have been explored a bit more. As I already mentioned, I especially enjoyed the last part, and am looking forward to seeing where it'll go from there.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
b_lownds127's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Blood, and Murder
midnightrose_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There is some more world-building aspects as you come to find out while reading that add to the lore of the first book. You also get to know more about the side characters as well as Alex.
This book wasn’t quite the five star read the first one was for me. It wasn’t as tightly edited as I felt Ninth House was, and went on a little too long than it should have. Some things were a little repetitive. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this contemporary dark fantasy series and look forward to the next installment.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing and Drug use
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Suicide attempt