Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

53 reviews

leexpen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

📝 SYNOPSIS:
I love you to Hell and back. Immersed in a world of occult magic, Alex vows to return her mentor from Hell with the help of her friends and a magical gift that is hers alone.
👩‍🏫⛪️👻📜💀🐇😈🧛‍♂️🎩

👍🏻 RECOMMENDATION:
💚 READ it! 

💬 FAVORITE QUOTES:
[PENDING]

👓 FORMAT: 
🎧

📑 COMMENTS:
• Um, this is a sequel? LOL I jumped in here, and it works fine.
• In the contemporary fantasy setting, Bardugo captures the dark academic aesthetic well. When it comes to the real-life setting, the northeast and California are believable (but I haven't spent enough time in Connecticut specifically to judge that). The magic system is convoluted, but the loose logic does fall apart at the end.
• The characters are complex, three-dimensional, and flawed. Their races and genders influence them in meaningful ways. Some are more lovable than others, but they are all understandable. Mercy & Turner are my personal favorites! The antagonists are rounded, too. 
• Apt imagery and metaphors flow into the prose. There's plenty to dissect if that's your thing. (It's mine!) I'd love to see it on the page, particulaely to see the tome excerpts.
• Why did they switch audiobook narrators so late into the story? It was jarring, and it pulled me out of the story! The character's voice is defined, but I also hate it. It adds nothing to the story. Overall, Part Two lags.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Self harm, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Colonisation

lancemama's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

adrienreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

One of my favorite Bardugo books so far - incredible read, I loved it more than the first in its series. 

This book is dark, but if the first book was too explicit/intense for you, this one definitely felt "lighter", more-or-less. Still dark and horrific, but there was far less (on-screen at least) sexual violence, and overall I had a much easier time with this one. Again, still not "light reading" by any means, but worth noting. 

If you've loved Bardugo's other books, this one scratches that same itch, and more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Misogyny, Racism, and Slavery

stephliljazz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

As second book in the Ninth Gate series I am just hooked to this story. I cannot wait for book three I hope it comes out sooner than later! I don't know how to describe the book without spoilers so I'll just leave it with a couple quotes.

"People shouldn't have to march through the world fighting all the time."

"I will serve you till the end of days."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Classism

morguemoth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, and Colonisation

Minor: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

sfdogmom's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

so good

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, and Classism

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed the second installment of the Alex Stern series. It was once again packed with pulse pounding run ins with dark magic, complex relationships, and a plot to keep you on the edge of your seat, but was more sophisticated and succinct than its predecessor. The gift of not needing to do all the world building set up from the first book means that Alex and her cohort of darkly funny, talented co-conspirators could hit the ground running in a desperate attempt to bring golden boy of Lethe, Darlington, back from the underworld. The action in this one was unmatched and I thoroughly enjoyed getting a fuller picture of Dante, Oculus, and Centurion as they came up against their toughest battle yet. 
Hell Bent, like “Ninth House” once again warns us of the dangers of too much power concentrated in too few hands, but this time, it may be her protagonists who need the reminding. 
Gripping and fun, this one gets my first 5 star review of the year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Vomit

marg0tte1109's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Classism

frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is dark and full of tense but enthralling action and characters.

To me it was more enjoyable than NH.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, and Slavery

iamastraythought's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

God this book took me so long to read but it was incredibly good. It's just the kind of book that you have to sit down and really focus on to get going, and I don't usually have that kind of time. Hope there's a third, I love Alex dearly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Classism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury