a_verthandi's review against another edition
3.0
And yet we come roaring back with this one. Danny's broken, but she's not giving up. Once again. Rough. Tough. Hard to bluff.
reasonpassion's review
urban fantasy without the gloss
Urban fantasy follows a known trajectory most times, particularly the romance variation. There's a connection between a human female and some version of an alien male, sometimes an actual alien and other times simply alien as in other. The male is insufferable, manipulative and abusive. The woman is strong but succumbs because deep down she wants to be held by the strength of a strong man. The abuse and manipulation is ignored for safety. There's variations on this but essentially most cover over the horrific connection with heaps of romantic cliches.
This story take that premise and removes the cliches, at least most of them. Gone is love conquering all. Gone is redemption. Gone is overlooking abuse. This is brutal unmitigated destruction at every level imaginable. What would truly happen in a human/alien union with such a ridiculous difference in power and a lack of understanding? What would happen if the manipulation and abuse were not falsely diminished by emotionalism?
The answer is this series. The sheer scope of the lies and manipulation and abuse are not removed. They come into fruition and death results. Dante is not a strong woman in love with a redeemed hero, she is a strong woman who walks forward despite being shattered. There's a lesson there, perhaps, but it's not one feel good about when reading.
Urban fantasy follows a known trajectory most times, particularly the romance variation. There's a connection between a human female and some version of an alien male, sometimes an actual alien and other times simply alien as in other. The male is insufferable, manipulative and abusive. The woman is strong but succumbs because deep down she wants to be held by the strength of a strong man. The abuse and manipulation is ignored for safety. There's variations on this but essentially most cover over the horrific connection with heaps of romantic cliches.
This story take that premise and removes the cliches, at least most of them. Gone is love conquering all. Gone is redemption. Gone is overlooking abuse. This is brutal unmitigated destruction at every level imaginable. What would truly happen in a human/alien union with such a ridiculous difference in power and a lack of understanding? What would happen if the manipulation and abuse were not falsely diminished by emotionalism?
The answer is this series. The sheer scope of the lies and manipulation and abuse are not removed. They come into fruition and death results. Dante is not a strong woman in love with a redeemed hero, she is a strong woman who walks forward despite being shattered. There's a lesson there, perhaps, but it's not one feel good about when reading.
cajunliterarybelle's review against another edition
5.0
Constantly heart-stopping excitement that will cause you to not put the book down for a while every time you pick it up. This is a direct continuation of #4, Saint City Sinners, & gives a rocky ride to a satisfying conclusion that simultaneously leaves the reader wondering what will happen for Dante, Japh, and crew next.
I love the world Saintcrow built for Dante Valentine and will miss the characters & their evolutions.
I love the world Saintcrow built for Dante Valentine and will miss the characters & their evolutions.
cajeck's review against another edition
4.0
Good action. Good tension. Epic climax. But is it perfect? Certainly not.
I feel this book is more like 3 1/2 stars, but because I don't want to scare people away, I clicked on 4 instead of 3. It's accurate enough. I look at To Hell and Back more favorably than unfavorably. Still, this is perhaps my least favorite of the series, which is a shame, since this is the last installment for Dante Valentine.
If you want broader details of the good points in this book, just look at my other reviews for the books in this series. The good points are pretty much the same. The only thing I could possibly add regards the cast of characters. By this point in Dante's adventures, she surrounds herself by some pretty interesting people.
My biggest frustration with this book, I suppose, was how so many questions are left unanswered. I can forgive some things being left up to the readers interpretation, but I think too much was left open ended. For example: What happened to Leander? Just what are Vann and McKinley if not human? Why does Dante feel particularly drawn toward the fear of humans? What becomes of Eve's plans for Hell? Why is Jace appearing to Dante as a loa? What the hell are Abra and Jado? What is the story behind Fudoshin?
Yes, I know. I can infer answers to all of these. But in my opinion that's quite a broad range of things to have to guess at for the ending of an otherwise epic series. I know the focus of the series was on other things, but just because these questions didn't take up the core of the plot, that doesn't change the fact that as a reader I was interested in learning about them.
I also found myself a little underwhelmed by the revelations regarding hediairas. I had already surmised a lot of what the "revelations" were. As I stated above, one of the curiosities I was interested in regarded Dante and her unusual attraction to fear. Sure, you can explain that away as, "It's because she's a demon." But that feels like such a lazy answer. Every time Saintcrow brought up Dante's drunken reaction to the fear of others, I thought she was going to suggest that perhaps Danny could feed off of fear the way Japhrimel fed off of blood and sex. It would have added an entirely new aspect to the story, and perhaps a new challenge for Dante as she had to control this. Saintcrow never really went anywhere with it though, and it felt like an opportunity lost.
Also, in my last review, I mention how Dante gets pretty bratty a few times. In this installment, she doesn't get as bratty as often, and I say that because her rash behavior was not "bratty." It was the actions of a person on the edge. A lot of reviewers complained about Danny's disagreeable thinking, but geez give the girl a break. From book 3-5 she's been running in fear, and pain, and emotional turmoil with practically no breaks in between. Wouldn't you get a bit crazy if you were hunted by demons, lost numerous friends, were physically and emotionally violated, and lied to by the one person you cannot help but love? Less understandable is how Dante insists on trusting Eve blindly, without more facts, or at least better understanding what it was that Doreen meant when they spoke in the afterlife. I thought their exchange was on the side of ambiguous, but Dante bullies onward as if a geas was laid on her.
Oh, and the repetitive thinking. Yeah, that's still an issue.
Last negative: By the fifth book, you'd think we'd ease up a bit on the world-building information. Not really. Saintcrow still goes to incredible lengths to explain Dante's world as if this were the first book in the series, not the last. 75% of the way through the book, I got really impatient and skimmed these parts. They really bogged down the story's pace.
The ending felt bittersweet, and I definitely felt there was room for the series to continue. It seems it won't, though Saintcrow might have hinted in her appendix in the DV anthology that she might resume writing Dante Valentine if she feels it would be natural to do so.
I don't regret my investment in the series, though. I'm curious to see what else the author has done.
I feel this book is more like 3 1/2 stars, but because I don't want to scare people away, I clicked on 4 instead of 3. It's accurate enough. I look at To Hell and Back more favorably than unfavorably. Still, this is perhaps my least favorite of the series, which is a shame, since this is the last installment for Dante Valentine.
If you want broader details of the good points in this book, just look at my other reviews for the books in this series. The good points are pretty much the same. The only thing I could possibly add regards the cast of characters. By this point in Dante's adventures, she surrounds herself by some pretty interesting people.
My biggest frustration with this book, I suppose, was how so many questions are left unanswered. I can forgive some things being left up to the readers interpretation, but I think too much was left open ended. For example: What happened to Leander? Just what are Vann and McKinley if not human? Why does Dante feel particularly drawn toward the fear of humans? What becomes of Eve's plans for Hell? Why is Jace appearing to Dante as a loa? What the hell are Abra and Jado? What is the story behind Fudoshin?
Spoiler
Did Dante really fail her promise to Doreen, or did she perhaps misinterpret what was otherwise a very brief meeting with her former lover in Death's country?Yes, I know. I can infer answers to all of these. But in my opinion that's quite a broad range of things to have to guess at for the ending of an otherwise epic series. I know the focus of the series was on other things, but just because these questions didn't take up the core of the plot, that doesn't change the fact that as a reader I was interested in learning about them.
I also found myself a little underwhelmed by the revelations regarding hediairas. I had already surmised a lot of what the "revelations" were. As I stated above, one of the curiosities I was interested in regarded Dante and her unusual attraction to fear. Sure, you can explain that away as, "It's because she's a demon." But that feels like such a lazy answer. Every time Saintcrow brought up Dante's drunken reaction to the fear of others, I thought she was going to suggest that perhaps Danny could feed off of fear the way Japhrimel fed off of blood and sex. It would have added an entirely new aspect to the story, and perhaps a new challenge for Dante as she had to control this. Saintcrow never really went anywhere with it though, and it felt like an opportunity lost.
Also, in my last review, I mention how Dante gets pretty bratty a few times. In this installment, she doesn't get as bratty as often, and I say that because her rash behavior was not "bratty." It was the actions of a person on the edge. A lot of reviewers complained about Danny's disagreeable thinking, but geez give the girl a break. From book 3-5 she's been running in fear, and pain, and emotional turmoil with practically no breaks in between. Wouldn't you get a bit crazy if you were hunted by demons, lost numerous friends, were physically and emotionally violated, and lied to by the one person you cannot help but love? Less understandable is how Dante insists on trusting Eve blindly, without more facts, or at least better understanding what it was that Doreen meant when they spoke in the afterlife. I thought their exchange was on the side of ambiguous, but Dante bullies onward as if a geas was laid on her.
Oh, and the repetitive thinking. Yeah, that's still an issue.
Last negative: By the fifth book, you'd think we'd ease up a bit on the world-building information. Not really. Saintcrow still goes to incredible lengths to explain Dante's world as if this were the first book in the series, not the last. 75% of the way through the book, I got really impatient and skimmed these parts. They really bogged down the story's pace.
The ending felt bittersweet, and I definitely felt there was room for the series to continue. It seems it won't, though Saintcrow might have hinted in her appendix in the DV anthology that she might resume writing Dante Valentine if she feels it would be natural to do so.
I don't regret my investment in the series, though. I'm curious to see what else the author has done.
nyxshadow's review
3.0
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2017/01/dante-valentine-t5-to-hell-and-back.html
Le début du roman m'a laissé à penser que Dante avait enfin un peu mûri et allait arrêté ses bêtises avec Japh. Echec.
A la moindre allusions du démon aux yeux bleus, elle laisse tout tomber.
Elle refuse de croire et de faire confiance à celui qui a traversé l'Enfer pour elle, mais est capable de faire les quatre volontés d'un démon qui lui a balancé une petite phrase sans rien pour le confirmer... genre pour de vrai ?
Bon et aussi : je ne dis rien à Japh, mais lui a intérêt à tout me dire ou je tente de me tuer. Bravo très mature XD
Le début du roman m'a laissé à penser que Dante avait enfin un peu mûri et allait arrêté ses bêtises avec Japh. Echec.
A la moindre allusions du démon aux yeux bleus, elle laisse tout tomber.
Elle refuse de croire et de faire confiance à celui qui a traversé l'Enfer pour elle, mais est capable de faire les quatre volontés d'un démon qui lui a balancé une petite phrase sans rien pour le confirmer... genre pour de vrai ?
Bon et aussi : je ne dis rien à Japh, mais lui a intérêt à tout me dire ou je tente de me tuer. Bravo très mature XD
anzuk's review against another edition
2.0
Please tell me this is the last book in the series. Please!!
O﹏o
Yes! Yes it is!!
It’s over! IT’S FINALLY OVER!! All the pain, the suffering. THE ANGST. THE FUCKING ANGST!! Just thinking about it makes me want to smash my laptop to bits!!
Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. Calm. I’m calm. Ok.
To Hell and Back, the, I quote, pulse-pounding finale to Lilith Saintcrow's urban fantasy series featuring Dante Valentine. My pain and suffering. My pissed on expectations. My waste of time. Hours upon hours of hoping that it will get better soon. That it will end with a bang and make me forget how utterly stupid books 2 to 4 were. That will make me forgive Saintcrow for turning the characters I loved into douchebags…
Nothing. I got nothing.
I read, I yawned, I skimmed, I lol’d, I skimmed some more. And then some more. And then it was over. It felt like a chore. It really did.
Blah. All I can say now is good riddance Dante Valentine. Burn in hell.
Oh wait.
Review also posted on
O﹏o
Yes! Yes it is!!
It’s over! IT’S FINALLY OVER!! All the pain, the suffering. THE ANGST. THE FUCKING ANGST!! Just thinking about it makes me want to smash my laptop to bits!!
Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. Calm. I’m calm. Ok.
To Hell and Back, the, I quote, pulse-pounding finale to Lilith Saintcrow's urban fantasy series featuring Dante Valentine. My pain and suffering. My pissed on expectations. My waste of time. Hours upon hours of hoping that it will get better soon. That it will end with a bang and make me forget how utterly stupid books 2 to 4 were. That will make me forgive Saintcrow for turning the characters I loved into douchebags…
Nothing. I got nothing.
I read, I yawned, I skimmed, I lol’d, I skimmed some more. And then some more. And then it was over. It felt like a chore. It really did.
Blah. All I can say now is good riddance Dante Valentine. Burn in hell.
Oh wait.
Review also posted on
wetdryvac's review against another edition
5.0
For the whole series: By the gods and kittens, that *censored* hurt.
Seriously excellent world building, really strong character development, a fascinating look at ethics without truth, and just... damn. An impressive and in many ways resonating construct, but I'm literally writing myself a note to never pick this particular series back up again because the price is so damn high.
And yeah, it gets five stars. Because it does what it does so very well. And because so many of the underlying structures are absolutely beautiful.
Seriously excellent world building, really strong character development, a fascinating look at ethics without truth, and just... damn. An impressive and in many ways resonating construct, but I'm literally writing myself a note to never pick this particular series back up again because the price is so damn high.
And yeah, it gets five stars. Because it does what it does so very well. And because so many of the underlying structures are absolutely beautiful.
connie_flower's review against another edition
3.0
To be honest it wasn't as good as the other in the series. Unlike the others, there wasn't some big over-arching story with traditional 'beginning, middle and end', just one straight dash with you hitting the ground running from the first page. Dante seriously needs a slap... or some prozac. Her internal monologue is all just "me, me, me, misery, me, me, me". She treats everyone like crap and does whatever the hell she wants, despite her method obviously not being historically successful.
Unfortunately, the ending was a bit too open. I wasn't expecting world peace and butterflies all round but there were just too many questions and loose threads - what's going to happen to Eve and Gabe's kid, where's Japh's necklace, what are hedaira? And I didn't like the way Eddie's cure was made pointless. Realistic yes, but a bit too grim.
I'm just hoping there's a spin-off or follow on series where these questions can be answered becuase it definitley doesn't feel finished to me.
Worth reading, however, for some reason I can't really explain. There's loads of action and something about Japh and Dante that I just love :)
Unfortunately, the ending was a bit too open. I wasn't expecting world peace and butterflies all round but there were just too many questions and loose threads - what's going to happen to Eve and Gabe's kid, where's Japh's necklace, what are hedaira? And I didn't like the way Eddie's cure was made pointless. Realistic yes, but a bit too grim.
I'm just hoping there's a spin-off or follow on series where these questions can be answered becuase it definitley doesn't feel finished to me.
Worth reading, however, for some reason I can't really explain. There's loads of action and something about Japh and Dante that I just love :)
ghosttie's review against another edition
3.0
Dante Valentine is probably the most self-indulgent character name ever, but it makes sense coming from Lilith Saintcrow - probably the most self-indulgent nom-de-plume ever.
Dante Valentine is probably the most accurate portrayal of a woman I've ever read. She does completely illogical things at completely random times, and even she doesn't know why.
I stayed with the series through all five books, but I can't say I don't wish I hadn't.
After getting past the ridiculous character name, the first book had enough good ideas and was well written enough that I bought the second book, and so on. But by the fifth book I was thoroughly sick of Dante's garbage. If we had been dating, I would have dumped Dante in book five.
Dante Valentine is probably the most accurate portrayal of a woman I've ever read. She does completely illogical things at completely random times, and even she doesn't know why.
I stayed with the series through all five books, but I can't say I don't wish I hadn't.
After getting past the ridiculous character name, the first book had enough good ideas and was well written enough that I bought the second book, and so on. But by the fifth book I was thoroughly sick of Dante's garbage. If we had been dating, I would have dumped Dante in book five.
audiobookmel's review against another edition
3.0
This was not a great ending. I think that there are still a lot of unanswered questions. I am still not a fan of Japh. I think he could have shared more information with Dante. I also think Dante could have made better decisions.