A review by sharkybookshelf
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

3.0

This was a decent sequel, although I should mention that I went into it with veeery little memory of the details of the first. In hindsight, reading at least a recap would have been smart since there were definitely events referenced that I could not remember anything about.

I wanted a book to keep me awake in the middle of the night and keep me entertained, and it did do the job, for the most part. The dark academia fantasy was there in full force, but the pacing was a little inconsistent and there was a bit too much going on. My interest was held though, even if I wasn’t as gripped as by Ninth House.

Something I did remember about the first one, and which happens again here, is the regular referring back to Alex’s trauma. Much of the time it felt like mentioning the trauma for the sake of it, rather than for valid plot/character development reasons. It’s an adult book (as opposed to Bardugo’s YA offerings), we get it.

A decent, if not as thrilling, second offering in this dark academia fantasy trilogy.