Hell Bent

Book: Hell Bent
Series: Alex Stern #2
Author: Leigh Bardugo

Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.

Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.-Goodreads

Review: I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was very excited to read this one. Alex is a fascinating main character and I love her commitment to try to rescue Darlington. There is a lot happening in this book, which is both a good and bad thing. This was a long (almost 500 pages hardcover) and there is a lot of action to keep the plot moving. At times it seemed like there was so much going, Alex, Dawes and the crew never processed what they were actually going through. As a reader, I had a hard time connecting to anyone (even Alex at times) because of this. 

Overall, still liked this one and will absolutely continue with the series. 

Grade: 3/5