„This is what your magic is for, isn’t it? This is what it does. Props up the people in power, let’s the people with everything take a little more?“

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

I have a love-hate relationship with these books. I kind of hated a lot of things about them, but still i felt entertained and kept reading. This was a rollercoaster (more on the explicit issues I had down below), but still I kept going on and after finishing „Ninth House“ I immediately started „Hell Bent“. Ok, I have to admit, that I thought this was a duology and I wanted to finish it right away. Why did I think this is a duology? Anyone else having that problem? Well, it is planned as a trilogy, the third book is not out yet though, so the series is not finished.
Little disclaimer: These books are as dark as it can get. I had to pair it with a lighter read to keep my mood up. You can find a specific trigger warning down below.

Plot:
We follow the life of Galaxy „Alex“ Stern, a young woman whose most prominent skill is to know how to survive. First she learned to survive in the drug world she became acquainted to during her teenage years, now she can use that skill in her new life being part of a board that oversees the secret and magical societies that operate at Yale. At her side is her mentor Darlington, or more he was at her side. Magic took him from her, but she will leave nothing untried to get him back where he belongs. This is a story full of magic, horror, dark and gritty topics. So do not expect a fun, light read here. The trigger list is also ridiculously long (you can find it down below).

Genre:
The genre is very clearly a mix between fantasy (magic) and dark academia (university setting, elitist secret societies, dark topics, moody atmosphere) with also a lot of horror elements in there. It would have been THE perfect book for autumn for me, so I might reread it at that time in the future.

Characters:
Uff… I really didn’t like any of the characters at all. If I had to choose one I liked best it would probably be Dawes, but the rest just go really on my nerves, with our main character Alex Stern leading. I thought the characters were all unlikeable, egoistic and so so indifferent to their own flawes, even if they showed exactly the same behaviour they were complaining over in different people.

World/World Building:
It was good, I found the world intruiging, yet it was not my favourite world of all time. I loved the atmosphere of the campus though and as already stated above I can really see this getting me in the perfect autumn mood.

Writing:
I personally loved the depictions of New Haven and Yale, the detailed accounts of the old buildings and the setup of the town. I know though (thanks to the bookclub I read this with), that not everyone likes this. And indeed I too found myself sometimes skipping a bit over the pages, slightly bored, when the descriptions felt a bit repetitous, but still that is what makes it so moody and atmospheric in my opinion, so I wouldn’t have want to miss it. The writing style overall was fine, not extraordinarily good, but as well not bad by any means.

My issues and intruige:
I had a ton of issues with this, but after reviewing them again I think the main theme here is that I found the characters insufferable. The thing that bugged me the most is that our characters go on and on about how bad the societys and Lethe (the society our main character is in, overseeing the other ones) are, because they endanger people and if they screw up they just sweep it under the rug. Well, guess what our set of characters is doing literally all the time: exactly that! They do a ritual that endangers basically the whole town and when unforeseen and really bad consequences follow that again threaten basically everybody, they just really make sure, that no one will find out (ok, granted that they also try to undo it, but still). They also go on and on how it is bad, that these societies act in this secretive manner and how awful elitism ist, yet still they manage to basically form their own secret society in these societies, but that is something totally different in their viewpoints. Because of that I never could really root for them, which made it kind of difficult to read sometimes.
On top of that the friendships that were particularly portrayed in „Hell Bent“ never convinced me for just one second. The relationships felt flat, you didn’t really get why they supposedly should be friends or why exactly those found themselves and others were not included. I question especially our main character with having the capability of forming a friendship with anyone regarding her state of mind as well as her behaviour. Alex Stern is a very egoistic, self centered, dishonest and violent character. Serving only what she wants in life and having no regard for a greater good really. God, did i not like her from the beginning and hate her at the end. Her attitude to just do what she wants without ever thinking of the consequences or considering that she might not know everything… also bringing in people to serve her cause and sacrificing them that way. Until the very end she blames the societies for all the bad that happened and can’t for the life of her see her involvement in all of that clearly.
Sometimes the conversations were particularly bad, almost laughable stupid. For example when Alex tells another character that she is afraid for her safety regarding a magical ritual and the person explains it away as there is danger in walking down the street as well. Did that person really just compare doing an extremely dangerous magical ritual to walking down the street? The oblivion of the characters regarding magic is unbelievable at times. That also explains why they dont mind risking basically the lifes of all people in town with their actions regarding magic or what they bring upon them, but at the same time they condemn the actions of the societies doing somewhat harmful things to single people or themselves.

Ok, after this not so short rant here, you probably ask yourself why I didn’t put that first book down immediately. Well, somehow it still did capture and intruige me, probably as it really was just perfect in the dark academia sense. In no dark academia book I know of did I really love the characters, some of them I outright hated. They are always morally grey or black, and that is also what makes it so unique and pleasurably dark. The plot in „Ninth House“ and „Hell Bent“ as well left me hungering for more. And I have to admit, that I definitely will read the third book as soon as it is out. Leigh Bardugo does not do everything right, but she does enough of it right to really keep me hooked. Thats also why my star rating still is ridiculously high given all the flaws i mentioned:

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars!

This is for you, if…

… you love dark academia, autumn vibes, dark topics and magic

… you don’t mind books that take „dark“ to a new level

… you find the thought of secret societies, hidden magic, other realms and lots of disturbing content intruiging

… you still kept reading until here, seems like you would be in for the ride 😉

Trigger Warning: Ableism, Abuse, Anxiety, Autopsies, Blackmail, Blood, Bullying, Choking, Corpse (graphic description), Death, Drug Dealing, Drug Abuse, Emesis, Forced consumption of human, Waste, Gore, Grief, Murder, Overdose, Racism, Rape, Self-Harm, Sexual Assault, Suicide (discussed), Surgery, Violence (physical, emotional, verbal)