Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

The sequel to Ninth House is more of a pure fantasy novel than its predecessor, which I preferred overall

(I had actually meant to take a picture of the book - Hell Bent has a striking front cover featuring a wonderfully creepy rabbit - but I forgot until nighttime so just the usual roses here.)

Hell Bent is the sequel to Ninth House, in which Galaxy 'Alex' Stern was given a free scholarship to Yale in returning for helping to police the occult activities of eight secret societies. She's mentored by the snobbish, omnicompetent Darlington and assisted by shy graduate student, Dawes. In Hell Bent, Alex and Dawes are ready to do anything to break Darlington out of hell, where he's been trapped as a “gentleman demon”. It's just as well that they're committed to the quest, as a botched ritual leaves the demonic Darlington trapped in an ever-losening circle of protection in his beloved home, Black Elm. Meanwhile, someone or something is bumping off professors on campus, and Detective Turner, a reluctant assistant to the trio, thinks that the cause could be supernatural.

I was so, so excited for Hell Bent to be released, I really enjoyed it and there are some parts that I loved. Overall, however, I think I preferred Ninth House for a few reasons. The first relates to the mixture of genres in Hell Bent versus Ninth House. Whereas the earlier book was a potent blend of crime, thriller, dark academia and fantasy, Hell Bent really dials down a lot of that mix and leans more into pure fantasy. And while in Ninth House, the crimes Alex uncovered critiqued the power and class relationships at Yale, showing how richer students got away with treating poorer New Haven residents as pawns in their society games, in Hell Bent, the murders are linked to the fantasy plot and don't really have wider significance. There's also a lot less on the secret societies and their antics in general, and I missed that.

There are also fewer interactions between Alex and Darlington in this book and I really missed their spiky, constantly shifting, slow-burn relationship. This links to a comment made in a review I read on GoodReads, which is that Hell Bent is at its best in the quieter moments, when two characters are having a conversation, or when we're learning something about their back stories. I realised that the moments I loved most were these quieter scenes, and I would have welcomed a few more of those.

Having said that, what Hell Bent lacks in social critique and opposites-attract banter, it makes up for in character development for the Ninth House trifecta, and for Alex in particular. Whereas in Ninth House, Alex often seemed to be driven by rage and her identification with the murdered victims, here she's shown as much more vulnerable. In part this is a function of accumulating an increasing number of powerful, supernatural enemies, but it's also survivor's guilt as she grapples with the trauma of what happened to her in California. There are several times where she blames herself for having survived the murders at her former home, repeatedly saying to her best friend Hellie (who returns from the dead) that she should have been the one to die. She also shows signs of low self-esteem. Besides being convinced that Hallie was “better” than her, when Mercy asks Alex if she's interested in Darlington, what Alex thinks is this:

“Darlington was too beautiful, too well-read, too well-traveled. He wasn't just cut from a different cloth; he was too finely-made and tailored.”

...Which sounds very much like she thinks he's too good for her, and made me wonder if she thinks rude, selfish, abusive ex-boyfriend Len or his ilk is all she can hope for from a romantic partner.

It was also great seeing Dawes come into her own in this book. She actually starts to speak up for herself and for others, which was lovely. There's also a section where the group are creating talismans, and Dawes conjures up a slow loris, which is just perfect for her. Of the three, I think Dawes may be my favourite now.

However, my favourite bit of character development takes place in the part called 'The Descent' (it's probably my favourite bit of writing in the book). It gives the perspectives of the four murderers descending into hell on the murders they committed. It's an incredible example of how an author can deepen characters and create empathy for them under challenging circumstances – you understand why they each committed the murders as they did.

Hell Bent is also very funny in places. There's a dopey vampire how doesn't realise that he's undead until it's pointed out to him (“I knew something was wrong”), and we're introduced to Professor Walsh-Whitely, the new overseer of Lethe, and a retrograde so outdated that he thinks it was a mistake to admit women to Yale.

The novel ends on a cliff-hanger with Alex and Darlington about to go into battle against a new set of demons. I can't wait for the conclusion to the trilogy.

What I've been reading this week

I'm still continuing with the few reads I mentioned on Wednesday: A Guest at the Feast by Colm Toibin, Vilette by Charlotte Bronte, All that it ever Meant by Blessing Musariri, and A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. I expect to finish at least two of the four over the next few days.

However, last night I didn't really feel in the mood for reading any of them, so I started two new books (the life of a mood reader...). The first was Kit and Basie by Tess Carletta. This is a sweet, very low-stakes, cosy fantasy; think Heartstopper with a bit of magic thrown in. Basie is immortal and lives a comfortable life in the little town of Long Lily with his mother, Della. But when Della decides to travel to Canada to end her life without telling him, Basie is utterly discomposed. He immediately decides to sell his house and move on, but he can't bring himself to leave the town. Then he meets Kit, and he really can't bring himself to leave. I've only got about 30 pages left of this one. I think it might be a little bit too sweet and too slow-paced for me – I used to love slow-burn romances, but now, I kept wishing that Kit and Basie would just say how they felt.

I'm also reading How to be an ex-footballer by Peter Crouch, in which the former striker looks at what other pros have done after leaving the game. There are some really left-field choices (one person has become a police detective, another runs his own hedge fund). However, I would say that the book is strongest when Crouch is talking about a topic on which he has some personal experience: his discussion of the work that goes into achieving the UEFA coaching badges was fascinating. It also makes you reflect on just how ill-equipped footballers are for the modern world. Part of the coaching badges involves students doing mock interviews with CEOs and chairmen of football clubs, because most will never have done an interview in their life.

I've decided I'm going to be a bit more flexible with posting mid-week because saying I'll post something on Wednesdays doesn't always work. So enjoy the start of the week and I'll be back on either Wednesday or Thursday with a review of a book so many people seem to be reading at the moment, Solider Sailor by Claire Kilroy.