Scripted in Fantasy and Fiction discussion

Share your thoughts :)

Happy reading

here's my review for hell bent! i enjoyed it, but i felt like the plot didn't move forward as much as i'd expected. my full thoughts (including spoilers) are in my review! i'm still super excited for the eventual release of the next book in the series!!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I liked it but I think I was more in love with Darlington and the idea of what the book was about rather than the book itself because I think it wasn’t executed the best way it possibly could’ve been

Ninth House got me back into reading and Hell Bent kept that flame going. It’s a great sequel to a unique story.

I love Alex’s growth as a character and how Hell Bent delves deeper into the grappling of her traumas and overall psyche amidst pure chaos. I also really enjoyed how each main character was given time and attention. Excited to see where things go from here!

Sailorbug wrote: "I liked it but I think I was more in love with Darlington and the idea of what the book was about rather than the book itself because I think it wasn’t executed the best way it possibly could’ve been"

i completely agree!! i need more darlington in the next book.

I might be in the minority but I loved loved loved hell bent particularly because of its slow burn, I liked the fact that they had to make the descent more than once bc it felt more realistic for that big of an adventure. There were different challenges for each descent which I loved and I like the slow burn between Darlington and alex!! I (again in the minority) enjoy a romance where it takes the backseat to more pressing plot points. Overall I liked the development of everyone and I’m so excited for book 3 :)

I read both Ninth House and Hell Bent on a complete whim. I saw them at the bookstore on a display table and for some reason could not stay away from them. Ultimately I bought them for no other reason than this constant tugging me to buy them - had never heard of them before and didn’t even read any reviews or fully read their descriptions.

I’m glad I did because overall the story has stuck with me since I finished them. I found Ninth House very slow when I read it. But for some reason I still found myself enamored by it. When I got to Hell Bent though the story was much easier to read and I got through it so much quicker. I feel like one of the reasons I liked the series so much even with the difficulties of pushing through was because the writing style was different than most I’ve read before.

The only thing I wish was that we got more character relationship development. I felt the relationships were a bit bland and kind of just there. Especially with Alex and Darlington. If there’s any romance between the two, or suggested romance, it seemed haphazardly thrown in to the point the reader was just supposed to accept it as truth. Instead of getting to that point by reading through it - if that makes sense.
**On that note though, through Hell Bent I did enjoy the character development of the group as a whole while trying to rescue Darlington (Alex and Turners relationship and growth was probably my favorite).

I honestly couldn’t put Hell Bent down. I felt like Leigh Bardugo kicked it up a notch from Ninth House. I liked that we got to learn a lot more about the characters in this book, especially the characters other than Alex Stern. I will say though that I need more of Dawes. I hope in the next book we get more back story on her character and get to see her come out of her shell more. I’m excited to see the dynamic between Darlington and Alex going forward because things were getting weird after the descent to Hell. I was surprised that Turner’s character grew on me in this book. His commentary when he saw half demon Darlington in the circle for the first time actually made me laugh out loud. I’m not the biggest fan of the demon plot. For some reason it was lacking for me. But overall it was a solid book and I’m glad I read it. Hopefully I don’t have to wait years for the next one 😅