Welcome to Litsy!

Galaxy Stern competes with Lizbeth Salander for toughest female MC kicking ass in a male dominated secret society. Freaking loved this story even though there‘s a bit of a cliff hanger… again. Will be eagerly awaiting book 3. May the muse shine upon Leigh Bardugo.

I ordered the paperback of Hell Bent, which was more expensive than the hardback, just so they would match....No!!!!🤦‍♀️😂🤦‍♀️😂

This book is kind of intense! Not that that‘s a bad thing. Thankfully, Bardugo interjects, what I consider, just the right amount of humor. Now I need to go finish this book. It‘s majorly overdue and I can feel the wrath of the librarians bubbling. No joke!😈

I love Leigh Bardugo's writing and was immediately immersed in book 2 of this series. Dark, tense, with themes of found family this one gets a pick! Now to wait for the next installment...
(Finished in the air this morning so here's a picture from above the clouds.)

A gripping sequel to Ninth House, Alex Stern is hellbent on journeying to hell to rescue her mentor from eternal torment. But the magic involved requires great sacrifice, including putting others‘ lives in danger. Will she succeed?

Update! I came back to this after a reread of the first book. It was an absolutely thrilling dark academia suspense thriller with paranormal aspects. I can‘t get into many details without spoiling book 1, but this book was even more entertaining. As Bardugo just took off from where book 1 left off, we didn‘t have to go through the world building and magic system. I really look forward to the confine adventures of Alex and her friends. 5⭐️

This is the second Alex Stern book. It may have been a little slow at the beginning but it really gets rolling and is hard to put down. I really like this author and this series set at Yale is a bit different from her world building that she's known for but I love it.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

3–17-23: My 29th finished book of 2023! I highly recommend reading the first book in the series right before this one since it picks up where the first leaves off. Unfortunately, I read the first book, Ninth House, in April of 2020 so I didn‘t remember a ton of what happened. Darlington is gone to another realm and Alex, Dawes and Turner must figure out how to breach this realm to retrieve him. Enter demons and vampires set in Yale University.

"You can't walk through hell unchanged." ?

It's real dark. Not many dark academias take us all the way to hell.

I took breaks because of the intensity, but I absolutely loved this book ... I found it to be an incredible and unique story. I saw news of the author's huge book deal today ?‍? & I really am glad for it because I would read *anything* that she writes ... ?

I‘ve been in a bit of a horrible book slump recently due to work and such, but this book and it‘s predecessor really grabbed me. I can‘t wait for the next one. The series is dark but so good if you aren‘t easily offended.

February was a slow reading month for me due to the Hogwarts Legacy game being released 😅
Tagged my favorite of the month!

I loved it. I think even more than Ninth House.
I went off fantasy for a long time during lockdowns etc but it‘s come back with vengeance and there‘s so much out there 😁
#booked2023 #aboutamonster There are many forms of monsters in this.

Alex Stern returns and is even more powerful in this second book set at Yale among the creepy secret societies.

I loved the found family theme with the extra doses of magic, but there‘s a lot going on in this book. Maybe too much. I found myself thinking of the quote by Chanel, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”

I liked the first book, so was excited for my hold on this one to come in, but I find that I‘m just not enjoying it at all. I pushed through to the 60% and I don‘t want to go any further. It‘s just coming across as flat and a bit silly to me.

While not as good as Ninth House, Hell Bent was still a decent read.

Have been in an online conference all day, just finished and I‘m having a cup of tea and a read before tacking the emails.

The second in the Ninth House series is good! Really good actually. Full of magic, demons, and lots of courage.This series has me hooked. I think it is meant to be a trilogy in the end.

The one thing I've always enjoyed about Bardugo's books is the rich inner lives of her characters and how they often match the exciting external lives these characters lead. A worthy sequel to Ninth House, it was a thrilling read from start to finish. Not only do we learn more about the existing core characters, we're introduced to some new ones, one in particular in the most terrifying way.

Finished Ninth House last night and starting Hell Bent today. It's my last day of my 3 days off, but we're in a blizzard warning (with a foot of snow!) for tomorrow into Thursday, so I probably will have a snow day or two.

In this sequel to Ninth House, Alex refuses to accept the way things ended & dedicates herself to restoring what was lost. That means putting together a team with blood on their hands & planning a descent into hell, while at the same time balancing classes at Yale & her Lethe duties supervising secret society rituals. Not to mention solving a murder or three. Full of unexpected turns, sometimes into very dark places, Hell Bent does not disappoint.

I‘m really enjoying this trilogy! I wish I‘d reread the first book or otherwise recapped it because this book just dives right into the action without looking back and I admit I didn‘t remember what happened before 😬. That being said I was able to quickly catch on and ended up liking this one more than the first! I don‘t know how an author builds a world like this but it‘s so engaging. Loved the flawed characters! 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

Question - has anyone ordered a new book fulfilled by Amazon that arrived in a plastic bag like this before? In all my years I‘ve never seen this.

"Alex approached Black Elm as if she were sidling up to a wild animal, cautious in her walk up the long, curving driveway, careful not to show her fear."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I‘ve received some amazing #BookMail recently. As soon as these editions came up for preorder last year, I snagged one on Waterstones.com. It‘s a very pretty edition, though Ninth House is a signed edition with bonus chapters so it evens out. I‘ll be rereading that one before I start the above book just to refresh my memory. Set after the story in Ninth House, Alex Stern is risking everything to bring Darlington back from Hell.

I really enjoy this trilogy. This was better than the first because Leigh dives back into the world without the garbage recapping. Excellent read 3.5 ⭐️ #botm

What. A. Ride. To rescue Darlington from Hell, Alex Stern literally has to go to Hell and back. The turn of phrasing by the demons was great. Every word was part of a riddle. I loved it.

I highly recommend rereading Ninth House before starting this book. Page one picks up right where NH ended.

If you're interested in the series, please check the content warnings before reading.

Admittedly I read a lot of books. I mean a lot a lot. This is the follow up to Ninth House and I probably should've revisited that book before reading this one. There was so much I'd forgotten from the first book and as a result this wasn't the most fulfilling read ever. This is a dark one, friends so if that's not your cuppa perhaps pass on this one. #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

I loved this book even more than the first one 😍
Of course, it ended on another cliffhanger though.

NOT a fan of this cover but SUPER excited to be starting in on this next in series read! Thoroughly ENJOYED Ninth House so let‘s see what Hell Bent brings. 🤓📖

It‘s so cold and I will not be leaving the house until it gets warm. Loves Ninth House and very excited to start this! #botm

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This had more of an urban fantasy feel than the first book. I loved diving deeper with these characters - into their backstories and literally into the depths of hell! I especially relished the development of the indomitable Alex and the… ahem… glowing Darlington. It was equally dark and fun, and I was captivated for the entire twisty, demonic ride! #BOTM

Ahhh, I loved it! Darker and twistier than Ninth House, though once again I found a certain villain reveal to be predictable in a satisfying way. Then again, I‘m not sure I remember Ninth House that well so maybe it‘s not darker and twistier 😂 I do feel like it went deeper and the next book will go deeper still. I do believe that Galaxy Stern can save the world.

Obviously I‘m going to be dying for the next few years until the next one is released. #darlington #darkacademia

While I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as Ninth House I still couldn't put it down. I need more!

DNFing for now. I may come back to it, but I am not in the mood for New Adult college age characters at the moment. I also may want to reread the first book before diving back in again, as it totally takes off from where book 1 left off with no style of recap.

Ok I‘m totally agreeing with @Erinsuereads on this one. Totally mixed feelings. I couldn‘t stop reading it and liked it but it was good not great. At times it even felt a little da Vinci code to me if that makes sense. Basically Alex will do anything to get Darlington back and who is really is and what she can do gets revealed in the process- along with everyone‘s deepest traumas and secrets. #Babbitt rabbit ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars.

Here is my blog for Hell Bent if anyone is interested!

https://mylifewithinthepages.wordpress.com/2023/01/26/review-hell-bent/

This is a very entertaining book that has some allegorical themes I think. The characters are very good and it‘s got a little something for everyone that likes fantasy and doesn‘t mind if the theme is patently absurd. It‘s the character development in the book and not the story that makes it engaging in my opinion.

Been to see Leigh Bardugo talk tonight.
A lot of nervous young women asking her questions - you could feel the love in the room! It was great ❤️

I don't know. My feelings are complicated on this one. Like, was it good? Yes. Was it great? No. Did I zip through? Yes. Did I always enjoy it? No.

I felt the same way about Ninth House too. There is something off about them but I keep coming back....

Also will never be able to look at a glow stick the same. Iykyk

Speaking of glow sticks....I have a book hangover. Everyone hit me with your favorite smut.

This week‘s #WeeklyForecast

Is sitting in your car outside your apartment for 40minutes the audiobook equivalent to “I couldn‘t put it down”?

Alex is determined to get Darlington back. She knows where to find him, the access is the tricky bit, not to mention actually getting him free and out of his prison.

This was dark, especially the flashbacks to the characters' pasts.

Bardugo showed again that she can write adult fiction/Urban Fantasy.

#JoyousJanuary #readathon
#SeriesLove2023
#Booked2023 #AboutAMonster

@TheSpineView @Andrew65 @BarbaraTheBibliophage @alisiakae @Cinfhen

So, excited to finally be picking this one up!!! Probably one of my most anticipated books of 2023.