The first part of the beginning, November, creeped me the fuck out. But we’ll get to that when the time comes later.

Hell Bent picks up where Ninth House left off, Alex and Dawes intent on rescuing Darlington from Hell. As Tripp says: A Hell Heist. I’m not sure how much I can say without spoiling pretty much everything, so yeah.

Their attempt goes awry, and they’re left with a half demon, fully naked (and excited?) Darlington. This version of Darlington is corrupt and…devilish. His personality now matches his upbringing, and he can go toe to toe with Alex for morally grey champion. His old self still rings true, giving hints to help Alex and Turner’s investigation, but he’s seen the otherside, he had a glimpse of the horror Alex has lived with her whole life, and it changed him (literally).

The “Wait” that they hear before the portal closed was HEARTBREAKING. Especially since, later in the book, we find out what he’s doing in Hell. Stacking bricks to rebuild Black Elm, a never ending task where he gets no reprise, no relief, and no rest. And he willingly stays behind to save them as they try to escape hell, like what *cries*

“Have you ever wondered why the death words work?” He leaned forward. “Because we all amount to nothing in the end and there is nothing more terrifying than nothing.”

The things that followed them out of Hell, wow, not a fan of that. At All. Spook factor 10.

“There’s a blonde outside of Il Bastone. Looks like a girl. IS NOT A GIRL. Use salt”

Don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing plot line, bringing in the demons/vampires to feed off of the characters hopelessness, despair, hurt, anger, but it was scary as fuck. The vampire concept was so intriguing though, an emotional vampire, although they also drank blood and were generally gross too.

“Turner dropped his hands. He shook his head. “Exodus. That fucking wolf is quoting scripture at me.”

----------
“Detective Turner, you are hereby relieved of your duties as Centurion.” 
“Oh no,” said Turner flatly. “Anything but that.”

Hearing the backstory of Turner made me love him even more, but his humour really stood out in this book for me. He was hil-ar-i-ous. He was loyal and the steady presence that the characters deserved.

“Try to keep up.” 
------ 
“He’s a loaded weapon.” 
“He’s barely a squirt gun.”

Tripp, the little muffin. I was so sad at his back story and while he *technically* didn’t die, the demon did end up killing him, even if his soul moved to the demon – I still felt bad for Tripp, how scared he must have been in the end, to die like that.

“Dawes wasn’t made for this kind of work. She was supposed to stay safe at Il Bastone, tending to her thesis like a slow-growing garden. She was support staff, an indoor cat.”

Dawes, my sweet swan. YOU BETTER GET A HAPPY ENDING OR I WILL RIOT.

Okay, back to November. The Grays in the basement?? Darlington’s parents?? I didn’t see that coming. Also, his father was still a little bitch even after death.

“I almost feel human”

Anslem. WHY WAS I ZERO PERCENT SURPRISED WHEN HE TURNED OUT TO BE THE BAD GUY. Sort of. Vampire Anslem was the bad guy, human Anslem was dead in the basement too, but still ANOTHER FIGURE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO LOOK OUT FOR THEM.

“I’m bound to you, Stern. To the woman who brought me out of hell. I will serve you ‘til the end of days”

Sorry this review is all over the place, but my brain was all over the place during this book!