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lambsbooks
Me rioting: Levi and Bee work for NASA and yet we didn't get an appearance!?
A little childish and hard to follow, but too simply written 🙃
There were parts where I actually laughed out loud! This was a nice little short book. Not something I would have seen the author writing, but whimsical enough that it made sense. I was a little lost at times though, mainly in the beginning and mainly because I was listening to it at 2.15 speed and didn't pay enough attention at points.
I listened to this book (I also own the hardcover) and I thought the narrator did a great job! Except for the younger girl's voices, they were a little strange.
I listened to this book (I also own the hardcover) and I thought the narrator did a great job! Except for the younger girl's voices, they were a little strange.
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adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
"Good
Luck
You’re
Dead"
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.
“Galaxy Stern,” Darlington said, his eyes flashing gold, “I have been crying out to you from the start.”
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”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.
“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!
“Hell is empty, and all the devils are here"
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
“Mors irrumat omnia. Death fucks us all”
Ninth House was the epitome of dark academia. It was everything I look for when reading this genre. Galaxy “Alex” Stern, the broken criminal girl paired up with Daniel “Darlington” Arlington, the perfect, do-gooding boy with a tragic past. Alex was a refreshing main character for me. I absolutely loved that she wasn’t perfect, or good, but flawed, damaged, morally grey (morally black?), tattooed, and spoke her mind. She stood up for herself while showing emotion when needed, even if she denied that part. We see her running from tragedy but we don’t get answers about that for a while. And when we do *slow clap* they are everything I didn’t know I needed from a main character.
“They tried to kill me, Hellie,” she rasped as she slid into the dark. That means I get to try to kill them.”
Alex is haunted by the presence of Grays, ghosts who appear…grey to everyone except Alex. This was a horrible part for her, it led to so much torture and heartbreak and made me so sad for her. Darlington’s envy of her ability was both hilarious and sad. He wished he had that otherworldly connection,
“Do not make eye contact. Do not smile. Do not engage. Otherwise, you never know what might follow you home.”
Alex drawing a parallel between her experience with drug users and using drugs and Darlington’s addiction to seeing through the Veil was really interesting to me. I think people forget that drugs are not the only thing you can be addicted to, things that can hurt you in other ways.
“Take courage. No one is immortal. Do you know what it would have meant to me to know those words when I was a kid? I would have taken so little to change everything. But no one bothered. Not until I could be useful to you.”
But do not fret, Dawes and Turner were just what the book needed. I love Dawes so much! Her struggles with real life, her ability to fix everything with food – or at least attempt to, her never ending thesis. She was such a great character. I was iffy about Turner in the beginning, but he grew on me fast.
The humour was top notch as well. Dark, gritty, and laugh-out-loud-able.
“I’ll text Salome.”
“That seems so civil.”
“Never mind. Let’s break a window and pee on the pool table.”
I actually didn’t see the twist at the end coming,the second bad person. But man, when I did, and what she did to Wheelwalkers, wow.
Let’s also give honorary mentions to the other two presences in the book as well. The dark and brooding Black Elm and Il Bastone. These buildings had their own personality that shone through.
“Never mind. Let’s break a window and pee on the pool table.”
I actually didn’t see the twist at the end coming,
Let’s also give honorary mentions to the other two presences in the book as well. The dark and brooding Black Elm and Il Bastone. These buildings had their own personality that shone through.
“Did she seem depressed? She was distant. She didn’t make many friends. She was struggling in her classes. All true. But would it have mattered if she'd been someone else? If she'd been a social butterfly, they would have said she liked to drink away her pain. If she'd been a straight-A student, they would have said she’d been eaten alive by her perfectionism. There were always excuses for why girls died.”
