Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Going to Hell and Back

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

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I have never liked The Secret History; I will admit to seeing why it’s such a favorite based on the general aesthetic (practically inventing ‘dark academia’) but that’s about it. Don’t @ me; this is not a ‘convince me’ thing. This particular hill of mine is why I was a little surprised that I liked Ninth House (Alex Stern 1) and I still like her story in Hell Bent (Alex Stern 2). The plot is pretty basic: rescue Alex’s former mentor/friend Darlington from Hell. Alex, […]

“You rescue me. I rescue you. That’s how this works.”

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

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This is the second book in the Alex Stern series. This review will contain some spoilers for the first book in the series, Ninth House because I’m not sure how to review it without referencing things that happened in the last book. So if you’re new to this series, start there. Darlington is still missing, “in Spain” to those not in the know, and in Hell, possibly dead to those initiated in the secrets of Lethe House. Galaxy “Alex” Stern doesn’t have a lot of […]

“They were pilgrims. They were cosmonauts. They were as good as dead.”

Hell Bent (Alex Stern, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

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Just like with the first book, I feel like I need to turn around and read this again from the beginning to really get a handle on my feelings about what happened. This book is even more intense, and is basically non-stop plot for its entirety. And, once again, Bardugo doesn’t write linearly, which adds an additional layer of intrigue and makes you want to turn the pages faster because she knows what to tease and when to explain. Yeah, it was really good. Spoilers […]



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