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Hell Bent: A Novel (Ninth House Series, 2)

#1 New York Times BestsellerGoodreads Choice Award Winner

"A tour de force of suspenseful pacing and empathetic writing." ―The New York Times

"All hail the queen of dark academia!" ―NPR


Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. The Ivy League is going straight to hell in the sequel to the smash New York Times bestseller Ninth House from #1 bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.


Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory—even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.

Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.

Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters.

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Published Jan 10, 2023

496 pages

Average rating: 8.03

230 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Hell Bent* is a dark, suspenseful continuation of the Ninth House series with strong supernatural and witchy elements. Reviewers consiste...

sneed
Jun 18, 2025
7/10 stars
- 1/2 ⭐️ for the
Shat
Jan 31, 2024
8/10 stars
She goes me in the first chapter, have me a slow start after, then picked back up nonstop. The same way she did he the first time around. Definitely a good fantasy book.
bizzyyoung
Oct 12, 2023
10/10 stars
Sequel to The Ninth House is just as addictive as the first book.
Sadie Lopez
Oct 13, 2025
8/10 stars
I wanted a little more action, but I loved seeing Alex develop into her powers more and I’m so happy Darlington is back!
literarily_occupied
Aug 12, 2025
8/10 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars

Hell Bent picks up where Ninth House left off, with Darlington trapped in Hell.

I love the "found family" aspect as Alex gathers a crew of murderers to make right this wrong that has befallen her mentor.

There's just something about dark academia fantasy that sucks me right in and Leigh Bardugo pulls it off beautifully.

I love the cover. It's just the right amount of macabre that fits this book perfectly.

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