In Hell Bent, the thrilling, complex sequel to Ninth House, Grishaverse creator Leigh Bardugo (Demon in the Wood; Six of Crows; Shadow and Bone) ushers readers back into her dark academia version of Yale University. Alex Stern isn't the average college sophomore, even by Yale's standards, and her problems qualify as exceptional. As the new Virgil of Lethe House, which is a secret society that oversees Yale's other societies' use of magic, she observes rituals to ensure safe protocols are practiced. The Lethe board has forbidden her from attempting to rescue from hell her predecessor and mentor, Darlington, but she has to try. She and Pam Dawes, Lethe's "research arm," search for a path called the Gauntlet, which requires four murderers to open. They may get into hell, but they have no guarantee they'll get back out and no way to ensure they aren't followed. Because "people weren't meant to move between this life and the next and back again," they also run the risk of bringing back a changed Darlington. Unwanted faces from Alex's criminal past resurface along the way, and she will need new allies to survive the fight ahead.
Bardugo shifts from the dark world-building mode of the first novel to an action-heavy plot filled with horror elements. An ensemble cast of familiar and fresh characters brings new depth and much-needed levity to balance the world-in-peril spine tingles. Readers should start with The Ninth House for best results. Deepening relationships and a cliffhanger ending will leave them desperate for book three of the Alex Stern series. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads