Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo REVIEW

Summary:

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 endangers her 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.

My Thoughts:

I flew through this book. After being told they were not allowed to rescue Darlington from hell, and Michelle not being willing to help either, Alex and Dawes throw themselves into researching a way to help him. After finding out how, they need to recruit two other people who have had blood on their hands - not an easy task. Turner and Tripp reluctantly agree to join them, and Mercy agrees to watch over their bodies during the attempt. But after being forced back before being able to reach Darlington, they find that demons escaped back with them. In order to send the demons back and successfully rescue their friend and mentor, the team needs to make sure their ritual isn't interrupted again.

I loved this. Maybe not as much as Ninth House, but I loved the character development and the look into the pasts of other characters that we didn't know much about in the first book. It was fast paced, entertaining, and very well written. I would definitely recommend giving this a read.

My Rating: 4 stars 

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo REVIEW

Summary:

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

My Thoughts:

While this book was difficult to get into, it got really interesting about 50ish pages in. The chapters go back and forth between past and present, and the world building is very well done. Alex is the kind of character that you hate at one moment and love the next. She has a messy past with drugs and murder, but she's likable enough to root for. Alex is on the hunt for a murderer, who may or may not be connected to one of the secret societies at Yale. While it seems like there's no connection at first, she digs in deeper and finds information that was buried deep and could also connect to the disappearance of Darlington, her mentor. My only issue with this book, other than it being difficult to get into, is that Alex is the only well-rounded character here. While I cared about Dawes and Darlington, they were underdeveloped, and the rest of the characters felt like they were just there and had no depth. The plot twist towards the end would have been better if I had felt any sort of connection to Belbalm/Daisy. However, I do look forward to reading the sequel.

My Rating: 4 stars 

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo REVIEW

Summary:

Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law--risking exile--to save a mortal. Diana will soon learn that she has rescued no ordinary girl, and that with this single brave act, she may have doomed the world.

Alia Keralis just wants a chance to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn't know she is being hunted by people who think her very existence could spark a world war. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer--a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.

Two girls will face an army of enemies--mortal and divine--determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. Tested beyond the bounds of their abilities, Diana and Alia must find a way to unleash hidden strengths and forge an unlikely alliance. Because if they are to have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.

My Thoughts:

I wasn't really sure what to expect, as I don't know that much about Wonder Woman, partially because I don't really read/watch DC comics/shows. But I was pleasantly surprised.

In the beginning of the book, Diana is resented by the people because she does not fit in with the other Amazons. While trying to win their approval in a race, she finds a girl nearly drowning and saves her. She then finds a way to bring her away from the island and tries to stop the bad things from happening by hunting for a legendary spring.

I really liked the characters. Diana, Alia, and Theo were very well developed characters. I wish more of the characters had that depth.

Also that (SPOILER) betrayal from Jason was so unexpected and fresh.

I would definitely recommend this book!

My Rating: 5 stars

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo REVIEW

Summary:

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be hard for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.

My Thoughts:

I started to read this book because I have heard that it's really good. The beginning was sort of interesting, but then it sort of dragged on until about halfway through, when it got really interesting, and at the end, where it left on a cliffhanger.

I have never read the author's other books (are they needed to understand the Grisha people?) but when I am able to, I think I will read them.

This book was amazing.

My Rating: 4.5 stars