60 pages 2 hours read

Leigh Bardugo

Hell Bent

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 2, Chapters 42-47Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “So Below”

Part 2, Chapter 42 Summary

As the group prepares for their final descent into hell, Alex sends a heartfelt text to her mother and checks on Mercy, who is resolute about her magical journey despite the risks. Alex leaves her phone with Mercy, comparing her to Hellie and pondering the potential costs of their association.

During the ritual, Darlington replaces the missing Tripp, sharing a tragic tale about a phantom ship from New Haven’s history. Alex reflects on the town’s troubled past.

Before completing the ritual, the group uses the artifact “Pierre the Weaver,” summoning a swarm of spiders that bite them and weave their emotions into a web, creating a sorrowful canopy and a trap for the demons. The demons arrive, breaking the library’s windows, and the group descends beneath the water.

Part 2, Chapter 43 Summary

Emerging from the depths, Alex finds herself swimming in a blood-red sea before arriving outside her old apartment in LA, contemplating her mundane life and her complex relationship with Hellie. Inside her old apartment, she encounters a chaotic scene with her ex-boyfriend Len engrossed in a video game and the brutal remains of her and her best friend Hellie’s shared pet rabbit, Babbit Rabbit. Overwhelmed with guilt, she buries her pet near a private school gate, hoping he will find peace.