I mean, this series is just hit after hit. It feels less like Bardugo is building the world and rather is peeling back the layers on a world that already exists.

While I could read a book that is literally just Alex and Darlington, the crew that Alex builds for her "Hell Heist" delighted me. Pammie (She'll always be Pammie to me no matter is she's Dawes to most) really owns the power that's always been in within her. She shows that you can be a caring, scholarly, introvert, and that can be powerful.

Turner develops depth and forces Alex to take a beat to consider other belief/motivation systems outside of the dark/gritty one. He and Pammie opens her worldview from the pure survival mode she's been operating on. And that makes Alex all the stronger.

Bringing Mercy into the fold was a surprise to me but I was delighted. I think having a 'normal' friend is a refreshing element to the group, although who knows how long she can be considered normal now she's been a part of this heist. I also really liked that we got to see how she's dealing with healing from her assault without delving into trauma porn.

And then there's Tripp. I mean... OUT OF LEFT FIELD. I did not expect to develop soft affection for that dope. But man... his back story... why he's part of the murderers crew... the very last chapter with his turn as vampire... I will protect this Frat Boy Vamp with my life.

And we got my boy back. We got Danny Boy. Darlington. The demon version of him trapped in the ballroom at Black Elm was hot, I'm not scared to admit it. The riddles were some how perfectly demonic and yet still typical freaking Darlington. I appreciated his Sisyphean Hell task of building a ruined Black Elm stone by stone. It's brilliant and perfect for Darlington. Once he's been retrieved from Hell, it's revealed that he's bound to Alex. To serve her... and OBVIOUSLY TO LOVE HER. Ugh. I loved it. I am excited to see how he adjusts to being back in the world in book three and how his relationship with Alex develops. She's prickly... and he's distant but they don't seem to have a choice.

Ok, so now for some of the new things brought into this book. Let's start with freaking VAMPIRES. Holy moly. I sat straight up in bed and started swearing when Reiter freaking bit into Alex. I was unsure about the introduction of vampires into the Ninth House world, but the explanation of demonic possession and soul feeding satisfied me. I was hella nervous that bite would turn Alex into a vampire and that might have lost me.

All in all, this felt like a more fun book than Ninth House. There's definitely more humor as Alex became more comfortable dealing with the magic in the world around her. In book three I can't see what insanity this crew gets into.