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.

亞麗絲・史坦，生長於洛杉磯的貧困地區，不但從未見過父親，母親也過度沉迷性靈的世界。童年悲慘的她早早就輟學、離家出走，跟著毒販男友幹些骯髒勾當。然而，在二十歲那年，亞麗絲成為一起血腥凶案唯一的倖存者，在多具面目全非的屍體中，只有她毫髮無傷。更意外的是，她得到了改頭換面的機會：有人提供全額獎學金，邀請她進入數一數二的耶魯大學。 但代價是什麼？為什麼非她不可？儘管抱持著疑問，亞麗絲毅然揮別過往，成為耶魯新鮮人。她的任務是：監督耶魯八大祕密社團，避免社員濫用魔法，並加入不為人知的第九社團「忘川會」，成為學長達令頓的「但丁」。然而，平靜的日子並未持續太久，詭異事件接踵而至。先是達令頓人間蒸發，而大學城裡一名女孩被殘忍殺害，種種跡象都暗示，與祕密社團脫不了關係。 亞麗絲決心要追尋真相，但當謎團被層層揭露，八大社團的祕密浮出水面，亞麗絲也因而惹來殺身之禍，甚至驚動「另一邊」的世界。一場驚心動魄的魔法風暴，即將席捲這座古老的大學城……

亞麗絲・史坦，生長於洛杉磯的貧困地區，不但從未見過父親，母親也過度沉迷性靈的世界。童年悲慘的她早早就輟學、離家出走，跟著毒販男友幹些骯髒勾當。然而，在二十歲那年，亞麗絲成為一起血腥凶案唯一的倖存者，在多具面目全非的屍體中，只有她毫髮無傷。更意外的是，她得到了改頭換面的機會：有人提供全額獎學金，邀請她進入數一數二的耶魯大學。 但代價是什麼？為什麼非她不可？儘管抱持著疑問，亞麗絲毅然揮別過往，成為耶魯新鮮人。她的任務是：監督耶魯八大祕密社團，避免社員濫用魔法，並加入不為人知的第九社團「忘川會」，成為學長達令頓的「但丁」。然而，平靜的日子並未持續太久，詭異事件接踵而至。先是達令頓人間蒸發，而大學城裡一名女孩被殘忍殺害，種種跡象都暗示，與祕密社團脫不了關係。 亞麗絲決心要追尋真相，但當謎團被層層揭露，八大社團的祕密浮出水面，亞麗絲也因而惹來殺身之禍，甚至驚動「另一邊」的世界。一場驚心動魄的魔法風暴，即將席捲這座古老的大學城……

Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell in #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo's Hell Bent. 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.

From Leigh Bardugo: This novel will be headed your way in 2026—still waiting to hear from my publisher on date. I had hoped for spring, but we may be doomed to fall.