I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell

 I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell by Mackenzie Reed, 352 pages. 

Brie has felt like a ghost of herself since her parents' deaths, living a sort of sad life as the receptionist for an insurance company, watching reality TV with her favorite coworker (and only friend), and nursing a small crush on her hot boss. But when she sees said boss performing an exorcism on a coworker after work hours, right before her friend and a rash of other women vanish, she forces her way into the rescue mission to hell. 

I'm afraid I wasn't impressed by this one. It's so aggressively by-the-numbers that it felt almost mass produced. Perhaps it's because I'm a little particular about my romance novels, but I found myself rolling my eyes pretty constantly, and some neat set pieces couldn't make up for a weak plot and prose that was very fine. Maybe read this if you want the most expected of romances, but honestly there are better things out there.

Katabasis

Katabasis by R.L. Kuang, 560 pages

After Alice Law accidentally causes the death of Professor Grimes, her academic advisor at Cambridge, she figures that the only way she'll get the recommendations and accolades she was hoping for (he's a REALLY BIG NAME in the field) is to retrieve him from Hell. Which is something that isn't beyond the realm of possibility when you're a student of magic like Alice is. Except right as she plans to step through the pentagram into Hell, Peter Murdoch, her biggest competition for Grimes' recommendations, hops in to join in the quest. Soon, the unlikely pair is struggling through the Fields of Asphodel and the eight courts of hell in search for their advisor.

Kuang has an incredible ability to write fantastical academia that really rings true, and Katabasis is no exception — the ever-increasing stress, the nonstop work on hard-to-explain theses, the poor diet that does nothing but keep the stomach from grumbling too much, the self-important and misogynistic behavior of tenured professors — it's all there, only this time with magic. While the travels through Hell are intriguing (especially because it appears to Alice and Peter as a college campus), the story sometimes gets bogged down with discussions of theory, logic, and paradoxes, which made my brain hurt. Still, for fans of Kuang's previous works, it's definitely worth a read.

To Hell with it

 

To Hell with It: Of Sin and Sex, Chicken Wings, and Dante’s Entirely Ridiculous, Needlessly Guilt-Inducing Inferno by Dinty W. Moore, 168 pgs. 

This thought provoking "sort of" memoir is creative and interesting.  I'm not sure how this review of Dante's version of hell takes us to a chicken eating contest but it is a fun trip.  This is more about the author than hell.  He really tells us how little a chance that there really is a hell.  He tells about his early religious education and how early he starts questioning it. A fun read.

The Library of the Unwritten

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith  382 pp.

Deep in the bowels of Hell is a neutral zone which contains the Library. Claire is the Head Librarian in the Unwritten Books Wing, where all unfinished writings are held until their authors finish them. Her job is to repair damages and age wear as well as keeping track of characters who attempt to escape to find their authors. When the Hero (thereafter given the name Hero) escapes to the realm of Earth, Claire, her assistant/former muse Brevity, and a somewhat bewildered demon named Leto must leave Hell to find him and return him to his book. While there they are attacked by a fallen angel named Ramiel who believes they have the Devil's Bible in their possession. This is the first book in the "Hell's Library" series which blurs the lines between the existence of good and evil. I enjoyed this more than the The Devil's Detective and it doesn't have nearly the gore.

The Devil's Detective

The Devil's Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth  304 pp.

This story takes place in Hell but it is a sort of post-apocalyptic version of Hell. There is no longer punishments for the sins of the residents other than just surviving in a demon run world of darkness and danger. The human residents have no knowledge of what they did to send them to their infinite dark and disgusting existence. Their only hope is to be one of the random few chosen by the visiting angels to be released into heaven. Thomas Fool is an information officer, i.e. an investigator of deaths. Most deaths are not investigated, only the few "special cases" warrant the services of Fool and his team. A series of gory deaths of "Genevieves" aka male prostitutes. The story is different and grotesque. I admit I probably would not have gotten past the first few chapters had I been reading the physical book. However, the audiobook narration by David Rintoul was excellent and kept me engaged.

Dante's Divine Comedy

Dante's Divine Comedy / adapted by Seymour Chwast 127 pgs.

Brilliantly illustrated version of Dante's Divine Comedy.  I picked this up because the authors name is so interesting and, of course, who doesn't love a good story about hell?

Inventing Hell: Dante, the Bible, and Eternal Torment / Jon M. Sweeney 192 pp.

I sure know how to pick 'em!  My reads are so popular the only image I can find is the attractive Amazon one.  Believe it or not, Hell is fast, interesting, and funny.  Sweeney tracks ideas of the afterlife throughout written history; in fact, the text almost functions as a survey of Western Civ Lite, beginning with the Greeks, Judaism at the time of Jesus, through the Church Fathers, Aquinas and the Enlightenment.  I like Sweeney's smart and skeptical voice.  He's clearly glad to see Hell's power over the modern imagination diminish; still, the Inferno was an exciting ride while it lasted.
P.S.  This is Kathleen's post, published while logged in as Natalie.  I am consigned to Hell's circle for Bad Bloggers.
P.S.S.  I found a better picture but decided the Amazon arrow looked appropriately 'tempting.'