Customer Reviews

To Hell and Back (Dante Valentine, Book 5)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the 5th (and last) book in the Dante Valentine series by Lilith Saintcrow. It was okay; not as good as some of the previous ones, but okay.

The book starts with Dante (Danny) being expelled from Hell in an alley; she has taken quite a beating from Lucifer and can't remember much of it. Lucas comes to her rescue and Danny is soon reunited with Japh. Danny finds that in her absence Japh has been tearing apart the world looking for her, and he has declared rebellion against Lucifer. In order to kill the devil Japh is determined to get a special knife that was made for hedaira to wield against demons. He has determined that Danny will use it to kill the Lucifer. Of course Japh, is also out to kill Eve and Danny is hell-bent on protecting Eve. Danny exerts her independence against Japh and makes a "hell" of a mess out of everything...again.

There were a lot of things about this book that bothered me. I don't understand why Danny is so blindly faithful to Eve; Eve jerks her around just as much (if not more than) Japh. Danny is not blindly faithful to anyone; why should she be faithful to Eve? On the flip side Danny is horribly unfaithful to Japh. I don't understand why. Both characters lied to her a ton; yet only one of them was supportive of her.

By the end of this book I really, really disliked Danny as a character. She was a physical and emotional mess the whole book. She rarely took any action on her own. When she did take action, the action she took seemed to be thoughtless and to just be an excuse to use power. Danny basically screwed up through this whole book.

While Japh is not a perfect character; he seemed to act at least consistently throughout the book. It would have been nice to know a bit more about Japh and his past. It would have been nice to know more about why Japh fell for Danny. The only explanation he gave was that "She treated him like a human"; you can't tell me that that has never happened before to him in all of the thousands of years he has existed.

For some reason a lot of this book kind of got under my skin and irritated me. Maybe it was too drawn out or just too inconsistent. It left you with more questions than answers. While it was a decent ending to this series; I think it could have been better. Maybe Saintcrow will write a series about Japh or Lucas; I think they were much more interesting than Danny. I guess we will see.
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The fifth book in the Valentine series starts out with Dante bleeding and half-dead, a big black hole in her memory. She doesn't know what happened to her or where she's been, but she knows it was awful, so awful that she's holding on to her sanity by the barest of threads. The only thing keeping her going is the growing desire to wreak some well-deserved vengeance, and kill whoever, or whatever, has left her body, mind, and soul broken.

Once back in the arms of her Fallen, Japhrimel, Dante realizes she has a good idea of who's responsibile for her current condition, none other than Lucifer himself. And when Japhrimel promises to help her, she believes that this time, just maybe, with her Fallen's help she will be able to do what she's wanted to for so long...kill the Devil.

Thrown back into the bloody, violent game between demons, Dante is determined to come out the winner this time. After meeting another Fallen demon and ridding herself of one of the Devil's little "gifts" and retrieving the only weapon rumored to be able to kill Lucifer, Dante's quest to kill the devil truly begins. But once again she's forced to question the true loyalty and intentions of her Fallen. Will Japhrimel really help her kill Lucifer as he promised, or is this just another one of his lies meant to distract her while he pursues his own agenda? Plots unravel, and so do the lies, and betrayals on betrayals. Dante comes to realize that she's just a pawn in the war between demons, even Japhrimel has manipulated her for his own gain and for his own reasons, and she gets the idea that Japhrimel's been planning this way before he ever met her. As all this is revealed, Dante begins to think the only person she can trust is herself, and if she wants to still be breathing, with the Devil lying dead at her feet, she's gonna have to make a move of her own in this twisted game.


This book is filled with adventure, action, emotional angst, and everything that makes a great story. There are plots within plots and nobody is what they seem. I admire Ms. Saintcrow's ability to weave this complicated plot full of intrigue, doubt, lies, and betrayal. Japhrimel's ability to reason out complex and far-reaching plots and counterplots, blew me away. That really drove home the point of how inhuman he was, to have waited and plotted and counterplotted with inhuman patience and intelligence for decades, centuries? It certainly kept me on the edge of my seat!

My only complaint is that the story does not quite feel finished to me. I still have a bunch of questions. Is Eve really Dante's daughter? That question was never truly answered. I can only assume Ms. Saintcrow's intention was that the question in the end became irrelevant because whoever her mother was (Dante or Doreen) that it didn't matter because Eve's humanity was burned away and she was fully demon, and that demons did not care much about such things. Also, in the end things still seemed uncertain between Dante and Japhrimel (did Dante ever get over the trauma that happened to her?), but I assume also that was Ms. Saintcrow's intent. To leave it open-ended. Can either one truly ever know the other? Can a human ever really understand a demon, and can a demon ever truly understand a human? The ending did not seem clear cut to me. Not a "happily ever after" ending, just a real one. Not black and white, but gray with all the uncertainty that entails.

Also, the implied rumors of problems in Hell at the end, and how Dante and Japhrimel may be drawn back into the bloody and violent politics of Hell, made it seem like there is more of Dante and Japhrimel's story to be told. I sincerely hope we get to see more of them in the future!

In addition, I wanted to know more about Lucas, the Deathless, who was he and why was he cursed by Death? Maybe Ms. Saintcrow will do a short story answering this.

Each time I read one of Dante's books I am blown away by Ms. Saintcrow's ability to create a believable and realistic world and all its depth. Amazed by the complex emotions,self-doubts, flaws, humanity, and inhumanity in all her characters that makes the reader able to relate to them. I am also amazed each time by the complicated demon politics and plots within plots. Ms. Saintcrow is truly a talented and wonderful author. All in all this is a great book that fans of the series will definitely enjoy!

I had originally read the first two books of this series years ago and loved them. After years of the remaining 3 books sitting on my bookcase I finally decided to complete the series. I was unfortunately very disappointed and was glad when I finally completed the series.

I really liked Dante's strong and honorable personality in the first two books and how she resolved the issues placed before her. However, Dante became more unlikeable as each book progressed, until I couldn't stand her in To Hell and Back. Dante is a rage filled, idiotic, untrusting, immature, hypocritical b*****. Dante seems to have no qualms about killing anyone and constantly has the desire to stab or kill people if they so much as talked when she was in a 'mood', her lover and teammates included. She has a very strong dislike for anyone who lies or betrays her. This is very understandable but she lies and betrays those close to her without a problem so she has no right to point fingers. She treats Japh horribly and doesn't trust him despite him constantly proving he would do anything to protect her. Granted, Japh doesn't explain everything that is happening but I don't recall an instant when he blatantly lied to Dante despite her insistence that he has. What I cannot comprehend and what horribly frustrated me is that Dante seems to believe whatever Eve says but wont even trust her lover who has proven his loyalty. Dante even goes so far in her trust with Eve that she is willing to fight and kill Japh to protect her.

Another issue I have with this series is all the things that were left unresolved and unexplained. I did like the overall plot of the series and I feel Saintcrow did a wonderful job in portraying a world where magic, demons, and gods are considered normal, but it seems like Saintcrow felt like the readers didn't deserve answers and closure. Why did Anubis ask Dante not to kill Mandy, what exactly is a Fallen and a Heidara(spelling?), who exactly IS Japh, why does Japh have a gray streak and wrinkles once he came back from hell, and what exactly is Vann and Maxwell? There are many other questions I have that were never answered but those are the main questions that come to mind. I really liked Japh as a character but it does not further your plot when the character with all the answers never reveals those answers. It almost seems like Saintcrow didn't know the answers herself so used the easy way out by using Japh.

Unfortunately, I was so utterly disgusted with Dante and the end of the series that I never plan to read a Lilith Saintcrow book again. The reason I have such strong negative feelings for the last few books is because I REALLY liked the first 2 books and feel very let down as a reader. The reason I gave To Hell and Back a 3 star rating instead of something lower is only because of the first two books in the series.

This review contains SPOILERS

I gave _The Devil's Right Hand_ two stars because that was the "Dante gets whiny" book, and I gave _Saint City Sinners_ three stars because she started doing things again, even though she was still whiny. I keep this one at three stars because her state of mind was still irritating ('on the brink of complete mental and emotional collapse' is not particularly better than 'whiny'), and because it seemed to me that a) Dante's actions didn't make all that much difference, b) I didn't understand the climatic scene very well and c) too much important stuff seemed unresolved.

Maybe I'm dense, but I just did not get why Dante was only able to kill Lucifer by becoming the avatar of two gods. She had the knife, she had shown the ability to wound Lucifer even without it. Why did she not get her own moment of triumph? Why were the gods even interested in the outcome? Was there any connection with Anubis's request that she spare the villian from the last book? That was the last time he really interacted with her, and it still seems a random request as far as I could tell.

It seemed to me that all of Dante's running and scheming was ultimately pointless, even her working of a "Greater Magick". Things started to look promising when Eve's allies came onstage in the war conference, but then all that was thrown away because of some (unexplained) new bargain of Japh's with Lucifer. In the end, if Dante had just gone along with Japh, he would have handed Eve over to Lucifer (possibly as a ruse, possibly in earnest) and Dante would have gotten a chance to kill Lucifer. In the end, her actions lead her only to that same chance to kill Lucifer, and losing Eve anyway (even assuming 'Eve' ever really was "Eve" and actually had any residual humanity in the first place).

I still really liked the first two books, about Dante Valentine, kick-butt Necromance bounty hunter, but the last three books about Dante Valentine, emotionally battered demon-pawn, really didn't connect in the same way for me.

I'm suffering from "bad series ending angst" right now. Never have I wanted to rewrite the ending to a book so much. I thought that since this was the last book in the series, that all the loose ends would be tied up, and we'd actually get some information from Japh. I won't repeat the complaints others have mentioned here but I agree with them. I think I finally lost all respect for Dante when she opened a gate to Hell just to "create a distraction". Untold suffering would be unleashed on humanity, but at least Japh might live... hmm.

Dante didn't even get to be the heroine, no reason was given for Anubis' request, and so many questions go unanswered. It was like at the last minute the author decided she might just want to write another one someday, so we're all left hanging until then. Not appreciated.

I truly really enjoyed the Dante Valentine's story. I devoured all the books. But this one... this one stalled. Maybe it was because I couldn't stand Dante whinnings. I understood how she felt about Japh and his misleadings in the previous book, but in this one it gets tiresome. How many times has he to prove her that he loves her, cares for her just to have her run away again just because she has this kind of infatuation with Eve? Even when she's proved who Eve really is, she still keeps running from Japh to her. And every time when she founds herself into trouble, she just begs for him to be there. Which he does. To be scorned again by her.

It get to its weights when (spoilers ahead) she prefers to jump from a tower and kill herself before going back to him because he's tried to pull a move on Eve and get her killed. She is gonna die when she impacts against the floor, and Japh just jumps after her saving her. He getas attacked, and then she goes mad because she loves him and tries to help him before losing concience. Japh tends to her lovingly, and when she gets up you expect her to behave better than just trying to smack him, hurt him and run from him just because she has to come back to Eve.

It worked ont he previous book, because it was understandable, but on this one... it became odd after half book like this. It looked like there wasn't enough plot to pull a whole book and all revolved around the above stated.

All in all, when I put all the five books onthe balance I found I'm in love with them and with the story they tell, and I don't regret having read this book, as it gives closure to the story. And I loved the work of Lilith Saintcrow so much that I'm waiting for her next book, NIGHT LIFE, to come out. This author is this good, after all! ;)

I've been anticipating this book for months, and was not disappointed by the action and the ending. The only reason there are four stars instead of five is because like other people have mentioned, I was left with unanswered questions. I didn't want every single one answered (altho it would have been nice!) and I didn't need an in-depth explanation of every plot from day one from Japh. What I wanted were answers to questions raised in the books...such as what Danny had wanted to ask Lucas (I assume it was about why Death had refused him, since she'd been staring at his cheek) and why Japh looked so much older, with gray hair and wrinkles, upon his return from Hell. There was mention of a new bargain with Lucifer, but what was the bargain, what were the terms? It's never explained, and that drives me crazy. Since he's aged, does that mean he's mostly human now? So many questions, but still a great book, and an even better series.

I couldn't wait for this book to come out. I have really enjoyed this series from book one. The setting of Dante Valentine books are so different from a lot of others that I read. Ms. Saintcrow has given me a refreshing adventure. The people in "To Hell and Back" were very engaging, strong, vulnerable and yet witty too. In fact the dialogue is so good that that is the one thing I wished there was more of in this book. Also like Cat said in the review before, I thought some questions were not fully answered perhaps leading up to sequels in the future??

Dante and Japhrimel are a couple I am rooting for. I read this book over the weekend and could not put it down. For people looking for something a little different in their urban dark fantasy books, this is it.

I was dying to read this book. I anticipated some amazing work on part of the author to bring her protagonist back from the emotional, physical and mental hell she had left her in. I wanted to see resolution of the many, many loose ends from the last four books. I wanted to a character who, literally, dragged herself from the depths of hell into triumph.

What did I get? More of the same from book four. Dante is still completely effed up. Still has no idea why Japh is with her, what's going on, what's happened to her, who's her friend, who's her enemy, what any of it means. So I was left with a character that is nothing less than pathetic. I just felt sorry for Japh, stuck with what amounts to an incredibly damaged permanent appendage.

I read and enjoyed the first 4 books but this one left me very reluctant to give time or space to any of the author's other books. I read Steelflower and enjoyed it also. However, its two main characters had many similarities to Japh and Dante. The similarities were enough that I wonder if this kind of damaged character and relationship is Saintcrow's "writer's kink." The kind of issue that shows up in the majority of an author's work. I hope not because the first 4 books were lots of fun.

In To Hell and Back, Dante starts out broken yet again, but this time the damage is so severe that she is barely holding it together consumed by rage and walking a knife edge of insanity. Even as victimized as she begins in this book, this rage is so much better than the last books where Dante spent all her time whining. But even coming from this shattered place, somehow her survival instincts finally kick in and this time she's fighting back . It helped this book immensely that Dante's inner voice, toughened up and her fight to retain her sanity is ultimately what gives her the strength to resist being taken over first by Japh when he seeks to impose his will on her and later by the Devil in their final battle. It also helps that while Dante is still a piece in the game between Japh, Eve and the Devil - be it pawn or queen--Dante tries to make her own moves and that, even being heavily manipulated by all around her, she is still the one to make the winning move.

There is plenty of action in To Hell and Back but, as in the last several books, it is still Dante's relationship and interactions with Japh that intrigue me. Japh is not a romantic hero, he is demon and he is ruthless even though that is easy to forget during the times that he treats Dante with such care. Though Japh's emotions are subtle and quite contained, we see more range and much more vulnerability from him here. We see the anguished guilt he carries as Kinslayer - and now we understand the full impact of what he wrought in slaying all the Hedaira's. An encounter with Sephrimel, a Fallen that has lost his Hedaira, really brings home the magnitude of Japh's love for Dante and the risk of being Fallen. This means that though it looks like his relationship with Dante may never be the partnership Dante desires, Dante still does hold some power. She has the ability to hurt Japh with her inability to trust and accept that he will always act though long reaching plots and subplots in order to keep her safe. But as much as it pains him, he will risk her hate to ensure her survival, and trust that he has the rest of eternity to win back her love and forgiveness.

I am not ready for this series to end, Saintcrow has created such a detailed world and fleshed out characters so well and there are still elements of the story left to be explored and explained. I would like to have a few more of the dots connected. I would like to have been there when Japh finally explained everything to Dante. Mostly I would have liked a slightly different ending than oddly unsatisfying epilogue, which left Dante with at best an uneasy happily ever after. But the ending was still open ended, so maybe someday we'll see Dante and Japh again as I still think that there is more of the story to be told for Hedaira and Fallen. With that hope, I will continue hunting for hints and trying to find my own answers. I enjoyed the book and the series. Goodbye, Dante.