HAPPY 600th BOOK REVIEW!
To celebrate this momentous occasion, I’ve got one HELL of a book for you!
CONTENT WARNING: This story includes elements that might not be suitable or palatable for all readers. Blood and gore, violence, battle, serious injury, religious trauma, and terminal illness are all shown on the page, as well as multiple explicit sex scenes. Torture, child abuse, sexual assault, self-harm, and suicide are referenced and/or discussed.
Reader discretion is advised.
They told her to go to Hell.
She went, but on her own terms.
Lily may not be thrilled with her arrival in the Afterlife, but what awaits her there is fantastical beyond imagination: deities in line at the coffee shop, far flitting between realms, souls making death a beginning.
As she explored the Afterlife’s many realms, Lily finds herself drawn to a place most would avoid at all costs: Hell. Armed with years in customer service, she makes a job for herself among Hell’s demons, directing souls to their rightful circles with more than a hint of sass.
Lily’s expectations are subverted every day in Hell – especially by Bel, a demon general with a distractingly sexy voice. The two form an immediate, deeply healing friendship, and the heat between them threatens to combust.
But something stirs beyond the boundaries of their world, threatening to destroy everything they know . . . unless they fight like Hell to stop it.
This is not the type of book I usually read, much less review. But I made an exception.
It all started with “Hell’s Bells”, a TikTok skit series created by Jaysea Lynn centering around the Hellp Desk in Hell and its employees, headed by Lily, as they deal with a constant flow of souls. I love the concept and the dark humor of the series. I get a kick out of watching souls try to argue why they don’t deserve to be in Hell and inevitably face the consequences of their horrible actions.
The TikTok series debuted back in 2021. This book was published in 2025. The book is basically a prequel to the TikTok series. Not sure how that writing process went, but here we are.
The book provides more details about the Afterlife than the TikTok series does. For example, the many realms in the Afterlife. This is officially my favorite version of the Afterlife, specifically Hell. Hell is a place of justice, brutal but not needlessly so. The demons are actually very chill, kind, and compassionate. I love how Lily uses her years of working in customer service to establish the appropriately named ‘Hellp Deck’ and helps smooth the process of checking souls into Hell. The main perk of working in demon customer service is that you get to fight and talk back.
I would go more into the inner workings of the Afterlife, but I don’t have the time or the energy to do so.
Honestly, I wasn’t that invested in Lily and Bel’s romance and the emotional drama of the overall story. I’m just not a fan of romance novels. The protagonist usually spends more than half the story going on needlessly long inner monologues about their love interest, which gets old really fast. I’m fine with romance when it’s not the main focus of the story. I made an exception here because I love the setting. Also, Lily and Bel are such a great couple who trust and respect each other, and I love that.
According to Goodreads and Amazon, this is Book 1, implying that there will be a Book 2. I’m hoping it will be a book version of the TikTok storyline. There are over 630 skits in the TikTok series, so there are plenty of stories to pull from there.
If you’re a fan of Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, or other stories with healthy relationships set in Hell, this is the book for you.