Review: For Whom The Belle Tolls (Hells Belle’s #1)

For Whom The Belle Tolls, Book 1 in the Hells Belle’s Series by Jaysea Lynn

Published By: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: January 28, 2025
Date Read: July 11, 2026
Genre: Adult – Romance
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 640

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They told her to go to Hell.
She went, but on her own terms.

Lily isn’t exactly thrilled with her arrival in the Afterlife, but what awaits her there is more fantastical than she ever could have imagined: Deities wait in line at the coffee shop. Fae flit between realms. Souls find ways to make death a beginning.

As she explores the many corners of the Afterlife, Lily finds herself surprisingly drawn to a place most people would avoid at all costs: Hell. Armed with years of customer service experience and pent-up sarcasm, Lily carves a job out for herself amongst Hell’s demons, sending 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 meet by chance and form an immediate, deeply healing friendship, but the undeniable heat between them threatens to combust.

Meanwhile, something stirs beyond the boundaries of their world, threatening to destroy everything they’ve known and everything that could be…unless they fight like Hell to stop it.

For Whom the Belle Tolls is a book that I have seen all over social media in the past year. I had heard so many great things about this book, however due to personal circumstances I was really reluctant to start it. However, after having it recommended to me by multiple people, I decided to pull my big girl pants up, bite the bullet and finally read it. I ended up listening to the audiobook of this one, and I am so glad that I did. The narrators did an absolutely fantastic job of bringing these characters and this world to life.

I went into For Whom The Belle Tolls relatively blind. I knew the general concept: the fact that it is set in the afterlife and some of the characters are denizens of hell, but other than that I knew nothing. I have since come to discover that this book started as a skit on TikTok, so a lot of people knew about the world and the characters prior to going into the book. This was not the case for me. I didn’t know anything about the characters or anything, and while this definitely aided in my enjoyment, I can’t lie when I say I was a little blindsided by the beginning of the book. Lily our main character sadly dies after a short battle with cancer and finds herself in the Afterlife. While I was prepared for this, I was unaware of the cancer element to Lily’s demise, and as this is something I have gone through recently with my Dad, it definitely punched me in the gut a little. It is only for a chapter or two so I quickly recovered from that, but it was a definite shock for me.

After getting through the first two chapters, I adored this book. For a book that is around the subject of death and the afterlife, this book is so lighthearted, funny and cute. I actually found this such a heartwarming read, and despite my struggle with the start, I found this book so comforting to read, as someone who has gone through a recent loss. The whole idea of this being the afterlife was adorable and cute and such a joy to read. I loved everything that Lily got in the afterlife, from her library and house, to her found family. Found family is my all time favourite trope so naturally this was such a joy for my to read.

For Whom the Belle Tolls is light, cosy and just a whole lot of fun. From our snarky Lily helping out the demons of hell to keep souls in check, to her friendship with Lucifer, and her love story with Bel, I loved everything about this book. I cannot wait to get my hands on the second book coming next year. If you’re been umming and ahhing about whether to read this one, let this be your message to read it! Be careful of content warnings, but I really cannot recommend it enough.