Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Go to Hell.

First, great title! Second, great subject!

The author does a great job researching an unique travel guide to the most 'hellish' places on earth, both local and the exotic.

There are 54 destinations to choose from, from Hell, Michigan to Hell, Grand Cayman Island, but don't stop there!

There are plenty of locations to add to your bucket list, and it makes for a great icebreaker at parties.

I'm going on vacation.

Great! Where?

Hell!

I loved learning about the various cultures and rituals where each hell is from.

There are caves and volcanoes, ghost towns and isolated islands, and pretty much a hell for any kind of person.

But it was also wonderful to read that some of these hellish places can also be quite beautiful, too.

What a gorgeous and cool book this is! It was, admittedly, tough to review using the NetGalley shelf app. I get that the photo-rich document was too large for an easy Kindle download, but it would have been more helpful to have it as a downloadable .pdf (rather than an .acsm) - that way it could be read on a computer, allowing maximization of the visuals. I was able to use translation software I have purchased to convert it, but not every reviewer will necessarily have that access... In physical form, this will be a stunning book. The photos are spectacular. The text was a little dryer than I expected, but still interesting. I had no idea there were so many Hellish destinations, and found the history and ties to mythology to be fascinating. It's a fabulous concept and will make a lovely coffee table book!

A very interesting read! It serves as a great resource for learning about myths about hell/death from various religions and cultures. I appreciated the emphasis on pre Christian beliefs and distinguishing between original myths and the changes made by missionaries to adapt it to their world view. It’s a very thorough and comprehensive look at the topic so I’d recommend for anyone interested in learning more about hell myths/history even if they don’t travel. Now, I have to admit: I wish there were more pictures. I have no problem with all the descriptions and details, but wish there was more imagery. Some pages described a whole landmark without showing it, instead showing a statue for instance related to the myth (ex., pages 34&143). Cool, but if you’re encouraging travel somewhere, it’s best to show them what it looks like. There were also a few minor errors but I believe that’s just because it’s an early release copy so I have faith they will be fixed (eg., pages 47-49 have incomplete captions/page number references). All in all, very informative and detailed - but could be improved by more pictures! —— thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review 🤍

This is a really cool book! Erika does a wonderful job of weaving historical and geographical locations with the myth and lore of Hell. I will absolutely snag a physical copy of this! The photography is beautiful and each story is engaging!

I loved this. I love learning about different places and cultures and this book was perfect. I love this publisher, they always have the best images and stories to tell if the world around us and this didn’t disappoint.

A fun, illustrated travel guide from National Geographic to fifty-four “hellish” destinations around the world, places with some connection to some society’s vision of the underworld…places like Pluto’s Gate in Turkey, the town of Hell, Michigan, the “roadside attraction” Haw Pav Villa in Singapore and Fengdu Ghost City in China.

What a fun, delightful idea for a book! I would have loved to have been the researcher for this as she got to visit a number of these places. The photography is absolutely beautiful, as you would expect. Also, there’s a man named George Kourouris who is interviewed several times who is clearly an insane person - as far as I can tell his primary job may be to lower himself into lava holes and the like..

My only quibble, while I understand why the author organized the sites as she did it makes the book a little repetitive…all the volcanic sites are together, etc. It would have provided more variety for the reader had they been scattered throughout the book rather than being one after the other. I really liked the “Before You Go” section (which explains exactly how one gets to the location, what big cities are nearby, what permits are needed) and wish it had been included for all the attractions. This was well done!