Demonglass

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
Hyperion, 2011
359 pages
YA; Paranormal
3/5 stars

Source: Library

SPOILERS for Hex Hall and light spoilers for Demonglass.

I really enjoyed Hex Hall for its mix of snark, mystery, and paranormal starring Sophie, the delightful dark witch who discovers that she is actually a demon, and thus was psyched to dive into the sequel.  I was hoping that since Archer was revealed as a villain, Sophie would FINALLY get over him and find a new (better) crush in addition to hanging with her dad and developing her powers more.

That sort of happens.  Within the first twenty pages, we discover that Sophie was betrothed to the hot healer gardener Cal, who we briefly met in the first book (see, only a light spoiler).  That sounds weird but the betrothal is not binding and it's standard practice in the magical world.  Because of this revelation, Cal will be accompanying Sophie, her father, and her best friend vampire Jenna to England for the summer.  While there Sophie gets to know her father a little bit more and works on controlling her powers.  This was cool; I especially enjoyed the mirror scene.  She also meets two demons, which surprised her as she and her dad were supposed to be the only two demons in the world.  And she uncovers some plots. BUT...

Sophie is not over Archer. Not at all. Not even when he is openly part of an organization that wants to kill her, her father, and her friends.  Not even that he's a traitor to his people. No, none of that stops Sophie from being a total moron and bringing down the rating of this book for me.  She endangers her own life (REPEATEDLY) and the lives of those she claims to love and want to protect for Archer, an undeserving swine.

Fun Fact: In this world, vampires can still eat human food, such as bacon!

Warning: BIG cliffhanger for those who hate cliffhangers; you might want to wait for the third book to come out before reading this series.

Overall: I still enjoyed the paranormal part but man, I hated the romance and it really ruined my enjoyment of this book.  Because I was left with many questions, I will probably be reading the third book when it is eventually released.

Cover: Not really sure what the cover is supposed to represent; I have an idea about the umbrella (since the story is mostly set in England) and the stone walls (dungeons) but why the reflection? Why the cat (there is still no mention of one in the book)?