4/5 stars
Hyperion, 2012
327 pages
YA Paranormal
Book #3 in the Hex Hall Trilogy
Source: Library
Some spoilers and references to the previous books-read at your own risk!
I was both excited and nervous to pick up this conclusion to the Hex Hall trilogy. On the one hand, I really enjoyed first book Hex Hell and sequel Demonglass, which ended with a killer cliffhanger. But I was unable to prevent myself from skimming some reviews and it looked like I would be unhappy with the resolution of the romance (if you look at my reviews for the first books, you will see that I am firmly anti-Archer).
Happily this book picks up shortly after the end of Demonglass with Sophie learning some pretty important (and surprising) things about her family. I am not going to spoil you-you will just have to pick up this delightful series and find everything out for yourself! What I can share is that Sophie gains some additional allies in her fight against the villains of the book, which is good as she could use the support. I really liked the new people we meet and they have some great snarkiness in the beginning although as the book progresses, we focus more on Sophie herself and her powers.
At the beginning of the book, she is unable to access them, since she was stripped in the previous novel. This leaves her feeling incomplete and increases her fear. This also leads to some interesting scenes where Sophie is possessed by a ghost who can perform magic. Those were some of my favorite scenes with many interesting consequences.
SPOILER:
However Sophie is incredibly powerful and I never felt much suspense around whether or not she would be able to defeat the threat once she reclaimed her abilities. Not just because this is a book and that is the ending a book should have. But just because she seems so much more powerful than everyone else around her. As long as she maintains control and focus (a bit of a problem in the first book), she can easily kick butt.
END SPOILER
Surprisingly I came around on the Sophie/Archer connection. I'm still NOT an Archer fangirl; I will not swoon over him and I don't think he's good enough for Sophie but I found myself enjoying some of their scenes together. They just seem to "get" each other. The resolution for Cal is not what I would have preferred but it makes sense and provided me with closure.
Overall: A good ending to a really enjoyable series-definitely recommended for the reader who likes some snark with her paranormal as well as some magic, adventure, and romance!
Cover: That cat is still present; am I missing something? I still don't remember reading about a cat in any of the books even though he has been present on the cover of all three. Though I like imagining that Sophie is lucky enough to have a nice, soft kitty cat in her life.
I still have yet to read this series, even though both the boys on our blog loved the first one. I suppose I need to pick them all up so they can continue on and I can start it! Glad it held up over three books and you enjoyed it all!
ReplyDelete- Jessica @ Book Sake
Haha I love that you're anti-Archer! x) I had nothing against him, but I just ADORED Cal and was shipping him from the beginning, so his resolution broke my heart! But I had a blast reading the scenes where Sophie was possessed and could use witch magic too! Elodie kind of grew on me in this book, which made me happy because I've heard that Rachel Hawkins is writing a spin-off series with her and a certain other ghost from the end! Not certain yet, but doesn't that sound cool? :D
ReplyDeleteAmazing review, B! <3 :) I have no idea what's up with the cat either, but I heard someone else say that it was because Sophie said she was allergic to cats in Hex Hall...? LOL! x)
I'm just skimming to avoid the spoilers, but so glad you liked Spell Bound! I have Hex Hall at home, and can't wait to start in earnest (I picked it up and read the first chapter a few months ago).
ReplyDeleteSo excited to have 'discovered; your blog--it's so pretty! ♥
I am still working on my review of this one. While I didn't like Archer very much in the first book, I changed my mind about him in book 2, partly thanks to a similar character from Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this book but I thought things happened kind of quickly in the end without too much difficulty (like you said). Things wrapped up too neatly and I was missing that suspense too particularly with the way that Demonglass ended. I was expecting a much more serious or suspenseful tone at the beginning of this book because of that. I agree with what you said about Sophie's abilities. I know that with these kinds of books, the outcome is inevitable but we should at least see the heroine struggle more to overcome the obstacles. Excellent review!