WARNING, THIS IS A REVIEW ABOUT A BOOK IN A SERIES. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HEX HALL AND DEMON GLASS BY RACHEL HAWKINS, I SUGGEST YOU NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE POSTS THAT CONTAINS SPOILS! SPOILS ABOUT THE HUNGER GAMES, TOO! CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. AND DON'T YELL AT ME FOR RUINING IT FOR YOU. IT WAS YOUR IDIOCY THAT DID IT, NOT ME. SORRY TO BE SO FRANK. :)
So, I've really enjoyed the first two books in the series. I have absolutely loved Sophie's sarcasm and her banter with Archer, the little swoon-worthy guy he is. And I've always been fond of Cal and Jenna, her friends. I couldn't wait for this book, and it killed me that I had to wait a whole year. Good thing I love Amazon and its ability to pre-order books! And then, there was an opportunity for me to meet the lovely Lady Hawkins at Harlysville Bookstore in good ol' Harlysville, Pennsylvania. It was a two hour ride, but, man, it was worth it! Meeting Rachel Hawkins was just awesome and she's got a great sense of humor, and she doesn't even have a Southern accent. (She's from Alabama.) But that didn't bother me. I was much more interested in just the whole meeting her part, and my very great friend also came along for this event. Yay, book nerd friends!
Now, back to the review. I'd give this book a solid five stars, partially because I am biased about her works and automatically love them, but I also give Spellbound a solid five because the book was really that good.
Sophie has been through a lot in the past year or so. She moved to Hecate Hall--a reformatory school for magical delinquents--and had to deal with a bunch of stuff. In the first book, Hex Hall, she discovered she was a demon and solved a mysterious murder that occurred at her school. As you know, if you've read the book, it was her dead, British-sounding grandmother--or great-grandmother?--Alice, that had killed the two girls and had seriously injured the other two. She just so happened to be a demon.
That summer, she went along with her demon father, James, to London, thinking she was going to go through The Removal, a way for her to rid herself of her powers. Mind you, her father is the head of The Council, and not only did this distant father convince his daughter to not undergo it, but he taught her things and also connected with her. Demon Glass is my favorite out of the three because I really, truly loved the father-daughter bonding, and we got to see more of Cal and Jenna. (Cal's my favorite out of the friends.) And also, they were in London, and I absolutely adore London and everything about it. And the big shocker was that the Cassnoff sisters were evil, demon-raising weirdos. And the fact that since Cal and Sophie are technically betrothed, they had a small Steamy Times moment. *Sigh* Oh, and Sophie got her powers trapped somewhere inside of her because the now evil Council attempted to get rid of her magic, but luckily Thorne Abbey set on fire. (Even though that doesn't sound remotely lucky.) And that's kind of where all Lady Hawkins fans were left off. You can see the predicament I was in, if you read the books. It was a terrible year without Spellbound.
And then it came! Woo!
Spellbound starts off with Sophie finding where the Brannicks are because Cal said that's where she had to go at the end of book two to find her mother. She finds her mother and as predicted, Cal and James Atherton, Sophie's father, return from the burnt down Thorne Abbey. The plot then progresses with Sophie and her band of friends and family trying to figure out ways to not only get Sophie's powers back, but also stop the Cassnoff sisters and their demon-making shenanigans.
This book was an emotional roller coaster for me. Honestly, I hated this book because of all the events that happened and how truly evil the Cassnoffs were. It really irked me, but that was the reason why I really loved this book. I loved this book because I hated it. Weird, right? In the book, practically everything that could go wrong did, and Sophie and her awesome sidekick friends persevered and kicked some witchy butt.
As I've mentioned, I really enjoyed Sophie's sense of humor. She's always cracking a witty joke. I happen to not be an awesome joke-making person. I suck at it. So, maybe I can learn a thing or two from our friend Sophie here. Another thing that showed up in this book is that Cal actually has a sense of humor. Who would have known? It's not big, but it's there.
The only problem I had with this book was that Archer's got quite a dirty mouth. As in, he likes his curse words and stuff, but Sophie never mentions them, she refuses to say them. Honestly, I'd rather keep it really open about swearing. Sophie isn't the most sweet mouthed herself, so why limit the others' ability to? It's happened in the other books, too, but not as much as it is used in Spellbound. Though, that could be because this book is labeled as 12+. Then I could see why there's some censorship.
But other than that, I had no problems with this book. It was a wonderful book overall and a great end to the adventures all fans gave experienced with Sophie.
And just to add to the emotional roller coaster, I must proclaim that I cried at the end of this book. Legit crying. The only other book series that has made me cry was The Hunger Games. Rue's death, because she was just so innocent and sweet, and Prim's death because she reminded me so much of my sister.
But on a happier note, I loved, loved this book with all my heart, and I highly suggest that people read Spellbound. It was highly entertaining and there was plenty of action. Just lovely!
