WoW: School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins
School Spirits #1
Release Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Goodreads

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
Hex Hall #3
Release Date: March 13, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion
Rating: Essential

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late? - Goodreads

I am so, so pleased with this fantastic finale to one of my favourite trilogies! Usually I'm a little disappointed by the final book in a series, but Spell Bound left me feeling content about the whole thing.

As always, Sophie is such a great female lead. I love her courage and determination, and I love her awkward jokes when she's in uncomfortable situations. Absolutely hilarious. We learn more about her mum's side of the family in this book, and I really enjoyed that. We see that strong will and determination runs in the family!

I did feel that a little too much time was spent on romance rather than saving the world from demons. If the world is about to come to an end, you don't fool around! I also didn't think that the story had that urgent feel that it should have had; it just cruised along. That said, it was still a fast paced book and it had almost non-stop action. I just didn't feel as though the world was going to blow up, if that makes sense.

Like I said above, I was extremely pleased with the ending. This isn't another Harry Potter, where characters die left and right, so I was a little disappointed by that (I like suffereing, okay?) but overall I think Rachel Hawkins did a brilliant job wrapping up her trilogy and also leaving room for more.

As for my favourite book in the trilogy, I can't say that this is it. My favourite is definitely Demonglass, because that was one explosive book. Spell Bound was still excellent though, and I'll definitely be treasuring this trilogy and recommending it to everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Spell Bound by Rachel Vincent

Hex Hall #3

Release Date: March 13, 2012

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

  

Goodreads | Rachel Hawkins' Twitter

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series - Demonglass was slightly better than Hex Hall, though, I must admit - and I am DYING to read this one! I've been waiting all year for it to come out and now there's only a few months to go! 

Have any of you guys read this series? If not then you definitely should. Archer is HOT and awesome, and Sophie is pretty badass.

Thank you to Sam for helping me figure out which book to talk about! 

Book Review: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
Release Date: March 1st, 2011
Publisher: Hyperion Books CH
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Recommended? Definitely, yes!
Buy the Book: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch. 

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.
But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she? - Goodreads Page

 Warning: This review contains spoilers from Hex Hall. I do not suggest reading this review until you've read the first book. Unless, of course, you love spoilers!

Demonglass takes place a few weeks after Hex Hall ended, with Sophie still dreading what her powers can do and as a result, wanting to go through the Removal – the process that strips her of her powers, and that could potentially kill her. Of course, Sophie’s father isn’t about to let that happen. Padre – sorry! Ehem,  Sophie’s dad – persuades Sophie to take a trip to his home in England for the summer, to give her a chance to reconsider her options. Sophie agrees, and sets off for London, along with her good vampire friend Jenna and the handsome groundskeeper, Cal. Oh, and did I mention that she happens to be betrothed to the latter? ;)

The plot takes off quickly, with several major events happening throughout the novel. I won’t go into too much detail, but I will say that certain events lead Sophie right – quite literally – into the arms of a certain super-sexy Archer Cross. Remember him from the first book? Oh, I bet you do! More on him later.

As a reader, you can instantly see that Sophie has matured a lot after her run-in with her demonic great grandmother in Hex Hall. She has grown more confident with herself, and instead of just thinking snarky remarks towards her superiors, she actually goes ahead and says them. I love it!

Sophie also discovers that she’s betrothed to the brooding groundskeeper, Cal. Understandably, she’s rather annoyed about not being in on this. That said, she does seem to get over this rather quickly. I know if it was me then I’d be going on some sort of demonic rampage across the English countryside. Still, I’m not Sophie, am I?

Which brings me nicely onto Archer, the third point on this newly blossomed love triangle. Oh, how I’ve missed him! In this book Archer remains just as much of a mystery to us as he was in the first. However, we do learn some more on his back story. Which is lovely, but what I really wanted to see was some incredible Archer/Sophie romance scenes. Did we get them? I’ll neither confirm nor deny the rumours. You’ll have to see for yourself!

There’s a lot of mystery going on in this book. Everyone is trying to find out who these new demons (mentioned in the summary) are, and why they are actually demons to begin with. I had a lot of fun putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and I’m happy to announce that my Sherlock-ing record remains unscathed. Then again, I was suspicious of everyone, from Jenna to Cal to Archer and even Padre.

Demonglass was, for me, so much better than Hex Hall! It seems that Rachel Hawkins has really gotten used to writing her characters, as the dialogue is a million times better. The teenagers actually speak like real teens, not like something from The Tweenies. (UK Children’s TV reference, do ignore!)

I loved this book so so much, even the cliff-hanger ending! Bah, Humbug. Now I have to wait a long time for the final instalment in the trilogy! And wait I shall.

For those who have read Demonglass already, what did you think of it? Did you prefer it to Hex Hall? Are you guys worried about the people in the house at the end? I'm trying to stay spoiler-free here, but it's so hard with this ending! Let me know in the comments!

Book Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her. - Goodreads

The story begins with Sophie being shipped off to Hecate Hall - a reformatory school for ‘special’ people. Sophie has always known she’s a witch, and that came in handy with this story. There was no awkward moment of having Sophie discovering her powers, and there was no explanation needed for the parental figures either. Sophie’s mum already knew.  


As soon as Sophie arrived at Hecate Hall - fondly nicknamed “Hex Hall” by the student body - I knew this was going to be a great read. There were important scenes around every corner, and no filler scenes to be seen.


Sophie even caught the eye of the school hottie - Archer Cross - within the first few minutes of arriving. If that’s not immediate chemistry, then I don’t know what is! The story followed Sophie through her settling into her room with her new vampire roommate, Jenna. Then, all of a sudden, students start getting attacked. From then on, the reader is left trying to guess who - or rather, what - attacked those girls. 


There are a couple of surprise moments thrown in, as well as a couple of twists that also left me shocked!


The pacing was pretty average throughout the book. Whilst it was fast, I wasn’t made to feel that the plot was leading up to anything huge. I was left wondering if anything was going to happen, and if it was, when exactly things would kick off! 


Before I start with Sophie, I just wanted to say that I absolutely loved reading about all of the Prodigium that were at the school. Hawkins described each different type of Prodigium (isn’t it easier just to say “creature”?) in such a magical way, I just kept wanting to read more about them to see if there was anything else to discover. 


Now for Sophie Mercer… I did like her character a lot. She was humorous, stubborn, and a great friend - even at the hardest of times. She dealt with moving away from her mum and in with a vampire and an assortment of other “creatures” very well, and it showed how strong she really was. However, what I didn’t like about her was the way she spoke. I know that may sound silly, but the dialogue just did not seem up to par with her character.

The love interest - the dashing Archer Cross - was a wonderful addition to the cast. He was extremely witty, which you know I love, and while he’s no Jace Wayland he’s certainly way up there. 


Jenna, the new roommate, was a darling. I loved how the author included Jenna’s struggles in with the story as well. She really was a treasure to read about!


The writing style was incredible. It was descriptive and not dialogue heavy. It drew me in straight from the prologue!


I think that if you enjoy reading about magic, witches, wizards warlocks, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters and demons - then you’re definitely going to want to buy this book! It’s a must have for your bookshelf! Make sure you read it before Demonglass (Book Two) comes out in March!

Rating: 4.5/5

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Series: Hex Hall #1

Published on March 2, 2010 by Hyperion Book CH

US hardback edition; 323 pages