Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins Series: Hex Hall #3
Published by Walker Childrens (3.13.2012)
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 327 pages
Source: Library
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Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.
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?
My thoughts
I do believe Sophie is one of my favorite female leads. I LOVE THIS GIRL. She’s strong and witty and she jokes at the worst moments possible to cover up any weaknesses she feels. If she were a real person, we’d be biffles! Jenna, too. I could definitely get into some trouble with those ladies! I think it’s been a while since I’ve gotten so attached to characters in the stories I read.
I sighed. “You know, bossiness is my least favorite of your personality traits. Right up there with your unerring ability to be right all the time.”
She smiled. “You love me.”
That makes two of us!
I laughed even more in this one than I did in the first two. The sarcasm was probably my favorite part of the book. That and the Star Wars references like ‘Sophie-Wan Kenobi’ and ‘a great disturbance in the Force.’ I value an author that can make me laugh out loud – even when bad stuff is happening plot-wise.
And bad stuff did happen, a lot. Some of it was rather crazy; just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. But it wasn’t far-fetched, that was the great part – it was all totally believable. Everything goes to hell (figuratively and literally) and things don’t go the way you as a reader want them to go. One in particular towards the end – oh my, that was so awful!! I cried. And I don’t mean a few stray tears. I’m talking ugly cry. For like, 30 pages. Even after it was done and over I was still thinking about it. AND STILL CRYING. At this point I was thinking to myself, Come on Geo, pull yourself together already!!
I think the worst part is, the character knew the sacrifice they’d have to make. They KNEW and they STILL did it!! Okay, now I want to cry again. *sniffle* Rachel really knows how to work your emotions!
I enjoyed the turnabout with the Brannicks. That was very interesting! I did guess a few pages before it was revealed, but it was still a late realization. Something about the situation reminded me of a comment made at the end of Hex Hall, and then everything made sense. What an interesting twist!!
The Brannicks were a kick-ass group of women. At first, I found Finley and Aislinn to be a bit bitchy, but they grew on me. Izzy was pretty sweet though!
The only – ONLY – complaint I have about Spell Bound is that I was a little disappointed by the Underworld scene. I guess I was just expecting a little more…I mean, it IS Hell, after all. A few horrible scenes from the past and it was over. I think the torture should have lasted a little longer to really drive the point home that – yes, they were indeed IN HELL. It was nice to gain some insight into Archer and Jenna’s pasts, but I would have liked to see something of Cal’s past too. Sure, he had his own horrific vision of pain and suffering, but you don’t find out what it is until later on. And Sophie didn’t really have anything personally tormenting. I just think that scene should have been played up a little more.
Favorite character: Daniel. You gotta read it to know. ;D
“So what can we do? Just sit here and wait for the Casnoffs to make their move?”“We could go to Lough Bealach,” Aislinn answered.
“Is that a place, or are you choking?” I asked, earning me a glare in return.
Oh how I enjoyed her levity in serious situations.
“Look, we’re dealing with the possibility of an army of demons. I don’t know about you guys, but those words are right up there with ‘root canal’ and ‘school on Saturdays’ in terms of things that terrify me.”
You know when you have the most inappropriate reaction to something ever? I was so happy that we weren’t being hauled off to be murdered that I burst out laughing. I mean, big, loud, honking laughter. Jenna shot me a panicked look as the Vandy’s scowl got even darker. “What’s so funny, Miss Mercer?”
I stood up on wobbly legs and did my best to stop cracking up. “Sorry, it’s just, um…”
“You said ‘butts,'” Jenna blurted out. “And Sophie’s got a really immature sense of humor.”
“So let me get this straight: She’s doing….something. With some stuff. That’s somewhere.”
“That pretty much covers it, yeah.”
“Yay for vague,” I muttered.
Fantastic! I also copletely feel like i would be friends with Sophie if she was real! This was a great grand finale!
Great review! I really enjoyed the book but the ending was . . . a little disappointing. But still a great book!
I enjoyed this book, but it’s definitely my least favorite of the three.
This is one of my favorite series!Great review!I agree 100% especially your complaint about the underworld. I was disappointed too. I expected that something bad will happen and there’ll be alot of action. Nevertheless,I enjoyed the book and loved it.