Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3) by Rachel HawkinsPages: 336
Grade: 8+ (fantasy violence, non-graphic)
Series: Hex Hall #3
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Source: Borrowed from the library
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Description: 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.
Review: I am a Rachel Hawkins fangirl for sure. Every time I’m in a serious reading slump and thinking about giving up on book blogging all together, along comes Rachel Hawkins releasing another installment of the Hex Hall series and busting me out of my little gloomy rut.
Spell Bound did bust me out of a reading rut. It did make me excited about blogging and promoting YA again. But it wasn’t my favorite of the Hex Hall novels and I was a little bummed by how frustrating it was to read.
Note: Unless you have an excellent memory read this back-to-back with Demonglass, it’s definitely a continuation of that storyline and does not stand alone at all.
I couldn’t remember ANYTHING from Demonglass. I couldn’t remember who Lara Casinoff was or why she was so damn evil. I didn’t remember what happened between Elodie and Archer or how Elodie became a ghost and attached to Sophie (that actually happens in the first book). Normally, remembering a character’s history isn’t really that big of a deal, except in Spell Bound it all mattered! I spent a lot of my time trying to piece together why characters where acting a certain way or what the heck was going on. It was pretty frustrating. I know this is a continuation of a series, but it really bothers me when a book isn’t at all stand-alone. If I have to reread the book before it and remember a lot of details…Ugh!
I still love Sophie. She is one of my all time favorite characters. I stand by my assessment of her from my Demonglass review - she’s AWESOME!
There was still plenty of action in this book and fans of the series will appreciate that it hasn’t been sacrificed. There’s also the romance drama between Archer, Sophie and Cal that made the first two books so fun to read. I’m still not an Archer fan and was a little bummed about the love triangle and it’s resolution, but it wasn’t distracting and I’m okay with it now that it’s all wrapped up (still on Team Cal!).
Overall, this was another great book from Rachel Hawkins. If you haven’t read the Hex Hall series yet, I instruct you to do so now. The ending leaves it wide open for more Sophie adventures (please, please, please!).
While it wasn’t my favorite of the series, it’s still earning a 4 star from me - I love Sophie that much.
