Book Review: SPELL BOUND by Rachel Hawkins

SPELL BOUND (Hex Hall #3)

by Rachel Hawkins

Release Date:  March 13, 2012

Publisher: Hyperion

Format: Hardcover

Source: Personal Collection

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?

Fictitious Delicious Rating: 3

Those who know me well know of my obsession with this series and all things Rachel Hawkins. This woman is one of my favorite people and one of my favorite authors. I think humor is one of the hardest things to write in a book, but Rachel Hawkins does it flawlessly. I love Hex Hall's main protagonist Sophie Mercer. She is hilarious and sarcastic and brave. However, she's probably less funny and more brave that she believes, which makes her all the more likable. Sophie also has some of the best lines. Seriously, just look up Goodreads quotes from Rachel Hawkins and you'll see what I mean. This all comes from the brilliance that is this author. If I were ever starring in a sitcom, I'd want Rachel to write all my lines.

Unfortunately, this conclusion to the Hex Hall series was a bit of a disappointment for me. The Sarcastic Sophie that I loved was a little off her game. Her humor was always more of the "hardy-har-har-groan" variety, but in Spell Bound, it was more about the "groan".

The story and pacing were also a bit rough. I would've liked to see a bit more risks taken to really make this story climactic. I think this did have a lot to do with the pacing. The story lingered on scenes that could've been shorter (the Brannicks), and sped through scenes I wanted to see more of (the Underworld).

Sometimes I wonder about these highly-anticipated series conclusions. Many of them seem to miss the mark. Is it because nothing can live up to the passionate expectations of a reader? Do publishers and editors not bring their A+ game to the table because they know the book will sell well regardless? Is it just really, really difficult for an author to conclude a series, tie up all the loose ends and so forth? Maybe it's none of these, or maybe it's a bit of each. Although I still enjoyed SPELL BOUND and was satisfied with the fates of all the characters (yes, even THAT ONE, you KNOW which one I'm referring to), I'm very sad to say that SPELL BOUND was one of those series conclusions that narrowly missed this mark.