Spell Bound
Spell Bound (Hex Hall, #3)by Rachel Hawkins
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.com)
There's nothing better than a fun story that makes you laugh out loud. Each of the three Hex Hall books have made me laugh, yet I forget each time that this will happen. I'm not one to collect quotes from books, but rarely I'll come to the end of a story and regret that I didn't note down the page numbers for a couple of the lines that really appealed to me. Spell Bound happens to be one of those books I wish I thought to collect quotes from. There was one snappy retort about this "not being a slumber party" that had me laugh so loud I annoyed my sleeping dogs. I just tried to flip through the book to find it with no luck. Bah! I should know better by now, but I'm just not someone who sits with a pen and paper at the ready while I read a book.So you'll just have to take my word for it that it was funny and that there are so many other funny instances in this story. In fact, I'm suddenly recalling the beginning of the FIRST book and Sophie's reaction to meeting a werewolf for the first time and regretting not noting down THAT quote.This is a YA series that I think would translate to Middle Grade readers pretty well. There's not too much swearing, though words like jackass and bitch do scatter the pages occasionally. Oh, and there's some death and scary stuff, but if you've read Harry Potter this is a lot less dark. For the most part, the Hex Hall series is a whimsical, witty, action-packed romp that will make you happy.Maybe that's because the imprint is owned by Disney? Who knows. But it works.I'm pretty certain this was only a trilogy. As much as I love Sophie, Archer, Cal and Jenna (and Elodie!) I wouldn't want them to wear out their welcome. Spell Bound wraps things up nicely and doesn't disappoint when compared to Hex Hall and Demonglass.One of the best things about this series is how well written it is. In a sea of repetitive paranormal YA books, this series truly stands out to me. I'm still not sold on the cover art for the books, but what shows up between those covers is excellent.Added to the awesome that was this story is the fact that the book smelled amazing. It has that perfect book smell. You know what I'm talking about. I don't know if all copies will smell wonderful, but mine was heavenly. I'd read a few pages and then bury my nose in the book and sniff and read on. Yes, I am a dork for that, but I don't care. Book smell = BLISS!Thank you, Rachel Hawkins, for making me laugh when I really needed it (not to mention I read this right after crying for an hour after finishing The Flight of Gemma Hardy. Talk about your 180-degree turn around in subjects!) I'm just so thankful that there are authors out there writing books like this. Great writing, funny dialogue, interesting plot and action... who could ask for anything more?Hex Hall series