Title: Spell BoundAuthor: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall (#3)
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Publication Date: March 13, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
(ATTENTION: MAJOR TO MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.)
Aha.
After the MAJOR cliffhanger at the end of Demonglass, a cliffhanger that challenges the one in The Hunger Games, I was so excited to see this book waiting for me in the mail, all nice and new in the nice packaging Barnes&Noble provided. I sat down with a bottle of pepsi, turned on the fan (Summer can get violent here), and started to read.
Spell Bound picks up right where Demonglass left off. No joke- it literally picks up the second after the ending sentence of the last book, with Sophie arriving at a mysterious location, which will stay mysterious seeing as how I am trying to avoid spoilers for this one. After not reading this series for at least five months, I found it hard to remember what was going on- but I warmed up to it after a few pages, three at most, and so that was good. The best part? The book started right away with what it is most famous for- the action. Yes. Hardly a dozen pages pass before our favorite heroine, Sophie Alice Mercer, is stuck in the middle of a very fascinating fight. A fight that had me laughing and gripping my book in anticipation. We find out what I and a few others had guessed, and the next few chapters of the book is a little too slow-paced, but still interesting enough. It's mainly a small history lesson on The Brannicks and Sophie's family (view spoiler) and them preparing for battle. The action in this book is great, but it doesn't compare to the everpresent, heart-stopping action of Demonglass. Sophie is her old, snarky self, and she shows a lot of development because despite having to be a hero and do some things she probably wasn't happy to be doing, she was working hard to do the right thing and hardly complained about anything. She was still hilarious and made me choke on my pepsi. Archer was the same, as well- hot and comedic - while Cal was...well, Cal. Hot and alluring. The love-triangle really made itself known in this book as well, which i enjoyed, up until the last few chapters (view spoiler). It really seemed like Sophie loved Archer, but there was definitely something with Cal too- it was interesting to read and figure out how you felt about that, since there definitely was some Chemistry between both couples. Another thing I liked was the fact that, though mostly very predictable (I never thought I'd use that word when describing the hex hall series.), there were a few things that stunned you and made you squeal. And the way Sophie handled almost everything, including the love triangle, was very mature. She has/had her flaws, obviously, but she was still fascinating and fun to read about and would make a pretty good role model. Bravo, Rachel Hawkins, for pulling off a non-Mary-Sue character that couldn't possibly be more amazing. I loved Sophie and her story and was very sad to read the ending...which brings me to the worst part.
THE ENDING
I was not satisified. We spend the whole book waiting for The Eye to make this appearance- for this huge, big fat battle, for the Eye to have their moment. I mean, we've been waiting for the Eye to have their spotlight dance since we heard about it in Demonglass. And yet, though it is really needed and necessary for the book, they never get their moment to shine. A few people from the Eye show up, but the actual Eye never actually make an appearance. In fact, Archer was basically the only Eye we saw (BASICALLY, not really the ONLY one, but...). It was kind of a let down. Also, Archer kept hinting to Sophie about having the Eye and Council unite and have a sort of agreement to take down the Casnoffs, but they never actually agree on anything- there is no closure in that aspect. We never know whether they end up having an alliance with the Eye for any reason. Actually, a lot of things don't have lots of closure. Hawkins kept hinting around about Isabelle and Torin and them having a interesting relationship- which I really really REALLY want to find out about - but we never find out ANYTHING. And Now I will die sadly, wondering- what was really up with Isabelle and Torin? Seriously. There was this big fat MYSTERY right there, and despite this being the last book, IT NEVER IS ANSWERED! She better write a separate book based on Isabelle and Torin alone because otherwise she will be getting angry letters from me. Also, the fact that (view spoiler) was very unnecessary and I didn't like it. I mean, why? How did that help? Because now Sophie won't have to deal with all that baggage and make a choice? Wow. I never thought Hawkins would stoop to such a level that I actually glared at something she wrote. I was so unhappy with the cheesy, happy ever after ending- I mean how many times have books ended the way this one did? I'd need multiple hands to count on my fingers. It just wasn't an original ending and I needed more closure on a lot of things.
THE ACTION
Okay. I'm going to pounce on Hawkins here. The action is partly what made Demonglass and Hex Hall such great books. The action was exciting, well written and around every corner. The action was either unexpected or expected but still very heart-stopping. It made you squeal and stare with big eyes at the book in your hands. Sadly, for Spell Bound, this was not the case. There was always a major climax in the last two books, but here, that climax was sadlt lacking of action. I wasn't sure when the climax was coming, and I had to go back and re-read to make sure that I hadn't missed it. Then, there were times when the characters were preparing for a big battle, mission or action bit, where there was all this excitement leading up to the final moment- and then NOTHING happened. An example: (view spoiler). That was a big disappointment- everything that was action related was watered down. Hawkins didn't write to her full potential.
Of course, I still adored the characters. Jenna was as adorable as ever, Archer as hot and funny, Sophie as snarky, Cal as stoic, her mom as dangerous and deadly as usual. And I loved the fact that throughout the entire series, Sophie's parents were a BIG PART of Sophie's life, even in Hex Hall when Sophie was away from her parent(s), she still called and cared and thought a lot about her mom. Her family was largely integrated and important to the story, and if it weren't for her dad, there probably wouldn't be a second book- it was because of him that she got to London, after all. And not only were her parents present, parent-y, and important, but she had a rich relationship with them, and she cared about them and what they thought. I really liked that aspect, and it was a fresh breath of air in the parent-free YA section. The characters were amazing, the relationships were amazing, but the world-building and the action were sadly lacking. It could've been MUCH MUCH better. Strangely enough, I feel like- though this is a solid three-stars because there WERE some exciting parts- Hawkins changed her mind and is going to write a fourth book. After all, Sophie is now HEAD OF THE FREAKING COUNCIL. She is ruling the Prodigium government. Don't we have a right to know how that GOES? I can totally picture another book coming along. If anything, more questions were ASKED AND UNSOLVED than ANSWERED in this book, when it should be the other way around. All in all, this book disappointed me. I liked it, I did, but it could have been something great- could've been my favorite in the series. SHOULD have been my favorite.
It was not. And I am sad about that. However, as I said, there were good things, and bad things. Great things and terrible things. A solid three stars. -Astrid
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