“A Book with Magic” 2015 Challenge; SPELL BOUND by Rachel Hawkins

What better book to have for my “A Book with Magic” section of my reading challenge, than a book aptly named Spell Bound?

 

SPELL BOUND by Rachel Hawkins

Book 3 in the Hex Hall Trilogy

 

 

 

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

 

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 its too late?

 

MY REVIEW

3.5 OUT OF 5 *Stars*

 

This book was an almost perfect ending to this fun trilogy.  I’ll get to the “almost” part in a minute.

Here’s what I liked about the book…  It was such an easy read that I read through it in less than a day.  It was fun, witty, and it fit right in with the other two books.  I love how everyone sort of tied in together throughout the story.  There were twists that I didn’t see coming, and I just wanted to jump in the book and play out the scenes with the characters.  It had a little bit darker feel to it than the first two books, but I don’t think it disrupted the continuation of the story.  It was practically a necessity.  You can’t be fun and witty all the time when the world is in danger of a demon / “supe” takeover.       

I know that I’m always talking about how a book made me “feel”.  Anyone who is a non-reader or even an occasional reader wouldn’t understand.  Yes, you can chalk up a book review based on its grammar, the style of writing, or what occurred in the plot.  Those are all things that should be taken into consideration, but the core aspect should always be what the reader felt or didn’t feel while reading the book.  If there’s no heart to a story, a book will fall flat.  That wasn’t the case with this one.    

Here’s what I DIDN’T like…  The ending.  That fight scene… HELLO!  You have a three book build up to this epic showdown and it’s nothing more than a… pop and fizzle.  I can’t go into too much because I don’t want to “spoil” it for someone that hasn’t read the book, but I was utterly disappointed.  Secondly, I hate, I mean REALLY HATE how she wrapped up the love triangle issue.  It was more than sad.  It just felt wrong.  I DEMAND A REWRITE!!  Yeah, sometimes I wish that were possible. LOL  Hawkins did try to add a little spin on it to get the reader back on the warm and fuzzy side, but I’m afraid it was just too late.

Moving on from that, I thought to myself, “Can I really recommend a trilogy that missed the mark at the end of Book 3?  Is reading the rest of it worth it?”  Yeah, I think it is.  Who knows, someone else might love the ending.  It’s only me and my 1 opinion here, even if I do fancy myself right 98% of the time.  :)

 

10 books down, 42 to go!

Happy Reading, Everyone!