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Showing posts with label Rachel Hawkins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rachel Hawkins. Show all posts

Sunday, 12 February 2012

A Review for Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3) by Rachel Hawkins

Posted by Donna
Expected Published Date: March 13th, 2012
Finished Date: February 12th, 2012
Publishers: Simon & Schuster UK
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 327
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The Blurb from Goodreads:  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?
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The Review: Wow, let me tell you – this series just keeps getting better and better and Spell Bound is by far the BEST book in the Hex Hall Series.
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Following the shocking cliff-hanger in Raising Demons, we see Sophie trying to reach her mother by going to the Brannicks’ family.  She has to ask herself, why would her mother be with them when they’re a family who hunt down the Prodigium? While there, Sophie’s world comes tumbling down when she finds out even more secrets about heritage but mainly, the Brannick’s believe Sophie is the only person powerful enough to put an end to the war but that means risking her life - again. And without her magic…….can she really be the hero that she is expected to be?

Rachel Hawkins has done it again! She’s created another fantastic book that I believe – is her best work yet and I have to admit, I’m a little sad that this is the finale book in the series. I believe Rachel’s writing improves with each book and I can only imagine what she could produce if she ever decided to continue writing more books to this series. And I can tell you - that I know they would be even more amazing!

The characters this time around are even stronger than ever. Sophie really goes through the worst, especially as she tries to get her powers back, but she remains her snarky-fun-loving-self through-out and we seriously need more heroines like her. Archer, Cal and Jenna all have key roles in this book too, and are fantastic secondary characters. I see them all as heroines too because they are all just as strong as Sophie and not only that, I love them all just as much.

Ummm….now Archer and Cal - these boys make me melt and I love both of them because they are both completely different from one another and I believe Sophie picked the right guy in the end!

Now the inevitable ending. I’m really happy with how things were concluded but at the same time I’m sad, because there is one major event that I didn’t even see coming until it happened, and it shocked me too my core! BUT, Rachel Hawkins ends the book so great and really left me satisfied that I couldn’t help love the overall book. When you read this book for yourself, you will see why I’m so torn and I’m sure you will all have plenty to say….so until you do read it; I won’t spoil it for you.

All in all, Spell Bound was a great end to a fun series. One filled with dangerous and exciting scenes, one filled with laughs and one filled with romance and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Thank you Simon and Schuster UK for sending me an advanced copy of this book. 

Saturday, 11 February 2012

A Review for Raising Demons (Hex Hall #2) by Rachel Hawkins

Posted by Donna
Published Date: March 13th, 2011
Finished Date: February 9th, 2012
Publishers: Simon & Schuster
Source: Bought - 2012 TBR Reading Challenge
Format: Kindle
Pages: 368
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The Blurb from Goodreads:  Sophie Mercer's first term at Hex Hall turned out to be quite eventful. First the ghost of her evil grandmother haunted her every move, then her best friend was accused of murder and of course there was the discovery that Archer Cross, aka the boy of her dreams, was actually an undercover demon hunter - which would probably be something she could have worked on, if she hadn't also discovered that she was actually the demon Archer was hunting…
So, despite their issues, Sophie is actually relieved to be spending the summer in London with her father. But when your father is Head of The Council of Prodigium and your summer is being spent at the headquarters of everything magical, then a quiet holiday isn't really that likely. And, as Sophie struggles to come to terms with her new found demon powers, she finds herself thrust once again into a world of dark magic and conspiracies. The only thing that could possibly make things more complicated would be for Archer Cross to show up again, which of course he wouldn't, would he?
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The Review: “This thing with us is the only real thing I've had in a long time. You're the only real thing." He raised our hands and kissed my knuckles. "And I'm done pretending I don't want you.”

I read the first book of this series sometime last year and I was pretty surprised by how much I enjoyed it but I just haven’t been able to find time to read book two. However, when I was offered an advanced copy of the final book Spell Bound, it was a great opportunity because now I finally had an excuse to read Raising Demons and overall, this book seriously kicks ass!

This time around we see Sophie Mercer trying to move on from the shocking events that happened in Hex Hall. She’s trying to get over her former crush Archer, she’s trying to come to terms with her demon heritage and she’s trying to get over the death of a friend. When Sophie’s father offers to take her to London - it is there where she wants her power removed and only the council can grant her wish. But when she starts to learn to use her power, does she really want them removed? And with a deadly war on the verge of starting, will she need her powers to help them win?

I definitely enjoyed Raising Demons more than Hex Hall so that’s why it gets 3.5 out of 5 for me. It’s definitely a series that is full of laughs with fantastic banter and it’s a very light and intriguing read. One that you can easily read on a quiet afternoon and will keep you gripped through out. I don’t feel it’s an amazing series but definitely an enjoyable and memorable one.

I felt the story this time around was more enjoyable because we’d got past that ‘getting to know the character stage’ so I felt more connected with them and I loved how easy it was to slip back into Sophie’s head. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in ages from her snarky and funny comments which are very entertaining. Does anyone else think this series would make an awesome TV show? Rachel Hawkins definitely knows how to keep us entertained and if it was ever made into one, I’d watch it! =)

I’m so glad that we got reunited with Archer in this book – *sigh* I love him! Even though I do like Cal and if Archer wasn’t there, maybe just maybe I’d be on his team but it’s hard to not love Archer. So I’m completely and totally 100% TEAM ARCHER! He and Sophie just bounce off one another other, they connect to one another and I really feel they are true soul mates. I really adore their relationship despite the challenges they face. And their banter….wow……..


“It just seems like overkill when you already have a dagger and I have super-powerful magic at my disposal.”
“Super-powerful?” He stood up, a gold chain dangling from his fingers. “Let me remind you of two words, Mercer: Bad. Dog.” – Archer and Sophie

“We could argue in front of our lockers all dramatically," I said. "That's something I saw a lot at human high schools."
He squeezed me in a quick hug. "Yes! Now that sounds like a good time. And then I could come to your house in the middle of the night and play music really loudly under your window until you took me back."
I chuckled. "You watch too many movies. Ooh, we could be lab partners!"
"Isn't that kind of what we were in Defence?"
"Yeah, but in normal high school, there would be more science, less kicking each other in the face."
"Nice.” – Archer and Sophie

Can you see what I mean? Such a comical but loving relationship. I love it! 

Overall, Raising Demons was a fun, exciting and easy read and a great sequel to Hex Hall. Now on to Spell Bound. 

Monday, 28 March 2011

A review for Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1) by Rachel Hawkins

Posted by Donna
Published Date: April 1st, 2010
Finished Date: March 26th, 2011
The Blurb from Goodreads: In the wake of a love spell gone horribly wrong, Sophie Mercer, a sixteen-year-old witch, is shipped off to Hecate Hall, a boarding school for witches, shapeshifters and faeries. The traumas of mortal high school are nothing compared to the goings on at "Freak High." It's bad enough that she has to deal with a trio of mean girls led by the glamorous Elodie, but it's even worse when she begins to fall for Elodie's gorgeous boyfriend, Archer Cross, and frankly terrifying that the trio are an extremely powerful coven of dark witches. But when Sophie begins to learn the disturbing truth about her father, she is forced to face demons both metaphorical and real, and come to terms with her own growing power as a witch.
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The Review:  After seeing so many good reviews about this book, I thought it was time I read it. Seems as though its had been sitting on my shelf for nearly 2 months. Although, I didn't think this book was amazing, I still really enjoyed it. 
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Sophie Mercer - a witch, moves to Hecate Hall after casting a love spell that goes wrong for a girl from her old school. She has been sentenced to spend the next 2 years at Hecate so she can learn to control and use her powers so she doesn't expose them to humans. Once Sophie arrives, everything is not as simple as she once thought. She gets roomed with the only vampire on campus, girls are being killed by an unknown murderer, she gets tricked into joining a coven and ends up falling for the wrong guy. There are secrets running all over the school and Sophie for one, is determined to find out what's going on. 
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I found this book a light enjoyable read. There wasn't anything confusing in the story and it seemed to work out pretty well in the end. I liked reading about Hecate Hall, and loved how all the other supernatural creatures were introduced. I thought all the characters, especially Archer were fantastic and I can't wait to read more on him and his story. I'm also glad that there was a back story to how Sophie got her powers, I enjoyed reading about her ancestors and look forward to finding out more on her father. The only thing I wished, would of been different in this story, was for a little more romance between Sophie & Archer and maybe seeing Sophie use her powers a little more than she did. 
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Overall though, I enjoyed it enough to read the sequel and I look forward to seeing what happens next with the characters.
 
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