Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
Release Date: March 13, 2012
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion Books
Pages: 327
Source: Purchased
Rating: 
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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
Review:
Rachel Hawkins’s Hex Hall series has been a highlight on my bookshelf since I first picked it up. Hex Hall and Demonglass are funny, charming, and an overall delight to read. I admit, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump as of late, so perhaps that affected my enjoyment of it, but I felt so BLAH after I finished Spell Bound. Such a disappointing feeling to have for a series I’ve loved so much!
First of all, I thought that the pacing was off. I felt like I was thrown in different directions too quickly and I never felt fully immersed in the book. I don’t think it should have been so rushed and the storylines should have had more depth to them. Yes, this has always been a fun series without too much ~srs bsns~, but it was all too flat for me.
Because of the pacing, I also found it very difficult to connect to the characters. Of course, I did grow familiar with them in the first two books, but I didn’t feel like I enjoyed them as much in this installment. Was Sophie always this quippy? The answer to that is probably “yes,” but I felt like she was over the top in Spell Bound. In my review for Demonglass, I commented that she was very subdued in it and it was the complete opposite here. Don’t get me wrong, her humor has always been one of my favorite parts of the series, but it sometimes felt very out of place in the more tense situations here. Jenna was still great, and her friendship with Sophie continues to be a highlight, thankfully; no complaints there. The stuff with Archer had its hilariously cute moments, too, but I did not enjoy the inclusion of Cal and Elodie in the equation; it felt very unnecessary.
The ending. Ack. I won’t go into details because it would be a big spoiler, but a certain part of it also felt unnecessary. It felt thrown in and…BLAH. It’s depressing how little emotional impact it had for me and the characters. It should have been a big thing. Alas…
Overall, I didn’t find Spell Bound to be a very fulfilling conclusion to the series. It lacked the energy that I loved from the first two books and it makes me sad that this is how I say goodbye to these characters. As a whole, this is still a series that I will continue to love, but Spell Bound left me wondering, “Where did all the magic go?”
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About Stephanie
Noooo, don’t tell me this. Now I’m really nervous about what I’ll think. At least it sounds like there’s Archer/Sophie cuteness!
Aw, I’m sad that this had a lackluster ending. I haven’t started the series, yet, but I’ve been meaning to and I was hoping for uniform strength throughout the whole thing. :O/
First of all, your new blog design is so pretty! I love it.
Sad to hear that the series conclusion was so disappointing. I loved the first two books but haven’t had a chance to read this one yet. It’s such a bummer when the conclusion doesn’t live up to the rest of the series. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ll keep my expectations in check.
I only skimmed this review because I’m yet to read book two, but it sucks to hear that this series didn’t go out with the bang it started with!