Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Spell Bound
Rachel Hawkins
Hex Hall #3
Published March 13, 2012 by Hyperion
YA urban fantasy

Bite-Sized Review
The conclusion to the Hex Hall series is just as entertaining as its predecessors. It's a little darker, but still filled with the same humor and fun. Hex Hall is most definitely a series you should read.

King-Sized Review
**WARNING: Contains spoilers for the previous two books of the series. Read at your own risk.**
In the third and final installment of the Hex Hall series, demon Sophie Mercer must stop the Casnoff sisters' plan to build a demon army. After Sophie's powers were locked away, her fiancé Cal sent her to the Brannicks, sworn enemies of Prodigium. When she arrives, she learns that was a much more reasonable decision than it seemed, and the Brannicks believe Sophie is the only one who can save the world from a demon war. But she can't do that without her powers, and she certainly can't do it on her own.

Spell Bound was an excellent conclusion to an excellent series. I'll keep this review short, since I don't want to spoil anything of the quite skillful ending. Let's just say that the developments in this book were a logical progression of what happened in previous books. I can't really think of anything to complain about in the plot – a few things were easier than was really believable, but it is a younger YA series. While this is mainly a lighter book, and Sophie's irrepressible sense of humor brightened the darkest moments, Spell Bound contained a few heavy scenes that really raised the book up a notch.

At the release party for this book, Rachel Hawkins said that one of the things she wanted to do with her writing was to show that no one is evil in their own mind. That sometimes people do terrible things for good reasons, and while that doesn't make it okay, it does make them easier to understand. She achieved that goal in Spell Bound. By showing her characters' reasons for their actions, she made them and the story stronger. The only one of the villains that really didn't get a good explanation was the Eye, which sadly was barely in the book.

The characters are their familiar selves here. There's not a ton of depth, but they're good for all that, and perfect for this kind of book. I love Sophie's sense of humor, especially when she and Archer banter. We also get to meet a few interesting new faces, one of which will be the star of a Hex Hall spinoff in the future. (I have my guess as to who, but I'll let you figure that one out.) I will definitely be reading more of Ms. Hawkins's books as soon as they come out, and you should too!

Quality: Good
Enjoyability: Excellent

In the same aisle
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead