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

Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3) by Rachel Hawkins

Publishers: Hyperion
Published Date: March 13th 2012
From: Bought
My rating: 3 out of 5

Synopsis:
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?

Review:
After loving the previous books, Hex Hall and Demonglass, Spell Bound was one of those books that had been on my TBR pile forever so I HAD to buy as soon as it was published. Sophie is such a great character and Archer was everything I wanted him to be. Cal was an interesting addition. As betrothed to Sophie I was extremely curious to see how this love triangle would pan out. But the essential part of this story is that Sophie was a witch, now a demon, and now she was up against the world. Everyone who she thought was on her side is now the enemy. But what is the real enemy going to do next to ruin Sophie's world.

I won't deny that I found this book difficult to get into. By chapter 7 I was even a little bored and started reading other books. But I came back and stuck with it to the end. Sophie began to annoy me with her snarky comments when a very serious situation was going on. The split between her feelings for Archer and Cal even made me think she would finally stick with Cal. 

But when all the classmates returned to Hex Hall the danger was real. Now Sophie had to take things seriously and work out how to deal with the evil. What happens? She ends up making out with Archer in the cellar. Really? Someones already died from trying to get out through the fog surrounding the school and she's making out?  


I realise that the atmosphere of the books is supposed to be light hearted and enjoyable but I just didn't feel it worked in this book. Maybe if there had been a fourth book then Sophie might have grown as a character but this one felt like there was so much story trying to be crammed into such a short book.


In the end I was glad I read it and had closure from all the characters but it wasn't my favourite ending to a series.

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