Reading Reflection:Spell Bound

Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3)
by Rachel Hawkins
Published March 13th 2012
Rating: 3/5

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?

Ah, the third book in the Hex Hall series.  Again, soooo much stuff happens that it's difficult to write about.  In the last book, Sophie's powers are stripped, or held, by the council.  Her father's are removed entirely.  And Archer is sentenced to die.  This is all right before Nick and Daisy go demon crazy and all hell breaks loose.  The house is on fire while Sophie escapes, her father and Archer are trapped inside.  This is where amazing Cal comes in.  He tells Sophie to use the Itineris to find the Brannicks, where her mother is, before running to the burning house to save the people she loves.  

Okay, and then the third book begins.  Sophie listens to Cal and travels to find the Brannicks, another group destined to kill supernaturals which screams trouble.  She finds her mother there, she also finds that her mother is a member of this group, which means Sophie has found an aunt and two cousins who may or may not wish her dead.  Her father's demon status and her mother's demon hunter gig pretty much explains why they never worked out, conflicting interests... but that seems to change in the end.  Good.  I like those two together.    

Next, everyone survives the fire.  Archer escapes somehow.  Jenna joins a "nest".  Cal and James find their way to Sophie and her mother with minimal damage.  Now they only have to decide how they're gonna stop the Casnoff sisters from creating a demon army.  Not an easy task when the whole island housing Hex Hall has disappeared. 

This task becomes easier when every student from Hex Hall is magically returned to the school: Sophie, Archer, Jenna, Cal, and everyone else from the previous semester.  Sophie and her group are the only ones who really know what the Casnoff sisters are up to, they want to turn them all into demons.  With the help of her friends, family, and Elodie's ghost Sophie has to find a way to get her powers back and save the day.

Alright, I didn't like this book as much as the other two.  First, all that witty sarcasm that I loved went overboard, there were certain times when I felt like enough was enough.  Two, though I like Archer, he didn't leave me swooning.  I liked Cal too much to agree with Sophie's choice.  There comes a point when the bad boy isn't enough -- you need more than wit and looks.  Lastly, a loss at the end leaves me absolutely heart broken.  Though everyone is offered a "happy ending", I couldn't get over this one point.  It left me soooo sad I couldn't get past it.  Maybe that's the reason I didn't love this book as much as the others.  The other ones were light, fun reads.  This one, though witty, left me depressed.