Publication date: March 13th, 2012
Published by: Hyperion Books CH
Genre: YA Paranormal, Witches
Rating: 3,5/5
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?
I'm not gonna lie. While reading Spell Bound I thought to myself that it will probably be the best of all 3. Quick paced, a lot of action scenes, great overall. It was when I read the last sentence however that I realised that despite it hiding behind a mask of awesomeness, the series was not worthy of such ending, after all.
Why this happened? Well, for one thing I am a sucker for exposition. And this book had plenty. Especially the scenes with the Brannicks kinda reminded me Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer and Calla's hanging out with the Searchers. So, I am all for that. Also, when you read a book filled with so many new things and situations, you kinda get lost in the moment and don't pay attention to details which at the time, seem minor.
What I felt in the end of Spell Bound was that the book was somehow incomplete. It would be perfect for part 1, if the end was a two - parter, or let's say an introductory book to a possible spin off *ahem* but it wasn't. It was the end of a series that lasted 3 years and all the important stuff that happen, were being compeltely brushed off by Hawkins.
For example:
*Sophie comes back and her father and Archer's fate is unknown. She is the first to crack a joke. In general, they were cracking so many jokes, even in dire circumstances, that it came across a bit childish. Also, she (Sophie) had no qualms about falling into Cal's arms the same night. Hm.
*Sophie found out about her heritage. Not that big of a deal to Sophie. *shrug*
*A character's death(although I am sure you all know who dies by now). Oh. Too Bad. *5 seconds later* "OK let's live happily ever after. Nuisance taken care of." Uh?
*Torin-very interesting new character, someone who I believe everyone wanted to find out more about. We didn't, though. I thought he had a role to play, like may be a double agent, pretend to help them but instead be a spy for Lara, or maybe he truly wanted to help them, anything! He was introduced, he said one or two clever quips and then poof. Same goes for Finley and Izzy. I know there is a spin off in the making (kinda obvious) but please, don't screw the end of this series because of that. Got some serious Last Sacrifice vibes, for which I did not care for at all!
*Lara-not a big baddie after all. Her sister did all the work, not Sophie.
…and last but not least
*Cal-why create him at all if your purpose, as it turned out, was not a love triangle? Why make him Sophie's fiance(!)and have her ignore him and pretty much anticipating to get rid of him in the next book? Doesn't make any sense to me. Major fail in character development there.
In the end, what I made of Spell Bound, is that it is just a big prologue for the inevitable spin off. Why else introduce so many new characters when the book is 327 pages and you know there is no way in hell you can develop them all. I never thought the Hex Hall series was the best thing that happened to my life, but I enjoyed it very much and all I wanted was a satisfactory ending. It wasn't abysmal, but it wasn't what I expected, especially from Hawkins.
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