Enter the Underworld

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sophie is powerless, the people she loves most are missing - and at Hex Hall someone is raising a demon army that will destroy the world. To stop them, Sophie may have to enter Hell itself.

The thrilling finale to the Hex Hall series! I enjoyed this trilogy, which got darker and darker with each book. Sophie is a smart and capable heroine, quippy and loyal. The return of a character I wanted more of from Hex Hall was satisfying, and the ending is bittersweet but most of the plot threads are neatly resolved.

My only wish is that the island of Hex Hall was more appealing (though it is an unfair comparison, the gold standards of fantasy settings are Gormenghast and Hogwarts Castle). I wanted to see more of the world of the Prodigium, but the breakneck plot only allows for occasional glimpses into the concealed world of witches, shapeshifters, faeries, and vampires.

As an aside, while I love seeing Lord Byron resurrected as a vampire, I think that any vampire in his or her right mind would really have turned Oscar Wilde. We've seen vampire Elvis, natch (Bubba from Dead Until Dark). Why no Wilde? The man was known for wearing green velvet capes! "Creature of the night" would have been a perfect fit on him. (Also, why is there a black cat in every U.S. cover of this book? There isn't a single familiar - unless you count slobbery werewolves - in any of the three books. I suppose a black cat symbolizes witches, but still. It's a stretch.)

There is a spin-off series that starts with School Spirits and follows one of the Brannick monster-hunters (I suspect that the unresolved plot points from Spell Bound show up there). Other series with some of the boarding-school spirit and strong female characters are Mind Games by Kiersten White and Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger.

Raising Demons

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To convince Sophie against her decision to have her powers Removed, her absentee demon father shows up and whisks her off to the Council's headquarters in England. There are unnerving developments there - deadly encounters, an unexpected fiance, and the reappearance of her old crush, Archer, who is still working for the very people who want Sophie dead.

Sophie is still reeling from the events of Hex Hall, which have upset her deeply enough to throw off her ability to control her magic. This sequel takes us out of Hecate Hall and into a gigantic mansion in England. I appreciated the portrayal of the difficult relationship between Sophie and her father - though it is obvious that they love each other, they both must learn to trust each other's judgment and talents. The third vertex of the love triangle finally shows up, too! The triangle remains lopsided, possibly because of its late introduction: even though the warlock Archer has now been revealed to work for The Eye, the new potential flame felt like a weak third (and not a real threat to the main love story).

There is more action than ever, and Sophie gets a chance to stretch her powers and exercise her habitual snark, which is fun and lightens this much-darker book. The cliffhanger ending will have you reaching for the third in the series, Spell Bound, right away.

Boarding School Witches

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sophie was blending in with the human world until a disastrous spell gets her exiled to Hecate Hall, a detention center/boarding school for wayward Prodigium (witches, vampires, werewolves, and faeries). Among her own kind, Sophie finds that she needs to learn the rules of her birthright fast - or die young.

Sophie is a likable protagonist who struggles to fit into a world she was only vaguely aware of before she was sentenced to Hecate. The story is fast-paced and light in tone in spite of the dark happenings around Sophie (a girl was murdered at Hecate before Sophie's arrival), and the hints that the worst is yet to come.

Sure, there's a superficial cliched love story with the requisite unavailable hot guy, but did I enjoyed her friendship with her monster roommate. She also almost-befriends her sworn enemy, a beautiful coven leader named Elodie, in an unusual twist that I wish had more time to develop.

For anyone who loves boarding school books and stories about the paranormal (particularly witches).

There are hints of a dangerous and interesting world beyond the walls of Hecate, with three distinct groups of monster-hunters dedicated to murdering Prodigium - especially, as it so happens, Sophie. With two other books in the series (Demonglass and Spell Bound), I look forward to reading the rest!