Review : Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Summary (from Goodreads)

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?

Personal Thoughts

I was among the people who were excited and thrilled for the release of Spell Bound, the third and final book in the Hex Hall trilogy. Like the previous two book, I expected to be blown away by Hawkins and her characters. It pains me to say this, but I was utterly disappointed by Spell Bound. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

Spell Bound starts where Demonglass ended. Sophie Mercer is off to the Brannicks, female Prodigium hunters, were her mother is. After the horrific events of Demonglass, Sophie and her friends take it into their hands to battle with the Casnoffs and prevent them from going ahead with their evil plan.
Sophie is as witty as she is in the previous books. She's still very snarky, sarcastic, humorous and caring. She is among the very few female characters that I've loved and will cherish for a long time. Brave and head-strong, she still tries to save and protect the people she has grown to care throughout the series. The fact that she is willing to risk her life on countless occasions highlights how much inner-strength this girl has. I'm very happy that she changes for the better throughout the trilogy.
Overall, Sophie is still as kick-butt as she was in the other books and I'm glad that she stayed that way.

Now onto the secondary characters. We are introduced to the Brannicks in this book and I was anticipating to getting to know their characters a bit better. However, there wasn't much character development and I was left feeling disappointed. The same goes for The Eye. I wanted to get to know this organization a bit better, but no such thing happens.On the other hand, a lot is explained about Sophie's mother, which of course is a good thing. It was also enjoyable to see Sophie's mom and her dad interact in this book, although the reader is given only small glimpses into their relationship.
Sophie and Jenna still share that special friendship they had in both Hex Hall and Demonglass. I was honestly very hyped to see them back together.
I've always liked their relationship and the ease with with they banter. The comfort they felt around each other is still very much present in this book. I think that Sophie's and Jenna's friendship was the best part of the book.

In the first two books, Hawkins wrote a delightful romance between Archer and Sophie. As many people have predicted, they get back together in the book, but the sizzling chemistry that they had was gone. I felt like Spell Bound was very lacking in the romance department. Unlike the previous books, the make-out scenes were boring and lackluster. They are both still adorable together, helping each other out and trying to protect each other, but the relationship was plain.
Demonglass gave rise to a love triangle between Cal, the guy Sophie was betrothed to, Sophie and Archer. Things were going pretty well until an event towards the end ruins everything.I felt devastated and heart-broken. I found that the way Rachel Hawkins dealt with the love triangle unnecessary because everyone knew who Sophie was going to choose, even the other guy. So yes, I found it to be pointless.

Part of me also felt that Spell Bound's plot line had huge potential, but the way Hawkins handled it was unsatisfying. Firstly, a lot of the action scenes were too rushed and as a reader I didn't have enough time to grasp what was truly happening and to feel the excitement and adrenaline-rush that I usually feel when reading action-packed scenes. 
Another complaint I have is that some things are left unresolved at the end.
Unlike the previous books, Spell Bound was not compelling, exciting and fast-paced.

Overall, I found that this ending to this series to be unsatisfactory and too rushed. It hurts to give this 3 stars but I was too disappointed with the outcomes of this book. However, I do recommend the series as a whole because I believe that fans of YA books will be able to relate to Sophie and find her likable.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 3/5