Review: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins (Hex Hall #2)

Title: Demonglass
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publication date: March 22nd 2011
Publisher: Hyperion
Age group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Cover rating: 4/5
Content rating: 5/5
Buy: Amazon

Spoiler warning! Even the Goodreads description of this book contains a big spoiler for the first book so only read ahead if you don't mind being spoiled! 

Description:

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch. 
That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth. 

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers. 

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

My thoughts:
After developing a serious love for this series when I read the first book earlier in the week (reviewed here) I tried my best to wait a little before reading book two; to prolong the experience, I guess. I lasted a whole two days before I caved and just dived right into this one! Book twos in a series are often less than exciting but Demonglass didn't disappoint me in the slightest. I loved it from start to finish. I honestly couldn't handle tearing my eyes away from the pages.

Hex Hall really left us off on a huge cliffhanger. Sophie was just after discovering she's not a witch at all... she's a demon! She wants to go through 'The Removal' which has a high chance of killing her. This book shows us Sophie's journey as she learns more about who she is, where her family came from and what she can expect from her future. The more knowledge Sophie gets about her situation, the more confused she becomes! I honestly would hate to have been in Sophie's position and I think she handles it really well. I love that she can manage to be hilarious even during the most awful of times. Her sarcastic attitude made me laugh  out loud more than once!

In Demonglass, we really get to know more about the other characters in the book which I was so happy about. Sophie's relationship with her dad is rocky but blooming! It's so cool to watch them get to know each other after all these years and to see all the little things they have in common. We also get to know Cal more which is awesome. He was really in the background in Hex Hall so I didn't form much of an opinion about him at all. But now he's one of my favourite characters! He's so sweet and in his own way, funny.

We meet loads of new characters in this one and they're all fascinating. I spent a lot of this book wondering who was on whose side and all the twists took me by surprise! Anyone who loved Hex Hall will love this one and if you haven't read Hex Hall yet, I highly suggest you do so! I am so excited about starting on book three.

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (Hex Hall #1)

Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publication date: March 2nd 2010
Publisher: Hyperion
Age group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Cover rating: 4/5
Content rating: 5/5
Buy: Amazon

Description:

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters. 

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

My thoughts:
I had been holding off on reading this one until after the third book came out. I have been getting really irritated about having to wait around for the next book in a series to come out so I decided I'd wait until I had all of these before I'd start. The third book, Spell Bound, was published last week so I finally got to dive into this one.  I can tell you that it was most certainly worth the wait and I have found a new series to obsess over!

Hex Hall completely blew me away. I read it in two short sittings. Partly because it's a quick read but also because I couldn't handle setting it down. My eyes were glued to my Kindle as I got completely lost in Sophie's story! Sophie is such a likable character and I was cheering for her from the very first page. She is sarcastic, funny and doesn't take anything too seriously. She's quite independent and a quick thinker. Sophie is thrown into a world she has very little knowledge about and it's fascinating watching her try to navigate her way through this magical place.

The plot was very intriguing. It's full of mystery and suspense which keeps the reader on their toes the whole way through. I really did not see any of the twists coming but they made sense all the same! Sophie's only friend at Hex Hall is being accused of murder and assault. She is torn between her loyalty to her friend (Jenna, who is a really awesome character!) and all the clues that seem to point at her being the attacker. It's not an easy place to be and I think Sophie handles it well. She's clever and knows how to stand her ground. I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel about Archer- Sophie's detention buddy and crush. He still seems like such a mystery to me and I'm really excited to see how things will go in book two.

As you can see, I LOVED this book and I'm so excited about this series! I would recommend it to anybody who is looking for a quick and fun read. It made me laugh several times and I can't wait to get back to Sophie's world.