Demonglass

By Rachel Hawkins

368 Pages

Published by Hyperion  Book CH

★★★★

By Em

 

         "Why had my life suddenly become a Nancy Drew mystery from hell?" -Sophie Mercer; Page 268

 

Does this girl know what she's talking about or what? That quote right there, it totally sums up everything that this book is about! (And it was so perfect I ever resorted to using a sticky Jolly Rancher wrapper to book mark it!) Rachel Hawkins' second installation of the Hex Hall series was astounding. I loved it even more than I loved the first one! 

Sophie Mercer learned in the last book that she is a demon, not a witch. As soon as she knew this, she was positive that she wanted to go through the Removal; a process that strips a witch, or in this case demon, of their magical powers, with the off-chance of maybe killing the person. Now, her father she barely knows has come to take her to London for the Removal, but not until he's spent time trying to change her mind. She is to spend the summer in the enchanting Thorne Abbey, where she shares the house with not only her demon father, but the surviving members of the council, and two other demons as well. She can already tell that she is in for one crazy summer. 

This book is constantly full of mind turning moments that make you question every character in the book. That's what makes it so darn interesting. It is, as Sophie said, a Nancy Drew mystery from hell. There are constantly twists and turns that make you suddenly jump up screaming, "What the-!" (And many musicians will look strangely at you if you do that during orchestra camp. Been there, done that.)  

They introduced new characters that I found enjoyable. Cal, the groundskeeper, who I think is way cooler than Archer.(Though, as groundskeepers go, Hagrid still has my vote!) Daisy and Nick, the demon couple who are both reckless and fun to hang around. All of the councilmen have their own secrets, making them very hard to trust, but interesting none-the-less, especially, Lara, Mrs. Casnoff's sister. All of the characters were increasingly important throughout the story, and I think each one really added something to this book. 


What I really didn't like about this book, was the classic love triangle that we see so many times. And it really can go either way. Take Twilight or the Hunger Games. One I loved, one...not so much. (Cough cough...Twilight...cough.) This one was... interesting. Um, I wouldn't say I liked it, but I wouldn't say I disliked it either, because it was done in a way I'd never seen before. (How often do you see a modern betrothal?) But, like I said, love triangle, slightly over played... 


Besides that, I truthfully liked this book. It took me but a day to finish, and I'm excited to read the next one. Ms. Hawkins left us with such a cliff hanger. When I finished, my first reaction was, "What? Wait... WHAT?" I couldn't believe it was done. I seriously can't imagine having to wait for the next one. I already have it on hold at the library. To those people who were waiting months and months for the third book, I feel really bad for you. That was serious cliff hanging there. This book was quite exciting, and I'm excited to see just what happens next.