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A review by bookph1le
Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins, R. Khokins
3.0
When I read Hex Hall, I was a little worried because, at times, it felt too derivative. I imagine this would be the case when you're writing about a magical boarding school, given the omnipresence of Harry Potter and its associated mythology. Still, I thought it was a pretty fun, fresh tale with a likable heroine, and the ending left me eager for the next installment. There will be a few mild spoilers in this review.
This book picks up where the last left off. Sophie finally gets to meet her father, and takes a trip to England with her best friend Jenna and Cal, the caretaker from Hex Hall. Sophie is still grappling with her guilt over what happened at Hex Hall and, though she seems to have resolved to go through the Removal, various and assorted characters try to talk her out of it.
I thought this was the first aspect of the book that went awry. Yes, Sophie is a teenager who has dealt with a traumatic event, but her feelings about whether or not she wants to go through the Removal just never really struck me as genuine. Instead, they came across as a plot device of the your-powers-are-too-awesome-for-you-to-throw-them-away variety. While the series seems to strive more for levity than depth of feeling, I really think Sophie's feelings could have been a lot more nuanced, especially since this book is written from her perspective. Sophie's attitude about the Removal just struck me as shallow and insincere.
However, there are some nice moments in the book, particularly when it comes to the friendship between Jenna and Sophie. I liked the tension in this book as it did portray a depth of feeling that the whole Removal situation lacked. I liked that Sophie and Jenna have their ups and downs but, at the end of the day, they are two young women who are very loyal to one another and very serious about the bonds of friendship.
Another aspect that I did not like was the addition of the love triangle. Please, authors of young adult fiction, can we ditch this device? It is growing so tired, and I found it such a stretch here. Sophie spends so much of the book mooning over Archer and defying everyone for him that I just did not find it feasible that she was also developing a crush on Cal. This may be because her conflicted romantic feelings are also shallowly portrayed but, either way, this angle adds nothing to the series.
Finally, I have to take some issue with the snark factor in these books. While I do enjoy Sophie's snappy remarks, for the most part, they are sometimes cartoonish and inappropriate to the scene. No scene more exemplifies this than the battle between Sophie, Archer, and some ghouls. I felt like that entire sequence was written by the author of a B action movie. Hawkins gets too heavy-handed with her attempts at humor, and it would benefit the books if she painted a little more lightly.
Still, I did like the ending of the book, though it wasn't entirely unpredictable, and even though it raises some questions about abilities used at the end of the book (why wouldn't these be used in all situations at all time, to ensure a specific outcome?). Hawkins does have a knack for leaving the action off right at a crucial point, once again making me eager to read the next in the series to see what happens. It's not high literature, but it's a reasonably well-done and enjoyable read.
This book picks up where the last left off. Sophie finally gets to meet her father, and takes a trip to England with her best friend Jenna and Cal, the caretaker from Hex Hall. Sophie is still grappling with her guilt over what happened at Hex Hall and, though she seems to have resolved to go through the Removal, various and assorted characters try to talk her out of it.
I thought this was the first aspect of the book that went awry. Yes, Sophie is a teenager who has dealt with a traumatic event, but her feelings about whether or not she wants to go through the Removal just never really struck me as genuine. Instead, they came across as a plot device of the your-powers-are-too-awesome-for-you-to-throw-them-away variety. While the series seems to strive more for levity than depth of feeling, I really think Sophie's feelings could have been a lot more nuanced, especially since this book is written from her perspective. Sophie's attitude about the Removal just struck me as shallow and insincere.
However, there are some nice moments in the book, particularly when it comes to the friendship between Jenna and Sophie. I liked the tension in this book as it did portray a depth of feeling that the whole Removal situation lacked. I liked that Sophie and Jenna have their ups and downs but, at the end of the day, they are two young women who are very loyal to one another and very serious about the bonds of friendship.
Another aspect that I did not like was the addition of the love triangle. Please, authors of young adult fiction, can we ditch this device? It is growing so tired, and I found it such a stretch here. Sophie spends so much of the book mooning over Archer and defying everyone for him that I just did not find it feasible that she was also developing a crush on Cal. This may be because her conflicted romantic feelings are also shallowly portrayed but, either way, this angle adds nothing to the series.
Finally, I have to take some issue with the snark factor in these books. While I do enjoy Sophie's snappy remarks, for the most part, they are sometimes cartoonish and inappropriate to the scene. No scene more exemplifies this than the battle between Sophie, Archer, and some ghouls. I felt like that entire sequence was written by the author of a B action movie. Hawkins gets too heavy-handed with her attempts at humor, and it would benefit the books if she painted a little more lightly.
Still, I did like the ending of the book, though it wasn't entirely unpredictable, and even though it raises some questions about abilities used at the end of the book (why wouldn't these be used in all situations at all time, to ensure a specific outcome?). Hawkins does have a knack for leaving the action off right at a crucial point, once again making me eager to read the next in the series to see what happens. It's not high literature, but it's a reasonably well-done and enjoyable read.