Rachel Hawkins Delivers Again!

I loved Rachel Hawkins first series Hex Hall and Rebel Belle promises to deliver the same sort of laugh-out-loud situations while still being swoon-worthy and full of action. (Also, Rachel Hawkins is really nice and these covers are really pretty so you should go buy a copy of this book). Please note that I listened to this as an audiobook while following along in a physical copy which made the book that much more fun because I got the “voices” of the characters and felt that much more connected to them. However, Hawkins’ books are always a blast to read and really easy to get into, so I will always recommend them.

Harper is your typical Queen Bee. She has her hands in everything and wants to make the school experience great not only for herself but also for everyone else who attends. But this hits a snag when she watches a janitor die and gains amazing fighting powers. One of the best parts about Harper’s character was seeing her grow into accepting her responsibilities. She was such a strong character without the abilities because she was always taking on more than she probably should have so that everything would be Perfect™. I really liked being inside her head because it was nice to see her thought patterns around how she was supposed to act versus how she was acting. I also liked seeing her start to freak out and really being herself at the end. It was nice to see that some situations call for you to tell people to get in line and follow suit rather than to just be polite and nice. I could really connect to Harper throughout this novel and think I will be able to in the future as well.

The plot was really great as well. I liked seeing it unfold and that this novel had it’s own arc but also had plot points for the future books as well. I liked that there were tidbits of what we can hope to expect in the future without giving too much away for the readers while also keeping us intrigued and wanting to continue the story. I thought the ending was a bit unfortunate in a way but also pretty great. I am excited to see what the next book brings. I think the overall story idea is one that I wouldn’t trust anyone but Rachel Hawkins to write and deliver perfectly to us.

I liked the relationships that Harper had with Ryan and David. I think they both felt realistic and had good natural progression. I liked that Ryan was portrayed as a good boyfriend rather than an asshole Harper had to get away from. I also really liked that they both came to the conclusion that they would be better off NOT being together rather than sticking it out. I think it will be an interesting dynamic in the next book between the three of them.

I just felt like Blythe was a little underdeveloped. She was introduced a bit too late and wasn’t given enough screen time for me to connect to her as a villain. I hope there will be more of her in the next book, as well as more of an explanation of what her group actually wants. I think there was a bit of a hint at it, but not quite enough for me to be fully hooked. I think the rest of the book and characters made up for that lack of villainous behaviour however. And while I understand that Blythe doesn’t feel like she is a villain, I would have liked to see just a bit more from her so I could see why I should feel more than indifference towards her.

Overall a really good introduction to what promises to be another fantastic series by Rachel Hawkins.

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