Kilas Buku: Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3)

Title: Spellbound (Hex Hall #3)

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

ebook, 205 pages
Published March 13th 2012 by Hyperion (first published January 1st 2012)

Synopsis:
Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

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? (goodreads)

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The finale book of Hex Hall series will let you find out (again) something we don't know. In the first and second book we find out about who Sophie and her father really are, the real Council, the Cassnoff family, and so on. In the last book we will know about who Sophie's mother really is and the real Archer Cross.

According to the second book, we have reference who the real villain is. So this villain tries to do dark ritual to some Hecate students. Some friends will be turned out demon like Sophie. But the newborn demons are never same with the exist demon. They will be uncontrollable and wild. As her magic is blocked, Sophie cannot help her friends. She has to find a way how to get back her power this time.

Spell Bound, of course, is different from Demonglass. It has less action than the second. So that's why some readers 'complain' with it. If you are kind of reader who loves action, you may be like them. Actually so am I, but this time I like the twist. Only one thing want to know is why Rachel Hawkins as the author doesn't write much about Cal and the Eye. I find less information about Cal, except the very basic information that you can get from Demonglass. And so is the Eye. The only way I get information about the Eye is from Archer Cross. Hawkins never let me "see" the Eye directly. Yeah, probably it is because of the POV. The novel uses Sophie's POV to tell what's happening to reader. As Sophie never meets the Eye directly except Archer, so readers will never have a chance to "see" the Eye directly.

Well, so let me give 3,5 stars again for this book. If you are really like fantasy and romance or sort of pararom, you will like this book. I bet it.

Kilas Buku: Demonglass (Hex Hall #2)

Title: Demonglass (Hex Hal #2)

Author: Racher Hawkins

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Hyperion, 359 pages

Warning: Spoiler alert for those who haven't reading the first book yet.

Synopsis:

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch. That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (a.k.a. witches, shape-shifters, and faeries). But then she discovered the family secret, and the fact 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 either destroy her powers for good-or kill her. 

But once Sophie arrives, she makes a shocking discovery. Her new housemates? They're demons too. Meaning, someone is raising demons 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? (goodreads)

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After causing too many problems in her first semester in Hex Hall, Sophie Mercer was visited by both of parents. This was the first time she met her father and her parents saw each other again since almost 16 years. James Atherthon, Sophie's father decided to bring her daughter to London and let her spend her summer holiday there. But the most of all it was because Archer Cross was a n Eye and Sophie had turned out that she was a demon.

Like in the first book, as a reader we follow the story from Sophie's point of view. And that's good to be made such a way, in order to make readers as innocent as Sophie. She will take us to some new information and knowledge about Hex Hall, the Council, and something really secret.

Kind of shock about some new information, Sophie's willing to destroy her power was stronger than before. She felt remorse for demolition that her (as a demon) power made. But something happened fast: two kids who inhabited with the council attacked its building. Thus Sophie rethought about the removal and tried to help recover the situation. Again, when she started helping, her father was caught by the council itself and finally Sophie turned out who was the real villain behind the scene.

The second book contains more actions the the first one. It is amusing and meets my expectation. A fantasy novel with magic specialist like this should have action in it, right?

OK, 3.5 stars for this book. :)

Kilas Buku: Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1)

Judul: Sekolah Sihir Hecate

Judul Asli: Hex Hall

Penerjemah: Dina Begum

Genre: Young Adult. Fantasy

Paperback, 400 halaman

Fantasious, September 2014 (pertama kali terbit 2010)

Sinopsis:

Saat ulang tahunnya yang kedua belas, Sophie Mercer mendapati kalau dirinya ternyata seorang penyihir. Tiga tahun kemudian, akibat mantranya mengacaukan pesta dansa di sekolah, dia diasingkan ke Hex Hall, sekolah bagi anak-anak bandel Prodigium—penyihir, peri, vampir, warlock, dan shapeshifter.

Pada akhir hari pertama berada di antara sesama remaja aneh di Hex Hall, Sophie mendapati hal yang mengesankan: naksir kepada cowok warlock ganteng, bermusuhan dengan tiga cewek yang berwajah bagaikan supermodel, terus dibuntuti hantu menyeramkan, dan tinggal sekamar dengan orang yang paling dibenci dan satu-satunya vampir di sekolah. Lebih buruk lagi, Sophie segera mendapati bahwa ada makhluk misterius yang menyerang murid-murid, dan satu-satunya teman yang dimilikinya merupakan tersangka nomor satu.

Sementara serangkaian misteri yang mengerikan mulai terungkap, Sophie bersiap-siap menghadapi ancaman yang paling besar: kelompok rahasia kuno yang bertekad untuk menghancurkan semua Prodigium, khususnya dia.

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Meski saya menyukai genre fantasi, namun jujur saya agak skeptis dengan banyak cerita fantasi yang bermunculan akhir-akhir ini. Karena tidak sedikit cerita yang ternyata cuma ala kadarnya, tidak menarik perhatian pembaca begitu dalam, yang maknanya cuma bisa dibilang "well, ini cerita fantasi, dan okelah," selesai.

Saya 'terpaksa' membaca serial Hex Hall karena memang sedang kepingin baca dan kebetulan ada penerbit yang membagikan ebook gratis di playbooks. Dan syukurlah perasaa skeptis saya di atas tadi sedikit terkikis. Saya akui. meski ada yang bilang "cemen", Hex Hall #1 menyajikan cerita yang cukup menarik. Meski konsep dasarnya sama dengan hampir banyak cerita fantasi lainnya; sihir, penyihir, warlock, peri, shapeshifter, vampire, asrama, ibu asrama, penjaga asrama, cowok ganteng, cewek cakep, pesta dansa, dan tetek bengek lainnya.

Mungkin yang membuatnya jadi menarik adalah karakter Sophie Mercer sebagai tokoh utama yang "biasa saja", meski sebenarnya punya kekuatan super. Ia bahkan terlihat culun dan bodoh karena tidak mengetahui siapa sebenarnya dirinya, mengapa dirinya menjadi ancaman yang berbahaya namun juga harus diselamatkan. Intinya Sophie tumbuh menjadi gadis super kuat yang benar-benar polos.

Tapi yah, hal-hal klise terjadi. Sophie harus jatuh cinta dengan cowok paling keren di Hex Hall, Archer Cross. Mereka berdua terlibat sedikit skandal percintaan di belakang pacar Archer, Ellodie Parris, yang juga cewek paling keren di Hex Hall. Namun ternyata skandal percintaan ini bukan hanya sekedar kisah romansa ala remaja lagi begitu Sophie mengetahui siapa Archer sebenarnya.

Well, buku ini punya banyak hal klise yang ternyata menjadi kejutan menyenangkan bagi pembaca. Para pembaca akan digiring melalui sudut pandang Sophie, si penyihir cewek super yang polos. Kemudian bersamanya para pembaca akan menemukan banyak kejutan tentang banyak hal yang harus Sophie ketahui, termasuk tentang siapa dirinya sendiri.

3,5 bintang.