Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2)

by Rachel Hawkins

After learning that she is capable of dangerous magic, Sophie Mercer goes to England with her father, friend Jenna, and Cal hoping to have her powers removed, but soon she learns that she is being hunted by the Eye--and haunted by Elodie.

• ISBN10: 1423128443
• ISBN13: 9781423128441
• Publish Date: 7 February 2012 (first published 1 March 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Hyperion Books for Children
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Demonglass is another super quick installment of this series, but it's sadly less interesting and even less memorable than the first book. It's a few weeks before the end of the school year and Sophie is finally face-to-face with her father. He wants her to come back to England and spend the summer with him, so he can teach her more about being demon before she decides if she wants to go through the Removal. Well, Sophie doesn't get the summer with her father that was planned, since there's nefarious deeds going on right under the head of the Council's nose.

I was quite bummed when it became clear that Demonglass was not going to be set at Hectate Hall. Most of this series' appeal for me was the special school setting, and it has now been lost. I was eager to learn more about what being a demon means along side Sophie, but that didn't totally hold my interest either. She does spend a lot of time training with her father, but it didn't seem like stuff that would actually help her. It was more of what would benefit him, but at least Sophie catches on to this and calls him out.

Then there's this totally annoying romance element which I never saw coming, and really feel like it added nothing to the overall story. Sophie is worried about running into Archer in England, which of course means that she's going to run into him. But Cal has joined her (and Jenna) on her trip and she's learned some very shocking news about him, which I think I assumed in the first book, but can't really remember. So there's this kind of love-triangle, but not really. The whole Archer situation just got on my nerves, because it was so typical. Sophie also pulls the "you're the only real thing in my life even though I have to lie about you" card, and that just completely lost me. I hate that whole spiel.

The big conflict was pretty good. Someone is raising demons, which is very bad. Who is doing it is super obvious, and Sophie does guess who early on, and then it's confirmed by a villain monologue. I suppose I understand why they think they need to do this, but I don't actually think they do. They're just making things harder on themselves and the cause they're supposedly fighting for, and it's just a mess.

Demonglass was kind of disappointing. I didn't expect greatness, but this was kind of dull. I didn't wholly dislike it, since stuff does happen, it just wasn't super interesting stuff. Even if I hadn't checked out Spell Bound at the same time, I do think I'd still have picked it up to find out what happens next. Mostly because I have no clue what the overarching plot is suppose to me, so I'm curious to see where this goes.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[celinenyx]

3.5 Stars

In this sequel to Hex Hall, Sophia must learn to deal with what happened at Hecate Hall, a reform school for Prodigium. Her long estranged father makes an appearance, and he decides a change of decorum is necessary: Sophia is coming to the United Kingdom with him for a few months. However, a certain someone Sophia isn't ready to see has also been spotted overseas...

The second book in a series can often feel like more of the same. Demonglass avoids this common problem by taking the main characters, and forcing them to find their way in an unknown environment. They suddenly have to navigate other people they don't know if they can trust, and it creates a lot of new venues for the plot to go. Demonglass never feels too "same-y" like Hex Hall.

In Demonglass we're introduced to a rather lame love-triangle. I felt it was rather unnecessary - again we're treated to the stereotype that a girl and a boy can't be in the same room together without there being some romantic tension. What made this one even worse for me was that I felt like this love triangle was added for the benefit of the reader, instead of it being the characters true feelings.

Where I found Sophia to be a bit shallow in the first book, she gains more depth in this one. Even though she can be a bit obnoxious and stupid, I thought that she showed more insight into her own feelings, which make her more interesting to read. Her interactions and growing bond between her and her father was very well done, and the strain on her and Jenna's friendship was realistic and genuine. As long as it's not concerning boys, Ms Hawkins actually does characters well.

While I was looking for something like Harry Potter when I started this series, I think the Hex Hall books are actually a lot more like The Mortal Instruments series. It doesn't give me the magical world I was looking for, but it does deliver on an engaging plot navigating a world of different factions and magical beasties.

[Sophia]

I am so over the stupid love triangle in this book, I genuinely could not care less if Sophie ends up with Archer or Cal - you're 16, what difference does it make? That being said, I enjoyed this book more than the first one. Sophie is adorable and Jenna is brilliant. That is all, 4 stars.

[angelarenea9]

I enjoyed this book more than the first, and I think it did a great job building on the first one. The plot was clearly planed out in advanced and it shows! It still had a lot of corny lines thrown around and some of the character reactions were a little unbelievable. The one that really bothered me was Sophie's reaction to her absentee dad's return to her life. I highly doubt that a teen who's deadbeat dad never had the time of day for her would welcome him so readily and completely. I also had some issues with the Sophie/Archer/Cal mess. I found Cal to be a much more defined character than Archer, and wish there had been more about him. Overall it was a great sequel.

[MurderByDeath]

A great read. I've found that just about every trilogy has a bit of a sophomore slump in the second book, but I enjoyed this one a lot. Fast paced, lots of action and such great characters! And such wonderful snark! Witty dialog can redeem a so-so book, but when you have a great story *and* witty dialog, it's a joy to read and I don't want to put it down.

Luckily, my impulse book buying habits had me buying both this book and the third one at the same time. It's not a *major* cliffhanger, but it's not a small one, and I was thrilled that I could close this book and immediately pick up the third and keep on reading.

Three quarters of this book was a tad on the 'hurry-up-and-get-to-the-point' side but the end quarter made me excited to read the last book in the series! Though I do wish there had been more magic-y stuff happening.

I thought there was a rather cliché love triangle and did not feel like Sophie and Archer really had any connection. But what evs. Apparently it was enough to think they loved each other. I think the romance was disappointing, the triangle was pushed and not given a fair chance, and I wasn't really surprised by anything that happened.

I still need to find out what happens next though!

[Kelsenator]

Originally posted on my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf

I loved the first book of this series, and this continuation does not disappoint.

Sophie goes to London, where her dad is head of the Council of Prodigium, to go through the process of removing her powers. She fears that if she doesn’t do this, someone she cares about will get hurt by her powers if she loses control, even though the removal could very well kill her.

When she does get there, things start to go bad, not only has something happened to the original headquarters of the Council, but there seems to be something going on with the battle between the Eye and themselves.

During the book, as they try to solve what’s happening, Sophie starts to learn to control her powers with the help of her dad, but whether she decides to go through with removing her powers or not, you will have to read the book yourself.

It left me with a cliff-hanger, wishing I had the next book now! If you read the first book, definitely get this one. If not, go pick both of them up. There’s just something about it that captures you and makes you continue reading.

Also the sarcastic comments throughout amused me!

[inlibrisveritas]

I think I enjoyed this one more then the first one. It took me a few chapters to get caught up in it again but once I did there was no stopping me. Of course the cliff-hanger at the end is going to irritate me till the next one comes out, but I can honestly say I am looking forward to that one. This one definitely had a turn of events that I didn't even think of until about the 70% point and even then I didn't guess all of it. Definitely worth reading if you've read the first one and enjoyed it.

[Amber]

Loved this! Even more than Hex Hall.

Review to come!