Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

When Sophie Mercer was sent to monster school she had no idea what she would get into. She never thought she'd be best friends with a vampire who may or may not be killing off the school's mean girls, be haunted by a ghost who is actually her dead grandmother, or fall in love with the "pretty" boy of the school. But she did. Then a bomb was dropped on Sophie. She's a demon. And then she drops a bomb on everybody else. She wants to go through the Removal where she can get all her powers and demoness removed but the cost could be her life.

Now I'm sure you're wondering what happened with all of that. Well 6 months later she's still at Hex Hall after declaring she wanted to go through the removal. Her mom is there with Cal which sounds strange writing it now but didn't sound strange reading it so there must have been some sort of arrangement where he moved.... whatever. Her father comes to get her and she spends the summer at Thorne Abbey with...... Jenna and Cal! Yes, my friends Jenna is there. And Cal you know is just there to add to the whole love triangle thing. Hawkins sends you another of one those *gasp* moments with those two.

There are another two people thrown into the mix and they happen to be demons. "Wait. What?" you ask. "Demons are being raised?" *knowing smile*. Bwahahaha!!! Well Nick and Daisy are a strange bunch. Daisy is quiet until it's just them. The adults are just way too happy in Thorne Abbey. Creepily so. Nick is a bit wilder and you know it just by looking at him. And then of course there is the thing about Archer being in London....

So much better than the first! The other one wasn't bad at all but it even got better! The second book usually is eh compared to the first or an utter disappointed making you cry out and rant maniacally how horrible the author is and why? Why would they do this to you!? But Demonglass exceeded my expectations. My mind was blown more than once. The secrecy underneath... and then the Cal and Archer situation. I still can't decide! So many exclamation points....

Sophie again was her same sarcastic self which I am very happy about. She was what made me love Hex Hall from the beginning so I'm happy she didn't change much. She kind of grew up from the last book. She has more confidence. As you can tell from the difference in the two lovely book covers. The end is so evil! Like that's it and then I sob from wanting more. Nevertheless it was a great ending that has kept my mind occupied with different scenarios and hopefully there won't be any betrayals but I have a bad feeling that there will be which will make me rant and curse Hawkins! You know. The old standby. So you know I'm expecting Spell bound to be just as great if not better than Demonglass.

Rating: 5 stars

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

I have never read a pirate book...you're getting excited now aren't you? Yes, my friends I said a pirate book. And not just any pirate book (I don't think you can ever say that with a book like this but whatever) a pirate book with time travel.

Jill is a Fencer. Once she started she never looked back but now her resent loss is starting to get to her. Half a second. That's all it took. And she knows she shouldn't be moping especially while she's on vacation in the Caribbean but she can't stop thinking about it. She finally gives into her mother's persistence and joins her and the rest of her family on the beach. She takes a walk and seems to walk endlessly to a place that just illuminates peace and quiet. She just wants to leave. She doesn't want the pressure. And then that's when she feels something at her feet. It doesn't fell like a shell.... She leans down and picks up a rust covered sword. Not just any sword. A rapier. What her fencing originated out of. It must have been there for hundreds of years! She could give it to a museum... It's only part of a rapier but she still pockets it and before she knows it she's not on vacation. She is not with her family. There are a bunch of men who surround her. Big, burly men with gold piercings and menacing weapons. She's on a pirate ship. It's the rapier. She knows it. It's the key to getting her out of there but she doesn't know how. Maybe the Captain's the connection to it can lead her back home. Meanwhile she befriends another pirate her age with that has a sly grin on his face all the time. As well as discover adventure on the high seas and that maybe her life isn't as bad as she thought it was.

Well first of all it's a pirate book so I liked it instantly. I mean when do you get to read about pirates anymore? It completely entrapped me into their world and I loved every minute of it. Jill was a bit annoying sometimes. It was brief little moments. The whole pressure situation and seeing something that gives her a revelation that she could have it worse seemed kind of fake. Well... unnatural the way it was written. I did like her otherwise. She's got guts. I have a hard time believing the captain was so nice and she was a girl. I know there has been girl pirates and I should think this is all a good thing but it was still weird to me. I just didn't like how she was represented. It was a very interesting and fun book to read. I would have never thought I'd be reading a book about pirates or time travel. It was something completely new so I liked it for that. I'd like to read one now that had less back story. I just want pure adventure.

                                    Rating: 3 Stars