Review: 5/5 for Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Hardcover, 359 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by Hyperion Books CH
Source: eBook, purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon : B&N : Goodreads

From Goodreads:

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and 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 destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them 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?

Sophie's journey continues as she comes into her own, but not as a witch and instead a demon. The book centers around her trials and tribulations during this phase of her life. I see the similarities between an actual teen learning to grow and mature like I did in Hex Hall. However, it was taken to another, and much higher, level this time around. Not only does Sophie go through this process, I guess I could call it "professional growth" in a way, but also some that tax her personal growth limits. In the first book she has typical issues of a teen. In this one, however, Hawkins adds in supernatural elements and individuals to really give Sophie a ride.

Sophie deals with some of the same issues with her powers as in the first book, but everything seems to just be..different with her. Her father tries to explain the many reasons why she shouldn't go through the Removal and wants her to understand herself better. Unfortunately, it takes Sophie going through some harrowing events to understand just this. She learns of other demons that ultimately become her friends and this does help her father's case to a point. However, it is events with Archer that basically slaps Sophie back to reality and out of the tunnel vision. All of these incidents fly back to back of each other and leads the reader deeper and deeper into the story and book. There is definitely no lack of action in this one! There are the great "run-for-your-life" and "ok-I-have-to-stop-and-think-about-that-twist" events galore, which makes me very happy. About that ending though... Ha. Yeah. It got me and did a really good job of it. *evil grin* I kept clicking on my Nook to go to the next page...and it wouldn't turn. I honestly thought it had locked up. Then I realized that it was actually the last page of the book! This is the true definition of a cliffhanger. It felt like I had just had the ground pulled out from under me. It was magnificent!

Sophie grows a lot during this short amount of time. I could almost literally see her mature after some of these things happen to her. She comes into her own and I can accept her now as the "leader of the pack" that she was born to be. Before now, I thought she was still very "young" mind-wise, but she becomes worldly for her age. Our dear Jenna shines more in this book and I am so tickled to see more of her. She is a great and lovable character and truly throws her own spin on things in both her and Sophie's life. And Archer, as hot as ever. I won't give too much away, but big decisions come into play with both him and Sophie and it can affect pretty much everything in their lives.