"i was trying to be nice." "well, don't. i like my friends mean and hateful."
ME, TO KENDRA, YESTERDAY AFTERNOON: Hex Hall: I'll get to it! At some point, WE'LL SEE.
ME, TO KENDRA, TONIGHT: GOD DAMN IT KENDRA IS THAT SERIOUSLY WHERE DEMONGLASS ENDS
There are SORT OF spoilers for Hex Hall and Demonglass under the cut, but not really, because I made an effort to avoid mentioning anything that would ruin anything for you since by and large my intention here is to CONVINCE YOU TO READ THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE GREAT AND I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND MY CURRENT STATE OF MIND. I make no promises about spoilers in the comments, though, WATCH YOUR STEP.
OKAY FIRST THINGS FIRST: IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO IS INTO QUALITY MAKEOUTS, THEN THIS SHIT IS RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY. What the makeouts lack in frequency they make[out] up for in SHEER EXCELLENCE, my oh my.
Anyway, other things: Hex Hall didn't actually blow my mind, I liked it a lot but at the end of it I was just like THAT WAS COOL, SIX OR SEVEN OUT OF TEN, GOING TO BE KIND OF AWKWARD WHEN I CAN'T MATCH KENDRA'S ENTHUSIASM BUT OH WELL.
And then I read Demonglass and it consumed me and I NEEDED TO TALK ABOUT IT IN SHORT, POORLY-CONSTRUCTED ALL-CAPS SENTENCES OF KEYSMASHING INCOMPREHENSION, AND KENDRA WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND BECAUSE SHE IS FUCKING TERRIBLE.
SOPHIE MERCER = NOT ONLY GREAT AND SOMEONE I WOULD LIKE TO HANG OUT WITH, BUT POSSIBLY THE LEAST FRUSTRATING PROTAGONIST EVER TO NAVIGATE MULTIPLE SUPERNATURAL MYSTERIES AS WELL AS MULTIPLE COMPLICATED FRIENDSHIPS AND RELATIONSHIPS. You know how a lot of the time, even with books you love, there are things that are BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS to you that for whatever reason the characters just cannot figure out? And even though the book is great, there are still points where you actually want to shout "FOR FUCK'S SAKE, CHARACTER, HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT THE BUTLER DID IT?????" or "IT LITERALLY COULD NOT BE MORE OBVIOUS THAT THIS DUDE IS HEAD OVER HEELS FOR YOU" or "ALL OF YOUR PROBLEMS WOULD BE SOLVED IF YOU JUST TOLD SOMEONE ABOUT [XYZ THING CHARACTER IS KEEPING SECRET FOR XYZ STUPID REASON]" at everyone in it? That legit never happens here! Sophie doesn't always make the BEST choice, but you can always understand why she's doing things, and when things go wrong she's actually great about acknowledging what she should have done differently and incorporating that knowledge into future decisions. [There is, however, an unfortunate trend of people withholding information from Sophie, but what are you gonna do. Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.]
I generally shy away from supernatural YA because I don't really have the patience for what can be some pretty clumsy and contrived world-building, but in this case it was PRETTY OKAY. I think Hawkins overreached when she included as many species as she did, because there is literally nothing of importance involving shifters/werewolves/faeries, but maybe that changes in the third book who knows.
SPEAKING of the third book! It doesn't come out for another year, so I. AM. IN. AGONY. But more importantly, it's pretty clear that this was always intended to be a trilogy, and the way that the second book blends with the first one but also expands on it significantly is both impressive and VERY promising, it is pretty much the only thing alleviating my "WHAT IF BOOK 3 IS LIKE MOCKINGJAY ALL OVER AGAIN AND IT IS SO TERRIBLE AND WRONG THAT IT RETROACTIVELY RUINS THE FIRST TWO BOOKS FOR ME?????" fears. Actually, those fears are also alleviated by the fact that I only liked Hex Hall about half as much as I liked The Hunger Games but I like Demonglass a BILLION times more than I liked Catching Fire.
[ETA: According to Rachel Hawkins' twitter the third book is a) called Spell Bound and b) out March 13, WHICH I CAN TOTALLY DO, yiiiiikes I was worried it'd be at the end of 2012 BUT NINE MONTHS, THAT IS FINE.]
ANYWAY LIKE ANYTHING I HAVE SAID SO FAR IS EVEN REMOTELY INTERESTING, ON TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"SEE YA, MERCER." "SEE YA, CROSS." ARCHER AND SOPHIE ARCHER AND SOPHIE ARCHER AND SOPHIE!!!!!!!!!! I can't even, I really can't get into it, it is too much. I will say this: First I was like SOPHIE/ARCHER IS PRETTY GREAT, and then at the end of the first book/beginning of the second I was like IDK I AM PRETTY INTO CAL, HOW WILL I TELL KENDRA, and then Sophie/Archer came back WITH A VENGEANCE and I was just like SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH, PAST SARAH! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! SOPHIE/ARCHER IS EVERYTHING TO US NOW!
[Are you kind of cringing because SERIOUSLY ANOTHER FUCKING YA SERIES WITH A LOVE TRIANGLE? Because I get that but DON'T it is legit not a problem like not even a little. Least triangular triangle EVER don't even worry about it. It was more that Cal was around while Archer wasn't, and it SEEMED like there was going to be a triangle, but when it comes down to it there is NO CONFLICT WHATSOEVER. Least triangular triangle everrrrrrrr.]
UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH it is so hard for me to talk about how much I love them and all the reasons why I love them without giving away major plot points and/or just describing all their best scenes in capital letters but here are some things I love about them besides the fact that they are just straight up FANTASTIC and make my heart explode with joy and excitement every time they so much as mention each other: THEY ARE LEGIT GOOD FRIENDS AND THAT IS PRESENTED AS SOMETHING THAT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE, they have a surprisingly balanced and honest dynamic given the circumstances, they are kickass apart but ABSURDLY kickass together, there is NO BULLSHIT but there IS an abundance of delightful bickering [there is one part espesh where there could have been this stupid angsty bullshit but instead there is just SOPHIE KNOWING ARCHER INSIDE AND OUT], and MOST IMPORTANTLY [correction: SECOND most importantly after, you know, off-the-charts makeouts] their relationship is VERY nicely tied to the pace of the book - the stakes of the overall plot rise very quickly in the second book, and they're not the same people that they were in the beginning, and their dynamic changes and intensifies to accommodate that, and the end result of that is that I CANNOT GET THEM OUT OF MY HEAD AND I CAN'T STOP REREADING VARIOUS PASSAGES AND I WANT IT ALL FOREVER.
Also there are other characters and they are all great, which is nice, NOBODY IN THESE BOOKS IS THE WORST [Nick is a little bit the worst sometimes, but that is not a problem], but tbh I don't really give a fuck? It is not anything against them, it is just that my love for Sophie/Archer is so big that it blocks out the sun. Sophie and Jenna are actually VERY WONDERFUL BFFS with a solid friendship and believable conflicts where neither one of them is the bad guy, and LIKE I SAID Cal is great, and so is Elodie sometimes, and all the various grownups are really well done, particularly one grownup who is not in the first book but is all over the second book and could have been terrible but is actually GREAT but not TOO great, but really, seriously, they could all be terrible one-note characters who were nothing but plot devices and I wouldn't even care because YOU DON'T NEED TO CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE WHEN YOU ARE VISITING A UNIVERSE WHERE SOPHIE AND ARCHER BOTH EXIST.
FINAL TINY LITTLE NOTE: Each book has one sentence with a pretty clearly meme-based structure to it - does that even make sense? Like how Hyperbole and a Half did "CLEAN ALL THE THINGS" and now "[VERB] ALL THE THINGS" is a permanent part of my vocabulary, YOU KNOW - and it is somehow fun instead of the worst thing ever to happen? POINT!
REITERATION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS POINT:
SOPHIE/ARCHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL I NEED IN THIS WORLD OKAY.
THERE ARE A MILLION THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO QUOTE HERE BUT I WOULD RATHER LET YOU EXPERIENCE THE BEST PARTS FOR YOURSELF, SO I WILL GO WITH:
"BEG TO DIFFER, MERCER."
ME, TO KENDRA, TONIGHT: GOD DAMN IT KENDRA IS THAT SERIOUSLY WHERE DEMONGLASS ENDS
There are SORT OF spoilers for Hex Hall and Demonglass under the cut, but not really, because I made an effort to avoid mentioning anything that would ruin anything for you since by and large my intention here is to CONVINCE YOU TO READ THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE GREAT AND I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND MY CURRENT STATE OF MIND. I make no promises about spoilers in the comments, though, WATCH YOUR STEP.
OKAY FIRST THINGS FIRST: IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO IS INTO QUALITY MAKEOUTS, THEN THIS SHIT IS RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY. What the makeouts lack in frequency they make[out] up for in SHEER EXCELLENCE, my oh my.
Anyway, other things: Hex Hall didn't actually blow my mind, I liked it a lot but at the end of it I was just like THAT WAS COOL, SIX OR SEVEN OUT OF TEN, GOING TO BE KIND OF AWKWARD WHEN I CAN'T MATCH KENDRA'S ENTHUSIASM BUT OH WELL.
And then I read Demonglass and it consumed me and I NEEDED TO TALK ABOUT IT IN SHORT, POORLY-CONSTRUCTED ALL-CAPS SENTENCES OF KEYSMASHING INCOMPREHENSION, AND KENDRA WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND BECAUSE SHE IS FUCKING TERRIBLE.
SOPHIE MERCER = NOT ONLY GREAT AND SOMEONE I WOULD LIKE TO HANG OUT WITH, BUT POSSIBLY THE LEAST FRUSTRATING PROTAGONIST EVER TO NAVIGATE MULTIPLE SUPERNATURAL MYSTERIES AS WELL AS MULTIPLE COMPLICATED FRIENDSHIPS AND RELATIONSHIPS. You know how a lot of the time, even with books you love, there are things that are BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS to you that for whatever reason the characters just cannot figure out? And even though the book is great, there are still points where you actually want to shout "FOR FUCK'S SAKE, CHARACTER, HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT THE BUTLER DID IT?????" or "IT LITERALLY COULD NOT BE MORE OBVIOUS THAT THIS DUDE IS HEAD OVER HEELS FOR YOU" or "ALL OF YOUR PROBLEMS WOULD BE SOLVED IF YOU JUST TOLD SOMEONE ABOUT [XYZ THING CHARACTER IS KEEPING SECRET FOR XYZ STUPID REASON]" at everyone in it? That legit never happens here! Sophie doesn't always make the BEST choice, but you can always understand why she's doing things, and when things go wrong she's actually great about acknowledging what she should have done differently and incorporating that knowledge into future decisions. [There is, however, an unfortunate trend of people withholding information from Sophie, but what are you gonna do. Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.]
I generally shy away from supernatural YA because I don't really have the patience for what can be some pretty clumsy and contrived world-building, but in this case it was PRETTY OKAY. I think Hawkins overreached when she included as many species as she did, because there is literally nothing of importance involving shifters/werewolves/faeries, but maybe that changes in the third book who knows.
SPEAKING of the third book! It doesn't come out for another year, so I. AM. IN. AGONY. But more importantly, it's pretty clear that this was always intended to be a trilogy, and the way that the second book blends with the first one but also expands on it significantly is both impressive and VERY promising, it is pretty much the only thing alleviating my "WHAT IF BOOK 3 IS LIKE MOCKINGJAY ALL OVER AGAIN AND IT IS SO TERRIBLE AND WRONG THAT IT RETROACTIVELY RUINS THE FIRST TWO BOOKS FOR ME?????" fears. Actually, those fears are also alleviated by the fact that I only liked Hex Hall about half as much as I liked The Hunger Games but I like Demonglass a BILLION times more than I liked Catching Fire.
[ETA: According to Rachel Hawkins' twitter the third book is a) called Spell Bound and b) out March 13, WHICH I CAN TOTALLY DO, yiiiiikes I was worried it'd be at the end of 2012 BUT NINE MONTHS, THAT IS FINE.]
ANYWAY LIKE ANYTHING I HAVE SAID SO FAR IS EVEN REMOTELY INTERESTING, ON TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"SEE YA, MERCER." "SEE YA, CROSS." ARCHER AND SOPHIE ARCHER AND SOPHIE ARCHER AND SOPHIE!!!!!!!!!! I can't even, I really can't get into it, it is too much. I will say this: First I was like SOPHIE/ARCHER IS PRETTY GREAT, and then at the end of the first book/beginning of the second I was like IDK I AM PRETTY INTO CAL, HOW WILL I TELL KENDRA, and then Sophie/Archer came back WITH A VENGEANCE and I was just like SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH, PAST SARAH! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! SOPHIE/ARCHER IS EVERYTHING TO US NOW!
[Are you kind of cringing because SERIOUSLY ANOTHER FUCKING YA SERIES WITH A LOVE TRIANGLE? Because I get that but DON'T it is legit not a problem like not even a little. Least triangular triangle EVER don't even worry about it. It was more that Cal was around while Archer wasn't, and it SEEMED like there was going to be a triangle, but when it comes down to it there is NO CONFLICT WHATSOEVER. Least triangular triangle everrrrrrrr.]
UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH it is so hard for me to talk about how much I love them and all the reasons why I love them without giving away major plot points and/or just describing all their best scenes in capital letters but here are some things I love about them besides the fact that they are just straight up FANTASTIC and make my heart explode with joy and excitement every time they so much as mention each other: THEY ARE LEGIT GOOD FRIENDS AND THAT IS PRESENTED AS SOMETHING THAT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE, they have a surprisingly balanced and honest dynamic given the circumstances, they are kickass apart but ABSURDLY kickass together, there is NO BULLSHIT but there IS an abundance of delightful bickering [there is one part espesh where there could have been this stupid angsty bullshit but instead there is just SOPHIE KNOWING ARCHER INSIDE AND OUT], and MOST IMPORTANTLY [correction: SECOND most importantly after, you know, off-the-charts makeouts] their relationship is VERY nicely tied to the pace of the book - the stakes of the overall plot rise very quickly in the second book, and they're not the same people that they were in the beginning, and their dynamic changes and intensifies to accommodate that, and the end result of that is that I CANNOT GET THEM OUT OF MY HEAD AND I CAN'T STOP REREADING VARIOUS PASSAGES AND I WANT IT ALL FOREVER.
Also there are other characters and they are all great, which is nice, NOBODY IN THESE BOOKS IS THE WORST [Nick is a little bit the worst sometimes, but that is not a problem], but tbh I don't really give a fuck? It is not anything against them, it is just that my love for Sophie/Archer is so big that it blocks out the sun. Sophie and Jenna are actually VERY WONDERFUL BFFS with a solid friendship and believable conflicts where neither one of them is the bad guy, and LIKE I SAID Cal is great, and so is Elodie sometimes, and all the various grownups are really well done, particularly one grownup who is not in the first book but is all over the second book and could have been terrible but is actually GREAT but not TOO great, but really, seriously, they could all be terrible one-note characters who were nothing but plot devices and I wouldn't even care because YOU DON'T NEED TO CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE WHEN YOU ARE VISITING A UNIVERSE WHERE SOPHIE AND ARCHER BOTH EXIST.
FINAL TINY LITTLE NOTE: Each book has one sentence with a pretty clearly meme-based structure to it - does that even make sense? Like how Hyperbole and a Half did "CLEAN ALL THE THINGS" and now "[VERB] ALL THE THINGS" is a permanent part of my vocabulary, YOU KNOW - and it is somehow fun instead of the worst thing ever to happen? POINT!
REITERATION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS POINT:
SOPHIE/ARCHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL I NEED IN THIS WORLD OKAY.
THERE ARE A MILLION THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO QUOTE HERE BUT I WOULD RATHER LET YOU EXPERIENCE THE BEST PARTS FOR YOURSELF, SO I WILL GO WITH:
"BEG TO DIFFER, MERCER."