Demonglass (Hex Hall #2) by Rachel Hawkins

Demonglass (Hex Hall #2) by Rachel Hawkins

Goodreads 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?

This book was infinitely more interesting than Hex Hall. Where I found Sophie in Hex Hall to be a mishmash of tropes, it seems that Hawkins finally found her stride in how she wanted to write Sophie, which made her a stronger character in this. I also think that because Sophie was better written this time, it helped this one not fall into the "Second Book of a Series" trap where the second book sucks. I actually liked this one more than the first because the plot kept moving even though the world expanded more. There was so much interesting action and drama that I couldn't help but get swept up in the story.

I am glad we got to see more of Jenna and that she became her own person. She got to become more of a real character since she could interact with other vampires and learn about that side of her life.

I wasn't a huge fan of the love triangle that is happening here, but I do like Cal. He seems a little stunted as a character -- serving only to be the other piece of the love triangle rather than being fleshed out. And it is so obvious that Sophie is never going to choose him over Archer. Archer is back in this one too even though he is a part of the Eye, the evil gang that is trying to kill Sophie, no big deal. I think I like their romance because it wasn't insta-love ... ish. I mean they only had one kiss and Sophie is like "I will die because he is evil and therefore I cannot be with him" but they had a bit of a build, Archer had another girlfriend and Sophie is engaged to Cal, so not insta-love...ish. I do quite like Archer though. I think he has a good personality and is probably the best choice for Sophie to be with/love.

The plot progressed in a timely manner and, as it was a sequel, there was no need for introductions of characters and the world itself, just more development; that made the book much better than it's predecessor. The cliffhanger at the end left me speechless and I am so so ready to read the ending!

Overall: 4/5 stars. I am interested to see what the conclusion will be.