Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle #1)

This book is really fun and witty; two things that I like in my reading. I love the Southern setting you know, me being an Alabama girl myself. I found myself laughing, and admittedly rolling my eyes but I very much enjoyed the whole book. Except the love triangle. Maybe Im too old to be complaining about a YA book when its obvious target isnt my age group. And maybe teen girls love this type of thing. Can we please stop having these heroines choosing between two guys? This book could have done without that little hiccup, trust me.

Harper is the epitome of a Southern Belle. Shes smart, beautiful, elegant, outgoing, popular, loves all things pink and cute, and has the perfect boyfriend. So, its no surprise that she is about to be crowned Homecoming Queen. While she is in the ladies room preparing to gloss her perfect lips, chaos ensues. The school janitor locks himself in the bathroom with her. Okay I almost freaked out with Harper. I was thinking that he was about to rape the poor girl or something. Hes bleeding from a wound on his stomach and its pretty obvious hes about to die. As Harper tries to make a run for help, he stops her and starts mumbling about protecting someone and heres the kicker kisses her. I know, ewww right? Well, its not a kiss per se. Hes breathing something seriously cold into her mouth. In comes the history teacher. He obviously is the person who did this to Mr. Hall. After a few words exchanged between the two, Harper gets all superheroish on him, and hes dead. The only thing left to do is find out what is happening to her. Of course, shes like any other sane person, she thinks that its all a dream and that when she gets to school on Monday, all will be well. Wrong.

The other side of this coin is David Stark, Harpers foe since grade school. Of course hes the person shes to protect. Paladins, prophecies, oracles seems cool to me. But, there wasnt much going down here to make it be really kick-butt. The whole Southern Belle turned Paladin thing is very distinct. I loved the humor, the gowns, the banter between Harper and David. Its a fun read that you can easily get into on a rainy or snowy day. I loved the fact that Harper, being this poised young lady, can curse like a sailor. I think that was key here, because had she been so perfect, it may not have worked for me.

I kind of like Harpers boyfriend Ryan. He was a true Southern gentleman when warranted. Of course, hes also a teen boy and he gets jealous like the rest of them when another guy is pissing on whats his. Harper is an overachiever. So, you can only imagine how this has affected her. But, she is a strong young lady and makes do with what she has. Super powers aside, she really is a great character. I love all that she stands for, and this is girl power at its finest. I think this book will definitely appeal to the younger crowd because of the school setting. Theres magic, a little mayhem, frilly dresses, high school drama, mythology, and the perfect amount of humor to make this book, what I call, brain candy. Very fun. Recommended.

So I broke my rule for starting Rachel Hawkins Rebel Belle trilogy, I said I would binge the trilogy when the last book came out and then I heard she would be coming to St. Louis this month and that plan went out the window! Rebel Belle is the start of a new trilogy thats just as fun and action packed as her Hex Hall series! Harper is kind of like Sophie in some ways and I think that was part of the fun with this new series.

Unlike the Hex Hall series this ones not so paranormal like. Sure, we get introduced to Oracles and Paladins, but Im getting ahead of myself there! Harper is your typical Miss Popular kind of girl. She gets good grades, she does a lot of extracurricular activities, she has a perfect boyfriend and a circle of great friends. She has it all! Then on the night of homecoming, she witnesses a murder between the janitor and one of her teachers. When the dying janitor kisses her, something happens and Harper suddenly has amazing abilities.

Her life changes completely after that moment. While waiting around for her Giles to turn up and start explaining things to her, she learns that despite all her amazing abilities, she cant hurt the one who antagonizes her most, David. David is her arch-rival in all things. Theyve been at it since they were kids and when theres moment when she really wants to slap him across the face, she finds she cant.

Soon her Giles makes an appearance, and its the last person she expected it to be, Davids Aunt Saylor. A somewhat stubborn old woman who was never really on Harpers nice list. But when Saylor explains whats going on, Harper realizes she has to protect David at all costs, even putting her life on the line. Shes his protector among other things.

A lot of the book dealt with Harper trying to learn about her new abilities and harnessing them. Shes constantly trying to juggle her Paladin duties with school, all her extracurricular activities, her friends, boyfriend, and familyit becomes a little too much for her. She starts to withdraw from her boyfriend, and you can pretty much see where this is going. But despite that I really liked the hate to feelings relationship Harper and David had. It was enjoyable. Yet I feel like we never really learned what ignite the animosity between them. They just pretty much hated each other since day one. And that lack of moment in history bugged me. I wanted to see a reason for the hate, not just seeing the hate itself. But really, its such a tiny thing it hardly matters in the grand scheme of things.

The pacing to this one was perhaps a little slow, but maybe because its a book one thing. Theres a lot to know about what Harper is now and all the history behind that as well. And I liked how we got just enough details about all that history and not have it bombard us with facts and dates and all that kind of stuff. Its a simple history lesson in a way. The character development through this pacing was nice as well. Though again, I am missing that moment. Harper and David still dont really get along all that well, but once things were explained and they are forced to be together due to forces beyond their control, a friendship is formed, of sorts. But again, there didnt seem to be that moment, or click when they started looking at one another in a different way. It was just sort of seamlessly happening before our eyes. Sure a little thing or two might have happened, but I felt like there shouldve been more depth to this budding relationship. But this could totally be because I read too much and have been spoiled by other reads! 😉

The end to this one was quite shocking! A lot happened and then were left with an ending that kind of leaves you wondering what will happen next. Not cliffhanger territory exactly, but more the calm before another storm! Thankfully I have book 2 at the ready so theres no waiting involved! But what I say after finishing that one will be something totally different!

Rachel Hawkins brings us a brand new story thats as exciting and lovable as her previous one, but in a less magical way. Theres still the usual snark which I was especially glad to see again! If you havent read Rachels books yet, I highly recommend them! They are fun, quirky reads that are sure to bring a smile to your face!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

When a girl has superpowers and suddenly has to protect a boy (what?), we call it Rebel Belle.

I bought the book fully expecting a nice chick-lit book a la gossip girl. But I was really wrong – again I could have read the back of the book or the goodreads summary but hey, Ill never ever learn.

As someone who despises most supernatural stories, this book started off as a challenge for me. Harper Price is the main character – a Southern beauty queen-ish girl who is suddenly given the responsibility to protect David Stark. Shes his Paladin, an ancient protector who has supernatural powers.

Obviously, Harper cant stand David – though for unexplainable reasons, they ALWAYS interact with each other. Harper is worried that this new job will ruin her relationship with her flat-charactered boyfriend Ryan and her friendship with her best friend. Instead of trusting people, and showing them that she has superpowers, she decides to hide everything from everyone (because thats always a good idea?).

Rachel Hawkins, the author, knows how to write, which makes this book a pleasant read. Its difficult enough to keep a reader interested while at the same time keeping a good, and quick, flow in the story. This is a skill – one that Rachel has managed to master. Action scenes are followed by conversations and there is enough diversity in this book to please any YA reader.

Harper is not an unpleasant main character, but she didnt really do much for me. She makes a journey from average high school pretty girl to kickass protector of the most important person on earth. I would expect some major personality changes to accompany this transformation, but there really werent. She has some doubts about accepting her role, but she knows that David will die if she doesnt help him, so its not a real surprise that she casts those doubts aside pretty soon.

David Stark is the clich quiet guy who turns out to be pretty damn charming. Does he really change? No. But we do get to see more and more from him as the book progresses.

The real disappointment in this story comes from Ryan and his role in the story. Hes described as the perfect boyfriend – handsome, sporty, popular Everything a teenage girl dreams of. BUT when hes in scenes in the book, he just falls completely flat for me. He was boring, uninteresting and really, does he have nothing to say about anything at all? Ryan was also doomed from the being to end up in a love triangle with his complete opposite David.

Is that love triangle necessary? Not really, but teenage girls these days apparently love to read about a girl who has two guys drooling away after her (I dont know why there are so many of these books anyway). Is the flat boyfriend and love story a reason to not read this book? No. There is enough action to please an anti-romance reader and the Paladin thing is original enough to keep a reader interested.

Overall, Rebel Belle is a good YA read and one of the more original ones Ive read so far. It would have been totally perfect if some characters were less flat and just more like teenagers.

I didn’t know if I should give this a 3 or 4, but I didn’t want to be harsh for my own stupid preference. The sides were a little marred which I don’t like as I’m very particular about my books. I kinda wish I got the paperback instead but the condition of the book is good and the price point was great too

Brilliantly witty and funny book! The harpers is one of the coolest and brilliantly kick-ass characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Rebel belle is the epic first book of a new trilogy and I literally can’t wait to get my hands on the next one but *sigh* that’s going to be a LONG wait from now.

One of my favourite things beside Harpers brilliance, is the chemistry and sparks between herself and David. I was literally melting from either the sexual tension or cuteness every time I read them. The ending I would also like to add was a stroke of brilliance and I couldn’t stop laughing at the sheer irony of the whole situation, which also is why I’m desperate for the second book!!

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