Hexbound by Chloe Neill

At St. Sophia’s School for Girls, dealing with the Brat Pack is the least of Lily Parker’s worries. And that’s actually saying something, because queen bee Veronica has practically made it her mission in life to make Lily’s life miserable.  But Lily’s a little too busy fighting Reapers and figuring out how to control her firespell to be bothered by such little things. Things take a turn for the more sinister when Lily and her friends are attacked by strange creatures of the likes they’ve never seen before. Where did these enormous rat-like beasts come from, and more importantly, how can the Adepts destroy them before things get too out of hand?

Hexbound is the very exciting sequel to Firespell, and Neill does not disappoint on any accounts. I was already thrilled with the secret magical world in Chicago that Neill introduces readers to in Firespell, so I was hoping for some new action as well as character development in Hexbound. Neill delivers both. The war between the Adepts and the Reapers is complicated by the appearance of the strange monsters, and interaction with different paranormal species brings the paranormal politics to a new and thrilling level. What I enjoyed most of all, though, was character growth. Lily and Scout in particular have to learn how to deal with new physical and emotional challenges. The whole story was very fun and entertaining to read, but I was particularly intrigued by bad boy Sebastian. I certainly hope he’ll play a larger role in the next installment in the Dark Elite series.

Hexbound will be enjoyed by fans of its prequel Firespell, as well as by those who also liked Revealers by Amanda Marrone and Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from publisher Penguin