Book Review: Rebel Belle

Title: Rebel Belle

Series: Rebel Belle

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

Source: Purchased from Half Price Books

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

My Review

When first reading the synopsis for this book, I thought that it would be an interesting  and unique book that I wouldn't want to put down. A debutant with bad ass superpowers? It seemed like a thrilling tale and the perfect combination of girly and fierceness for me. I couldn't have been more wrong. I was not impressed, and I found myself making excuses and doing other things just so I could get a break from reading this book.

I had a lot of questions while reading this book. If you haven't read it, look away from the next paragraph because there may be some spoilers. Sorry.

First of all, Harper finds herself trapped in the bathroom while a murder is going on. Seems legit, right? Then, she is forced to murder her teacher. Okay... we're getting a bit weirder. 

There are quite a few plot holes and inconsistencies in this book. After Harper kills Dr. Dupont, it is mentioned that there is a substitute teacher once. Wouldn't you think the school would address the disappearance/murders of one of their teachers? That kind of bothered me. It is an important hole in the plot that I think should have at least been mentioned again. Also, it is mentioned that Harper's sister is dead. Hawkins mentions it a lot, but never really explains her death or how it happened. I'm guessing that is supposed to be more important than lead on? I hope Hawkins addresses this in the next book because it is mentioned so many times.
 
Now for the characters of the book. Harper really, really annoyed me. I can't even begin to list the many things that bothered me about her. It would probably take all day, so let's just assume that I dislike pretty much everything about Harper Price after reading the book and getting to know her. Now for Harper's boyfriend, Ryan. He seems pretty cool. By the time I finished this book, I felt like I really didn't know anything about him. I guess we'll learn more about him in the next book. David is actually one of the only characters I liked in this book. There are so many levels to his character, and I'm sure he will be even more interesting in the next book. Harper's great aunts are interesting ladies. I enjoyed reading about them, and I think I would much rather have read an entire book about them, especially the twins.

I don't know how to take this book. I don't live in the South, but it seemed like there were a lot of stereotypes mentioned. I don't know how Southern ladies would feel about how Hawkins writes about them.

Honestly, I don't know if I want to continue with this series. I feel like I lost brain cells while reading this book. I should have known I wouldn't have liked it, especially because there was no advance praise anywhere on the book, but I wanted to give it a chance.

Reviewer's Note: The little ribbons on the first page of every chapter are adorable. But now I'm off to figure out what this hummingbird cake is...