**Please be aware that the spoilers in this review are real, so don't click on them unless you've read the book. There are mild spoilers in the visible text, but they're not anything that you haven't already guessed if you're already a fan of the series. And since three people have done this already, please DO NOT discuss spoilers in this book without spoiler-tagging your comments since you will absolutely ruin the book for people who haven't read the book yet. If you don't know how to do this, please learn before commenting.**

I absolutely LOVED the first two Hex Hall novels. There are few authors whose books I pounce on at midnight the day of release and stay up all night reading, so that should give you an idea of how much I love Sophie, Jenna, Archer, and Cal.

The relationship between Sophie and Jenna is still fantastic, and that was probably my favorite part of this book. Their worry for each other, their banter, etc, are all familiar and funny and a welcome interlude whenever they're together. There is also a plot line involving (view spoiler)[demon kids Nick and Daisy that pulled at my heartstrings a bit. (hide spoiler)]

I'm sorry to say that this turned out to be my least favorite book in the series, however. The action zips back and forth between a lot of locations and the various overlapping storylines felt rather jumbled, which is problematic even if you've already guessed many of the big secrets back when you were reading Demonglass. I had a hard time staying engaged in the story, especially since there were moments that seemed to lend themselves to a bigger emotional punch (view spoiler)[such as the revelation that her mom is a Brannick, the early interactions with Cal, seeing her father again, Archer being tortured, etc (hide spoiler)] than were portrayed. I also got a little tired of Elodie popping up again and again (view spoiler)[and possessing Sophie's body (hide spoiler)] and the way Sophie's magic came and went at pretty convenient moments.

My two biggest issues with the book, however, were:

1. (view spoiler)[Sophie kissing Cal very soon after the book begins, before she even knows if something's happened to Archer. I'm not satisfied with the amount of guilt she felt after Archer pops up again, and in fact, she never even tells him about that particular kiss. Then Elodie later uses Sophie's body to kiss Cal again to torture Archer! Both scenarios just seemed very convoluted and forced to me, and they felt very different from the sunny nature of the previous books. (hide spoiler)]

2. DO NOT CLICK THIS if you haven't read the book. Seriously. Don't do it. (view spoiler)[Cal's death. And the precious little amount of time spent mourning him. Please give me a hug. :( (hide spoiler)] Not only did that make me extremely sad, but it felt so unnecessary.

Many of the elements I enjoyed so much about the previous books just felt different here. It's definitely still a funny book, but there's so much going on that the humor doesn't flow quite as smoothly. The parental relationships, always one of the stronger parts of the Hex Hall and Demonglass, were largely absent here as well. And most of all, there's very little time spent with Archer or Cal. What's there relies a tremendous amount on your past knowledge of Sophie's intimacy with them, and there aren't nearly enough meaningful moments between them for my taste. (view spoiler)[Okay, and not nearly enough make out scenes, either! (hide spoiler)] Don't get me wrong, there are some, but they didn't seem as urgent and charged as the ones in the previous books.

Maybe it's just me? I'm really sad to feel this way about the ending of a series I love so much. I'm very curious to see what my fellow Sophie fans think of this one, though. I liked this book overall, but the surprises that this book offered were just not the kind that I really enjoyed.