Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle, #1) in FINDING AUDREY READ-ALONG

Apr 05, 2014 Liz rated it really liked it

FULL REVIEW + VIDEO HERE

A young adult book set in the south about a girl who gains power of a Paladin (read: kick ass, Buffy-esque awesomeness)?! COUNT ME IN.

The southern-ness in this book is top notch. I felt like it was in the book without punching me in the face. Like when Harper says she feels like she’s about to go into a diabetic coma, but reaches for another glass of sweet tea anyway. The struggle is real, y’all. The struggle is real. And although I’ve never had grapes with mayo as a snac ...more

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Apr 10, 2014 UnlocktheMagic rated it really liked it

Review comng soon.....

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Jun 04, 2014 Emma Holtrust rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2014

**SPOILER FREE**

When there is a book about a boy that kicks ass and has super powers, we just call them comic books or science fiction with a nice vague title stuck on it.
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, I’ll never ever learn.
 As someone who despises most super **SPOILER FREE**

When there is a book about a boy that kicks ass and has super powers, we just call them comic books or science fiction with a nice vague title stuck on it.
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, I’ll 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. She’s his Paladin, an ancient protector who has supernatural powers.
 Obviously, Harper can’t 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 that’s always a good idea?).

Rachel Hawkins, the author, knows how to write, which makes this book a pleasant read. It’s 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 didn’t 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 weren’t. She has some doubts about accepting her role, but she knows that David will die if she doesn’t help him, so it’s not a real surprise that she casts those doubts aside pretty soon.

David Stark is the cliché 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. He’s described as the perfect boyfriend - handsome, sporty, popular… Everything a teenage girl dreams of. BUT when he’s 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 don’t 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 I’ve read so far. It would have been totally perfect if some characters were less flat and just more… like teenagers. ...more

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Apr 03, 2014 Fatima rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fave

Definitely one of my favourites of 2014. The MCs are hilarious, the plot is action-packed, and the twists made me gasp.
Characters

Harper Jane “Pres” Price is probably one of the funniest characters I’ve ever read. I loved her from page one. Well actually, I think I especially loved her when she stabbed her History teacher in the throat with her high heel. How badass is that? Her action, romance, dialogue and thoughts kept me entertained.
Yeah, I wanted to slap her ahead a couple pages; like that ...more

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Feb 08, 2015 Jessica (BookRockGoddess) Bolton rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-on-cd, 100-in-2015

Extremely, fun! This book was just a really entertaining read. I really like how the author took this very proper young lady and turned her into a total bad ass. I am looking forward to seeing what is instore for the characters in the next installment.

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Jun 13, 2014 J. Chen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Eeh... The end of this book is a great big disappointment. It starts off SO funny, then moves on to KICK ASS...and then, very quickly fizzles out. Also, it's weird that Harper moved on from a 2 year relationship to a new one in a matter of 10 minutes. Adding Ryan to the mix makes the story extremely forced and awkward. Meh...

Also, I wonder if the Ephors really still exists. What if Blythe, our insane young mage, got sick of training and decided to kill off the Ephors? What if she's totally rogu ...more

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