Rebel Belle

This review originally appeared on herestohappyendings.com. Rebel Belle is one of those books that have been on my "to read" list for a really long time, and no matter how many times I had planned to pick up a copy and read it, something always came up and I never got around to it. Now that I've read it, however, I'm kind of mad at myself for taking so long. Rebel Belle is a light, fun read, filled with fantasy elements, high school drama, and a sweet romance that makes you weak in the knees. There aren't really any deep elements here - Rebel Belle doesn't add any difficult story lines - rather, it stays on track with being a very fluffy read. I see a lot of people were a little put off because of that, but honestly, I think that's what was so amazingly charming about the book - it stayed true to itself and was just downright fun. Since this is what I was actually expecting (and hoping for), I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. To be honest, it was an addicting read that I couldn't put down until I had finished it. Rebel Belle starts off at Harper Price's homecoming dance, where we meet her, her boyfriend Ryan, her best friend, Bee, and Bee's boyfriend, Brandon. The four of them are best friends, and this homecoming dance is where Harper (who pretty much excels at everything she does and is the head of a good number of school clubs and organizations) is a shoo-in for homecoming queen. However, things don't go as planned, when a simple trip to the bathroom to apply some lip gloss turns into an event that will change her life forever. When Harper discovers she has superpowers - powers such as super strength and accuracy - she also discovers what she is supposed to be doing with those powers. The event in the bathroom at homecoming have changed Harper into a Paladin - essentially a protector - and when she finds out who she is destined to protect, she's none too pleased. She's supposed to be protecting David Stark - her enemy since childhood. Harper and David have essentially been at each other's throats for years now - and they can't stand each other long enough to even be in the same room together for five minutes, let alone spend the rest of their lives bound together. But David is an Oracle, and since Harper is his new Paladin, the two of them are going to have to figure out how to get along once and for all. Rebel Belle is pretty predictable as far as the relationship aspect of the book goes - but it isn't something that will ruin the reading experience. I found myself spending the entire book just waiting for it, and I wasn't disappointed, either. It was definitely one of my favorite parts about the book (alongside the magic and the ass-kicking heroine). However, when it comes down to the whole fantasy/magic parts of the book - well, it gets a little crazy, and incredibly fun. Which brings me to the characters in the book: I loved them all. Harper was fantastic - she was definitely bad-ass - from the very first scene in the bathroom where she obtained her powers to the last part of the book, she knows how to take care of business, and I love that about her. She just does what she needs to do, and doesn't wait for someone to come to her rescue. Also, she knows she's a dramatic southern belle type (who has the annoying habit of having to be perfect at everything), so it just adds more fun to the story. Even the supporting characters, like Harper's best friend Bee, are interesting and well written. I love seeing supporting characters who actually have personality, instead of just being your "typical YA best friend" or "typical YA boyfriend" type. They all stood out, which really added a lot more to the novel. If you haven't read the series yet, it's a great time to pick up the first book and give it a go, since the final installment will be releasing soon! If you're in the mood for a light-hearted and fun read, let Rebel Belle be one that you add to your list! I'm so glad I finally bought this one, and I'm incredibly addicted to the series now.

You might not know this about me, but I’m actually not a huge girly girl. I don’t really like pink, I don’t wear makeup, I wouldn’t dream of casually wearing heels, and I think beauty pageants are just ridiculous. Instead, I usually rock jeans and a nerdy t-shirt, spend my time reading fantasy books or gaming with my guy friends, and I swear worse than my sixteen year old brother. So just looking at this cover had me a little hesitant, and when I read the summary, I was ready to chuck this book in the fire. But, through the sheer power of will and the overwhelming fear of being murdered by my reader friends if I didn’t finish this book, I started the first page. And didn’t put the book down once. Yeah, you heard me. I busted this book in a few hours, finishing at about one in the morning, very alarmed to see it was that late because I hadn’t even noticed the time passing. I liked this book. I liked this book with it’s pink cover and perky heroine and silly dresses and lighthearted magic stuff. It was actually kind of… cute. In Rebel Belle, we meet Harper, the sort of girl that I probably would have avoided in high school. She’s head of practically every club or leadership related thing in the school, she says cutesy little things instead of swear words, she spent over a thousand dollars on her Homecoming dress and she keeps her lips perfectly glossed at all times. Right off, I did not like Harper one bit. But as the pages flew by, she started to grow on me. Under that perfect, perky exterior, Harper had a tough, loyal, fun side to her that I adored. She ends up getting super Paladin powers from her janitor, and suddenly she can kick ass. Like, really kick ass. Like, she stabbed someone in the throat with her heel. Suddenly, girly shoes became a lot more interesting to me. She was fierce and strong and confident, and I love how self sufficient she was. This girl doesn’t need anyone, and I loved it. Harper actually had more layers than I expected, an unending arsenal of witty comebacks, and a whole lot of spunk. Then we meet David, the boy that Harper is supposed to protect with her new-found powers. Because he may or may not be very very special. The only problem is, they absolutely despise each other. I mean, they hate each other with a fiery passion. David is the hipster guy that wears corduroy pants and writes stories for the school newspaper, occasionally pointing out bad things about Harper, which is unacceptable. But when they are forced to work together, she realizes that David might not be so bad after all. I adored David. Let’s just say that it takes a special kind of guy to deal with Harper. And he is such a cutie, I almost couldn’t handle it. Did I mention that he likes Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings and probably a plethora of other adorable nerdy things? Cue the wistful sighing. Anyways, David has some secrets of his own, but most importantly, under those layers of v-necks and striped sweaters, he has a big heart of gold. One of the only problems I had with this book was the big fat love-triangle that was determined to drag itself out through the whole book. Harper of course, starts to deal with some questionable feelings about David, all while she is dating the most perfect boyfriend possible, Ryan. And Ryan is a good guy and a pretty awesome boyfriend, I’ll give him that. The things is, as far as love triangles go, this is probably the type that I find to be the most acceptable. Where the girl has a steady boyfriend then meets the new guy and starts to like him. That’s an okay thing to happen and a lot less annoying then two guys suddenly taking an interest in a girl and fighting to the death over her. No thanks. The problem in this book though was that it just went on and on. And I get that Harper has this weird thing with having to be the best and keeping things perfect, so possibly not liking her perfect boyfriend is scary and all, but she should have dropped him from like page one. Watching her run back and forth between the two of them got frustrating after like the first ten times it happened. As far as the plot goes, it was really cutesy and fun. Rachel Hawkins really has a way of making her books just an enjoyable, lighthearted read while still making you care about the characters and I love it. Since I adored the characters and their interactions, it made the book a million times better. The only problem was that not a whole lot really happens. The beginning took right off with Harper getting her powers and killing a guy, then finding out what all she could do and a few things including a car chase. I mean, it was a great start and it really draws you in. But then, things start to slow down. Now I obviously loved this book and raced through it, but once I was done, there was kind of that moment where I looked back and realized not a whole lot actually happened. Most of the book is just character interaction and trying to solve a few mysteries and a few bad guys trying to do bad stuff, but not a whole lot besides that. Also, the whole Paladin, while original, was a little lacking. I enjoyed it just because it was a new thing I’d never read about, but there just wasn’t really anything about it to make it unique or memorable. Basically, Harper being a Paladin just meant that she has super fighting skills now and a strong urge to protect David from harm. So while I did like the magic elements in this book, everything seemed kind of mashed together with no clear connection. We are given some back-story to the whole Paladin thing, but it wasn’t really a strong mythology and seemed a little discombobulated. But by the end of this book, it feels like there are still lots of things that Harper and David don’t know yet, so maybe we will get more explanations in the next book, and hopefully it can bring the mythology together a bit better. The thing about this book though is that despite the few things that I didn’t like, I still had a great time reading this book. I was giggling and cheering and covering my eyes at the embarrassing parts. I loved Harper and David and their friends and the little Southern town they live in and all the people in it. This book is definitely a cutesy book, but it still won me over purely because it is so cute and fun. Honestly, if you have any girly bone in your body, something about this book will probably appeal to you, as long as you can deal with the few technical issues.

La couverture du livre m'as tentée. L'histoire est bien écrite, même si le personnage principal manque de charme a mon gout. L'histoire est prenante, mais c'est un livre a ne lire qu'une fois selon moi. Le style est facile a comprendre pour une francophone comme moi.

Buchgestaltung Ich weiß immer noch nicht so recht, was ich von dem Cover halten soll. Zuerst mochte ich es gar nicht, aber live sieht es wirklich viel besser aus. Außerdem spielt das Motiv ein wenig mit dem Southern Belle VS. Kick-Ass Heldin und das mag ich. Der Titel ist gut gewählt und passt auch super zur Protagonistin. Meinung Rebel Belle ist kein Contemporary. Tjaa, überraschend, wenn man den Klappentext liest...NICHT. Ich weiß auch gar nicht, wieso ich eine Weile gedacht habe, dass es sich hierbei um ein anderes Genre handelt, aber vielleicht ist mir die derzeitige Welle an Liebesgeschichten zu Kopf gestiegen xD Der Roman ist alles, was ich mir von einer guten Fantasygeschichte erhofft habe und letzten Endes habe ich, trotz dem Suchen mit der Lupe, echt nichts gefunden, dass mich irgendwie gestört hat. Rachel Hawkins ist ja mit ihrer Hex Hall Trilogie besonders in Deutschland bekannt geworden. Rebel Belle legt aber, was ihr Talent als Autorin angeht mal so richtig eins oben drauf. Die Geschichte ist weniger vorhersehbar, besser geschrieben und alles andere als kitschig, wenn man schon den Vergleich zu Sophie & Co zieht. Damals mochte ich die gesamte Hex Hall Reihe super gerne, aber man kommt einfach nicht umher zu bemerkten, dass Rachel Hawkins um das dreifache besser geworden ist. Die Protagonistin Harper ist das, was man sich wohl unter dem perfektem Bild einer „Southern Belle“ vorstellt. In ihrer Kleinstadt hat sie einen guten Ruf, an ihrer Schule legt sie sich in allen Kursen und AGs ordentlich ins Zeug und nebenbei organisiert sie von Veranstaltungen, bis hin zu Teekränzchen echt alles. Dabei ist es nicht einmal ihre Mutter, die hinter dem Bild der perfekten Tochter her ist, sondern Harper selbst. In vielerlei Hinsicht war sie das typische Mädchen Mädchen, aber anderseits konnte sie auch ein richtiger Geek sein, wenn es um ihr eigenes Leben ging. Gerade diese quirlige Mischung machte Harper zu einer mega sympathischen Erzählerin. Mal ist sie schlagfertig, dann steht sie auf dem Schlauch, mal ist sie ernst, dann zieht sie ihre Vorhaben wieder sehr berechenbar durch – kurz gesagt: Mit ihr wird es nie langweilig. Das ist sie mochte ist untertrieben. Für mich war Harper nicht die perfekte Belle oder Tochter, aber definitiv Hauptakteurin :) Die Geschichte legt sich auch mächtig ins Zeug von der ersten Seite an einfach KABOOM spannend zu sein. Innerhalb des ersten Kapitels gibt es Mord, Blut und Action und man weiß gar nicht so recht wie einem geschieht. Hier wurde das Konzept der Idee wirklich durchdacht eingesetzt, denn es dauert eine Weile, bis man – genau wie Harper – herausfindet, was denn nun eigentlich mit ihr passiert ist. Was mir daran besonders gut gefiel war, dass das ganze Drumherum nicht vergessen wird, aber auch keine allzu große Rolle spielt. Harper versucht eben ihr Leben normal weiterzuleben, aber mit all den vielen Geheimnissen, die nun ein Teil davon sind, ist das einfach schwer. Ebenfalls ziemlich klasse, war die ganze Sache mit ihrem Freund. Ja, richtig gelesen, Harper hat einen Freund im Buch. Hier gab es auch einfach nicht dieses klischeehafte „oh, ich hab einen Freund und der muss böse werden, damit ich mich in den anderen Kerl verlieben kann“ oder „oh, ich hab einen Freund und betrüge den mal eben, weil wer besseres da ist“ oder...naja, ihr wisst, was ich meine, wenn euch dieses 0815 Klischee schlechthin so auf die Nerven geht wie mir. Rachel Hawkins konnte mich am Ende mit vielen Entwicklungen in dieser Hinsicht auch überraschen und das hat mich sehr gefreut, weil es mir ein wenig so vorkam, als würde sie den Leser an der Nase herumführen! Allgemein war das Ende einfach super und ich bin echt gespannt, wie es nach diesen Entwicklungen weitergeht. Die ganze Sache mit Harper als Paladin oder zusammenfassend den vielen Fantasyelementen gefiel mit durchweg. Vieles was hier passiert, habe ich in der Form noch nicht gelesen und besonders, wenn Harper mit ihren Kräften David beschützt geht es mächtig rund. Gott, wie habe ich mich amüsiert, als sie plötzlich beim Autofahren zu Vin Diesel aus Fast & Furious mutiert ist (jetzt nicht wortwörtlich, sondern eher als Vergleich xD) oder als es darum ging, das Kämpfen zusammen mit Davids „Tante“ zu lernen. Die vielen Situationen, die in den normalen YA Büchern immer todernst dargestellt werden, hatten hier irgendwie total oft eine witzige Note. Nicht, dass das Buch nicht auch seine düsteren Seiten hat. Es gibt ein gut inszeniertes Finale, mit kleinen Schockern und starkem Höhepunkt. Dann wäre da noch die Liebesgeschichte *seuft* :) Die war einfach genau mein Ding. Hier gab es Streit, hier gab es Sarkasmus und – juhu – Die Figuren verlieben sich nicht Hals über Kopf oder starten Rummachorgien sobald sie mal allein sind. Die Liebesgeschichte war einfach..schön! Sie entwickelt sich langsam, wie eine Freundschaft, war für mich verständlich und hat mich mitfiebern lassen. Ja, Rachel Hawkins hat hier eine süße Hass-Liebe geschrieben, die mir echt nahe ging. Vielleicht lag das auch einfach daran, dass David mal eher untypisch kein Bad Boy war, sondern ein authentischer, netter, etwas nerdiger Junge, über den man gerne mehr erfahren hat. Hier wurde aber auch einfach viel von ihm gezeigt. Man lernt ihn nicht nur durch Harpers Augen kennen, sondern mit ihr zusammen. Normalerweise fehlen den Love-Interests ja immer etwas Tiefgang und Backgroundstory. Fazit Rebel Belle ist meiner Meinung nach Rachel Hawkins bisher bestes Buch. Es ist eine Geschichte, die allen Fantasyfans genau das gibt, was diese suchen: Spannung, Action, Humor und eine Liebesgeschichte, die unterhält und nicht den Plot verdirbt. Ich kann Band zwei echt kaum abwarten und hoffe, der wird genauso gut! :)

Rebel Belle ha sido un libro que me ha encantado de principio a fin. Con unos personajes divertidos, reales y carismáticos. Como protagonistas a mi parecer supieron estar a la altura. Una trama llena de misterios, sarcasmos por parte de nuestros personajes, profecías, movimientos ninjas... un libro que parece muy raro en un principio pero del cual no consigues despegarte. La pluma de la autora es evocadora, sencilla y ágil, perfecta para meterte en la historia desde el principio. Un libro con el que he disfrutado muchísimo y me ha dejado con muchas ganas de más.

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!!

This was an amazing read! It's legally blonde meets the world of paladins. Waiting for the next book in the series to come out!