A Vintage Reads YA Review: Rebel Belle

Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle, 1) by Rachel Hawkins, April 8, 2014. 368 pages. Published by Spark. Source: Own.

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.

First Sentence

Looking back, none of this would have happened if I'd brought lip gloss the night of the Homecoming Dance.

Since I absolutely adored Rachel Hawkins' Hex Hall books, I knew that I wanted to read more of her books. So, after much delay, like around three years, I finally found an opportunity to get a copy of Rebel Belle and read it.

• In my defense, between the time I heard about Rebel Belle and actually read it, was, well a couple years so I forgot what it was about. To the point that in the beginning, I was like "where's the action...". Fear not, there was just the right amount of action and some great fight scenes to please me. It was just a really fun book to read, you know!! 

• As much as I liked Sophie, from Hex Hall, she has been replaced by one Harper Jane Price. As a reader, I just really liked Harper and how hard she worked on everything in her life. Sure, she had a tendency to over do things, head of all the school committees in all, but seeing a character so driven to succeed was really nice. In that aspect, she reminded me of myself in her tendency to give anything and everything all she had. 

• In order to keep this review from beginning super lengthy, I'll just finish off with three final things that solidified my love of this book. The first would be the snarky bantering that went on between Harper and David. The barbs they threw at each other had me in stitches; though it was enjoyable mainly because there were moments, before things got super awkward, where they went beyond ribbing each other and were semi-decent to each other. Secondly, I liked how well Rachel Hawkins capture the feel of the south and it ness. Her depiction of a small town in the south was pretty spot-on. And last, I really enjoyed the way the story and characters evolved throughout the book.   

Final Verdict: Rebel Belle- It had pretty much everything: snarky banter, characters that were driven, not to mention action and humor. It was just one of those books that is a pleasure to read. I'm really excited to continue reading this series!!!

A copy of this book was purchased by me. All thoughts are my own.