Rachel Hawkins

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. “As surprising as it is delicious.”—BCCB, starred review “Fun with a twist of supernatural and Southern charm.” —VOYA “The romance, coming-of-age aspects, and a well-drawn heroine with a crackling wit will lure in readers.” —Booklist

Rebel Belle

"Seventeen-year-old Harper Price's charmed life is turned upside down when she discovers she's been given magical powers in order to protect her school nemesis David Stark, who's an Oracle"--

Seventeen-year-old Harper Price's charmed life is turned upside down when she discovers she has been given magical powers in order to protect her school nemesis David Stark, who is an Oracle. The plot contains profanity and graphic violence.

Rebel belle

Zahra

Awesome is the right word to describe this book. Super-good-that-i-need-the-sequel-on-my-hand-right-effing-now kind of awesome. I hate a cliffhanger ending but somehow it concludes the whole story very well.

I couldn't help but adored Harper throughout my time reading this. She was sarcastic, witty, funny, and badass all at the same time. And Bee, what i wouldn't give to have a best friend like her. 

I only have minor problems such as the way things get solved too easily. I loved the magic aspect but in some parts it ANNOYED me how the characters were actually did nothing, just a bit of mind-control and potion and bam. Problem is solved.

Enjoyable book! Pretty funny and pretty badass.

Vivi

★★★★☆ (4)

“It was such a relief to be able to sob and have someone know all the reasons why.”
Soy fan de Harper censurando las groserías durante todo el libro.

Melissa Palmer

Book #72 Read in 2015
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

This book reminded me of the movie of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...but better. Harper is the popular girl in her high school class....valedictorian in the making, class President, going to make her debut soon. At a school dance, a janitor passes on his seemingly super powers to her. Harper has no idea what is going on and feels even more confused when her teacher tries to kill her and she ends up killing him with her high-heeled shoe. Eventually, Harper learns she has become a Paladin...a sort of super guard to an Oracle. Now she needs to figure out how to balance this superpowered guard job with homework, dates with her boyfriend and her curfew. This book is full of humor and action, along with some interesting supernatural/mythological items and some romance. I enjoyed it and think high school girls would love it. I have #2 in my TBR pile. 

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Nouf Fallatah 

Loved it such a fun cute read ,the main character and david are soo cute .....awsome

Natasha Bree

I absolutely adored this book. Like the first scene was crazy! like what!? already!? the book just jumped right into it and I loved it! it was hilarious! I haven't read a book that has made me laugh this much it was so good! I have to admit i fangirled quite hard with David and Harper.. like OTP OTP. it was great. but anyways, this book made me cry a little too. so it was just like all over the place emotions I loved it cause it was like, relatable...
but let's talk about Harpers endless amount of amazing last minute excuses!! she is the queen of Excuses holy moly! (okay at the beginning she sucked horribly bad. like oh, I just didn't see the pool there and I just slipped in. like yes Harper... nice one.. but her excuses get better. slowly.. but it happens) 
but this book is my favorite it was so great oh my gosh. 
I gave it 5 out of 5 stars because YES. this book is just Yes. freaking read it.

Loved this book from beginning to end. I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW!!! I need to know what happens next ! Harper & David <3333

Menna Khaled

this book I buddy read with a friend ( Em, her Goodreads account name is tinker bleh " lattice of a crystal kind" ) and i can't wait to read her review on the book.
My rating for this book out of the Goodreads 5 star system is 2.4 stars. The 0.4 is important because I usually give 2 stars to books that are good but I haven’t enjoyed for one reason or the other; however, this book was enjoyable. The book was a smooth ride. You might wonder why I didn’t make the 0.4 into a 0.5 because then I would give the book a 3 star rating and honestly that book in my opinion doesn’t reach my 3 star standards. So it’s a 2.4 stars . Now that we have gotten the idea of my rating let me explain why ?
Rebel belle is about Harper price , a girl that in my opinion could have been portrayed way better than she was seen in the book.
Rachel tried to represent Harper price as the popular kid that is trying to excel in aspects to prove herself to her parents, friends, community and to run away from the bad image her sister’s death represented.
She isn’t a bully like normal popular kids are portrayed in books neither are her friends. She isn’t the hidden nerdy geek that wanted so hard to become popular so she acted like she loved make up , nail polish and parties.
No, Rachel Hawkins tried to express Harper price with a new social image -- the good, kind hearted, make up loving popular kid. Harper price enjoyed being the popular kid. I wrote that Rachel Hawkins tried to express not expressed that’s because I saw that as a 1st draft trial. A huge change in cliché personality , trying to create a new image for the popular kid is nice and I am totally up for it; however, to perfect the new image so many changes has to happen. For example, her friends ( Bee the bestfriend, Mary Beth, Abigail , and Ammanda ) shouldn’t remain the same as the old image like the airhead twins Abigail and Ammanda won’t be friends with a person like Harper price that is supposed to be seen as smart and committed. The beautiful tom boy Mary Beth ( which was portrayed in the book the best in my opinion but still not the best it can be ) will not choose to be friends with the rest of the group not only harper price when they are always critiquing her love for sneakers and movie choices without a valid reason like pressuring parents or insecurities. That reason wasn’t at all brought up in the story. I honestly found myself loving Mary Beth than Harper herself while Rachel seemed to give out invites for us to hate Mary in every scene she is brought up with her actions. I can say that bee, harper’s bestfriend, is much more realistic than harper and a true friend; however, the huge mistake comes in her choice of boyfriend ( Brandon ). Brandon is a nice flirty guy but he is too flirty and too stupid to be bee’s boyfriend. I honestly can’t see those three in a healthy relationship in real life.
If we are talking about boyfriends then poor poor Ryan is a whole different story. Ryan is Harper’s boyfriend all throughout the book except the last 2 to 3 chapters. He is such a loving nice guy that loves video games, action movies and sports. He cares about Harper since chapter one and he isn’t the pressuring or overly possessive type of boyfriend. On the other hand, Harper since chapter one all her actions conveyed that she cares about him and believe me it is stated in the book way too much that she loves him but none of her actions prove it. Since the first page I thought that Ryan is one of her accomplishments, just another accessory of popularity which totally defies the image Rachel was trying to make Harper seem to be. That is why I have always shipped David and Harper, Ryan and Mary Beth.
David is the cute newspaper guy that writes about Harper a lot (in an annoying way). It is made by Rachel to seem like the cliché enemies who are just trying to pull each other’s pigtails because they like each other and can’t express their feeling probably due to fear of rejection. He is a well written character (the one and only in this book).
Ms. Saylor and Harper’s family I am indifferent about their fates in the book simply because they are very important people that should have been expressed thoroughly by Rachel from Harper’s point of view, unfortunately that didn’t happen so as much as I am disappointed, I don’t care what happens to them because I wasn’t forced to care by the writing style.
Same thing goes for many more characters in the book.
I always try to imagine myself as the main character even if the character is NOTHING like me but I couldn’t even do that with Harper Price. After digesting the aspects of the book in this review I find that I enjoyed this book and was amused because it has great potential in the plot and writing style. However, this book as it is right now just screams first draft to me and I don’t think I enjoyed pinching in ideas everywhere while I was reading. I felt like I almost rewrote and edited the book in my mind inorder to enjoy it. This removed the sole reason of reading to me (to relax and travel through worlds gaining experience).
So this it my review to the book rebel belle.
 Xx Menna Khaled Xx

Naga

I decided to give Rachel Hawkins's other books a shot and I don't regret it! This book was really fun. Kinda annoying for the first three chapters, but judging on how everything flipped 180° in Harper's life, it's understandable. The book is both predictable and unpredictable. I always enjoy Hawkins's humor sense.

Ana Matti

I didn't expect to like it this much but i did???

Jaclyn

OMG this book was so much fun!! I fell in love with the characters and plot so easily, especially David & Harper! I'm so excited for the next book!!

Emi Gilmore 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The characters were easy to connect to, the plot was super fun, and the teenage angst was done in a way that wasn't cheesy. And the relationship between Harper & David is my absolute favorite thing in this entire story.

Andrea Cabezudo García

Rosie

I love Rachel Hawkins, but this being some of her older stuff I wasn’t too much into it. 

I couldn’t connect with any of the characters (I haven’t been 17 for almost 10 years) and some of their personalities rubbed me the wrong way. 

It’s written like every other Rachel Hawkins book, so writing wasn’t an issue, I got through the book pretty quickly. 

I was wondering how this story would process as it is a trilogy, and the ending did set up for the second book nicely. 

I will say if you liked the Disney movie “Avalon High” you will like this book. Not king Arthur but the whole teens being possessed by s spirited trying to save modern day. 

Sarah Vaughan

Slightly too cheesy for my taste, but not horrible.

Kathryn 

WHAT A WILD RIDE. Will most definitely be picking up Miss Mayhem very very soon.

Stephanie

** spoiler alert **
           Oh my this books was so not what I expected!! Honestly, when I first saw it I thought it would be a story set in like the 18th century or something but I was so wrong! I didn't think id be so interested! Harper started of as a too perfect character in my opinion. She had this perfect boyfriend, she was captain of cheerleading and she's head of this and that and I'm like I wonder if she's actually a bad person or something but that's not even why happened haha! This books was unexpected to me and I loved it! That ending was also UNEXPECTED! I mean I didn't imagine it would be the ex boyfriend, Harper and the guy she dumped her ex for...I mean WOW that was just brutal haha! Well I think you guys should read it!

Kate

** spoiler alert **
           Harper kind of bugged me sometimes but I like that she's a pretty atypical YA protagonist, and I actually liked the love triangle because it wasn't all "oh woe who should I pick" - it wasn't even really a triangle. It was really interesting to have a YA protag realize she is Not Interested in a boy without him being a terrible person, and for him to remain important to her even after they break up. I'm actually curious about the Harper-Ryan-David dynamic in the sequel, because there's potential for it to be really cool and unique for this type of YA series, but I probably won't read the sequel because it seems like Rachel Hawkins glosses over the interesting cliffhanger she set up for herself and goes in a totally different direction I'm not that interested in. Overall, this book had a conversational and captivating tone, good characters, and an interesting plot, but it's also pretty silly and a little young for me.

Big caveat: I was really Not Okay With all the ableist language Harper uses to describe her confusion about becoming a paladin. Like who the fuck even uses sch*zo/sch*zoid anymore?? (Plus the usual insane, crazy, psycho, etc.... there were literally like three full consecutive pages with an ableist word every paragraph. An author should be able to have her neurotypical protagonist doubt what's happened to her without resorting to stigmatizing and harmful language.

Jessica Williamson

3.25 Stars

Rebel Belle is a pretty decent novel that I actually really enjoyed despite the mediocre rating. It's just how my rating scale works sometimes. 

Character wise, I enjoyed Harper. The inner workings of her brain, someone who is so fully Type A, was a fun adventure for me. She seems like a girl who has had to overcome one huge upset in her past and by golly she's going to try to be as perfect as possible so no one remembers.

The guys are okay, David and Ryan. They're not my favorite characters on the planet, they're not my new book bf's. Which is probably a good thing because they're 17 and I'm 31, but I digress. But I could understand the character development of both of them and how the story benefited from their existence. 

I hate that this book has a love shape. Honestly, this book would be like 10x better without any romance aspects at all. Adding the romance didn't enhance the story any for me. I mean sure, it helped with the perfect picture of Harper's life, but the triangle-ness of it. Just stop with these already. 

As for the other characters, Harper and Ryan's friends... what were their names again? Were they important? Meh. I don't know. They were just kind of... there.

Wow, that all sounds pretty blah, eh? It's true, I didn't love the interpersonal relationships of this book. So why did I enjoy it so much? The fantastical elements of this book were so great!

From the location of the town and why they can hide magic there to the history woven stories of oracles and paladins. The magical aspects of this book are absolutely what saved it for me and are what is going to keep me reading. I've already started book 2!

laura

very strong book. smart end to conflict. ending of book was rushed!

Nicole Lucy O'Loughlin

Really great start to 2016, loved this book and I'm really glad to have read it. Definetely going to check out Miss Mayhem at some point, hopefully this year

Clara hash

Paige Green

Rating: 2/5

Genre: YA(?) Fantasy

Recommended Age: 14+ (sexual references, gore, violence, nonsensical powers, and forced romances)

Pages: 354

Author Website

Amazon Link

Disclaimer: None, I bought this book on my own accord.

Synopsis: 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.


Let’s start off with the good before I completely trash this book. I thought that overall it was… okay. Maybe I shouldn’t have read this book after I finished Zenith because once again I have found another book where the writing is perfectly suited for a middle grade novel, but because of the YA market booming the book got bumped above its age range. If this book was in the middle grade range it would have been a 4/5, but obviously it’s not so I have to rate it as is. 

The book is… bad as a YA novel. The writing is very simplistic and juvenile, the things these supposed young adults say is either for shock value (i.e. the sexual references) or for very younger level comedic value (like the main character not swearing, which is not the issue itself, it’s how she masks the cursing that’s the issue). There are a ton of inconsistences throughout the novel, like how the main character does not curse but yet the reader will catch a curse or two in the book and how the time lines are a bit uneven and wonky, which makes for a confusing read. The characters are not very well defined and it’s hard for a reader to get a good realistic view of them when they remain one dimensional. The main character is as dumb as a box of rocks. She’s supposed to be in the running for valedictorian, but the girl can’t come up with simple conclusions or even recite her own Southern heritage right. The most annoying moment for me was when the main character stated that Virginia wasn’t considered part of the South. News flash: The capital city of the Confederacy was Richmond Virginia, which I would hope a “Southern Belle” might know. The author is from the South (Alabama) as am I. I am from Tennessee, which is the real state that not a lot of Southerners consider to be a part of the true South given that Tennessee was the last state to join the Confederacy and then the first Confederate state to jump ship back into the Union. The pacing is also uneven. Sometimes the book proceeds at a crawl and then others it proceeds at a sprint. My biggest complaint is how confusing the book is. The magic in it is not explained whatsoever, there are so many plot holes the book is basically swiss cheese, and the author wants to force a love triangle in the second book. It’s a bundle of clichés and confusion and not at all of the elegance the novel would have you think it is.

Verdict: This girl makes all Southern Belles look stupid and ignorant; read if you want a fantasy look at how the South operates.

Kristen

I'm not sure why I didn't like this more. It seems to have everything: romance, superpowers, easy-to-read writing style, and a fun and fast plot that keeps you interested. Plus, the cover is awesome. But I kept putting it down and never wanting to pick it back up. 

I think I got very bored with the main character. She was exactly the type of girl I avoided in high school, and she had her priorities messed up through most of the book. I also have had this problem since I've been in my later college years where I just really can't stand high school teen drama, and that seemed to be a focal point in the side plot of this book. 

A few things I liked: I hate love triangles normally, but I actually really like how this one was handled. Also, David is my favorite character. He's just awesome.

Overall, the story is fun and superficial with a few deep moments to add to the characters. Harper seemed to get more interesting as the story progressed, so I'll probably pick up the sequel, but I don't think I can bring myself to get too excited over it. I'm not expecting it to blow my mind, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. This series has a lot of promise.

Rebel Belle

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