Rebel Belle

Title: Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle #1)

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Number of Pages: 345

Publisher: Speak

Date Read: 6.7.15

Rating: <3 <3 <3

“All superheroes have origin stories … Me? I kissed a janitor in the school bathroom.” - Harper

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. And just when she thinks 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. Things get even more complicated when Harper starts falling for him – and discovers that David’s own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

“The great thing about best friends is that they know you really well.” 

- Harper

      I picked this book up because I had read such awesome reviews about it on tumblr. I must say, I went into it expecting this amazing novel. I felt disappointed when it left me with a small fizzle. L I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t in the right mood set, or whatever, but I felt let down.

Before even hitting the first half of the book, something with the plotline wasn’t working for me. It just felt … off. I can’t really describe it. I don’t know if it was too disjointed or I just couldn’t wrap my head around how the inheritance of the superpowers happened, not to mention the seriously weird explanation of how the whole Oracle, Paladin, Mage thing started (the history major in me cringed majorly). I just don’t think I connected with the premise of the book.

However, I did like the characters, and/or the idea of the characters. I really liked Harper and what she represented. Yes, she basically Miss America in the making, but I like that she could be a hero. Yeah, okay, she didn’t want to die for David; but seriously speaking, who would when they first find out that protecting someone (your arch-nemesis, nonetheless) meant dying in their measly place instead? But she came around, didn’t she? I also like that she was basically a prep and made it to be a hero, too. It’s not always the awkward ones who can, but those of us who also like to look pretty while saving the world can be heroes, too.

David was a complete douche when I met him in the beginning, which, I take, was Rachel’s point. He really had it out for Harper for no reason. Like, seriously? the campus “had the right to know” why she was puking in the restroom?? Seriously?? His sudden turnabout when he discovers his “destiny” and the way he regards Harper wasn’t very believable either. First you’re this huge DB toward her and then you suddenly are defending her right to a life. It didn’t make sense. As I was reading the book, I knew (because of the back of the book) that Harper would eventually start falling for him and I was like: NOOOOOO; he is such a flaky person! Don’t fall for it! But then, he turned into this pretty okay (alright - sweet) guy and I was like, okay - I'm okay with this.

And, is it just me, or did all Ryan ever think of when he was alone with Harper was sex? And more than think, he blurted that shit out. For example, when she comes over to his house to fix the weirdness between them, he asked her is she really wanted to talk or if she wanted to ... as he looked at his bed?! I mean, I don't know what their relationship was like before she was all Paladin-y, but ... he literally only had sex on the brain when he was in the scenes.

I will say, that even though the book was okay, I will be purchasing the sequel because I have to know what happens to Bee. I think out of all the characters, I loved her the most. She was the best friend. She was always there for Harper and knew what she was thinking even before Harper herself knew what she was thinking. I feel that if I went to look up the definition of best friends in a dictionary, it would have Bee as a reference.