Review--Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.

Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever. 

This. This is why I tried my hardest to wait to binge the Rebel Belle trilogy, and upon learning that Rachel was coming to St. Louis later this month, I failed miserably in that endeavor. Needless to say I NEED Lady Renegades NOW!!!!

Miss Mayhem was yet another delightful read by the fabulously talented Rachel Hawkins! We once again join in the Paladin/Oracle/Mage adventures of Harper, David, and Ryan. Like being a trio with your current boyfriend and ex-boyfriend isn’t hard enough, Harper is about to undergo some serious trials that she will either live through, or die from!

The Ephors still want David and when one, Alexander, approaches the trio and tells Harper about the tasks ahead of her, there really is no choice for her but to endure them. On the plus side, Bee was released from her capture and is back with Harper and everyone else. Bee is still a Paladin though, since David never took her powers back as well.

For awhile, we have a wait and see game as we wait for Harper’s trials to begin. There’s a little bit of downtime again, and this time, Harper and Bee decide to fill it by joining the beauty pageant their town holds, and it’s pretty much like Cotillion almost, except with a talent portion and naturally, the contest aspect.

I will say we have a far more amount of drama in this one. Ryan is having his own set of relationship issues that seem to span quite a bit of pages. And then, naturally, we start to see a divide between Harper and David. Where trilogies are concerned, it always seems like there are major issues in book 2 to be overcome in the final book for that HEA ending. And I am expecting an HEA ending, Rachel! Don’t let me down girl!

As I said, the pacing slows down a bit in this one. The relationship issues soon become the focus point, but not in a juvenile sense. It’s hard to say what exactly, without getting near spoiler territory, but let’s just say things don’t come into clearer focus until the end. And it’s that ending, that freaking ending that pretty much undid me. That nagging little voice in my head that told me, I should’ve waited! And really, the cliffhanger isn’t that bad. Really, it’s low on the scale of unbearable cliffhangers. But I think it’s the fact that we have a cliffhanger at all that drove me crazy!

I feel like also, in this one, that we didn’t have nearly enough David and Harper time. I guess it’s because of the eventual drama issues that ensue. But I was hoping for more happy times with them.

While the ending wasn’t high on the shocking scale, there were still a few smaller shocks to be had in that ending! And they’re just nagging enough to drive me crazy for the next few weeks! I am itching to know what happens to everyone!

The series so far has been pretty fun! A little clichéd in some ways, and I still dislike that we lost our “Giles” for the series, because we now basically have teenagers running about with no clue or direction. Though, now they have one at the end, but still. Giles always gave Buffy and her friends direction, purpose, he was a token of knowledge and all that, a mentor and friend! Harper and her friends are lacking that, but they still manage to get by. I just thought a “Giles” would’ve been nice for them!

This is a fun, quirky little series that I highly recommend if you’re looking for a feisty little read with some pretty good action, sweet romance, endearing friendships, and just a touch of mystery! This is a trilogy you won’t want to miss, consider binging it all in three-ish weeks! ;)

Overall Rating 4/5 stars