Demonglass - Rachel Hawkins Slightly better than the sequel, I think. But like its predecessor, it's enjoyable ... but not fantastic. In my review of the first book, Hex Hall, I believe I referred to this series as the "dumbed-down, girlier version of Harry Potter." The first book took place in a reform school for warlocks and witches––oh yeah, with a few shapeshifters and a vampire thrown in. At least the second book strays from the Potter-esque plot by moving the story over to London (well okay, let me finish the sentence ...) where Sophie joins her estranged father.Turns out Sophie is not a witch after all! Even better ... She's a demon. As is her father. They're supposed to be the only two on earth, except someone has been raising them in secret, most likely to use them as weapons. Oh dear! Sophie (sorta) befriends two such illegal demons, Nick and Daisy. (I couldn't help but keep thinking about The Great Gatsby ... Is it just me?)If that weren't bad enough, Sophie's love interest from the previous book, Archer Cross (whose name, in my opinion, is completely ridiculou and sounds a bit like it belongs in a porn novel to me ... I dunno why), is part of a secret society trying to wipe all Prodigium (witches, shapeshifters, and fairies) off the face of the planet. But, you know. She doesn't like him anymore. Nope. Not at all.So, that just about sums it up.Alrighty. I give this book props for picking up the pace a bit. The first book was kind of all, "Haha! Fun and games at magic school!" while its sequel is darker and more plot-heavy. It becomes a little more original and complex, so that's good. Although I still found the whole thing very predictable. Saw pretty much every plot twist coming.Anyway, Sophie is a likable enough narrator, but I don't love her. As I said in my review of the first book, she tends to be rather stupid. She seemed slightly less stupid in this book, but ... still pretty stupid.And the rest of the characters are just pretty ... bland. Jenna is all right, but she seems like the token quirky lesbian friend––who also happens to be a vampire. Then we have our two love interests, the aforementioned Archer and Cal. Ugh. Clichéd to the max. Archer = the bad boy, forbidden love interest. Cal = the nice guy who Sophie is betrothed to, whom she constantly uses and leads on ... aka the guy who doesn't stand a chance because he's too nice. Need I say more?As for the structure of the book, it has the same main problem as the first book ... the plot is not paced very well. It all seemed to go by way too fast, skipping from event to event with not much down-time in between to develop characters or their relationships. However, as predictable as these books can get, the plot and tone are at least compelling enough to maintain interest. This one had a cliffhanger ending that made me literally throw the book on the floor (I HATE CLIFFHANGERS! AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY! NO! I REALLY, TRULY HATE THEM!) Plus, both books took me such a short amount of time to read (I do a lot of skimming) so I'm willing to invest my time in reading the next book to see how this plays out. Or ends? Not sure if this is a trilogy or not. If it's going to be more than three books, I'll most likely give up after the third unless it really kicks it up a notch.