Lady Renegades (Rebel Belle #3) by Rachel Hawkins @therealladyhawkins
Review by Paige: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Just as Harper Price starts coming to terms with her role as David Stark's battle-ready Paladin, protector, and girlfriend—her world goes crazy all over again.
Overwhelmed by his Oracle powers, David flees Pine Grove and starts turning teenaged girls into Paladins—and these young ladies seem to think that Harper is the enemy David needs protecting from. Ordinarily, Harper would be able to fight off any Paladin who comes her way, but her powers have been dwindling since David left town, which means her life is on the line yet again.
Now, it’s a desperate race for Harper to find and rescue David before she backslides from superhero to your garden-variety type-A belle.
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As I’m sure you all know, we’re enormous fans of Rebel Belle here. I’ve spent a lot of time with this series, and with Rachel Hawkins’ writing, and I could not be happier with this conclusion. It was happy, it was sad, it was funny - it was everything this series needed. At this point, if you haven’t read Rebel Belle, you’re seriously missing out. And this book is proof of that.
After suffering the heartbreak that was the end of Miss Mayhem, I’d been anticipating this release since the minute I finished the sequel. I was initially surprised at the length, but I think if it had been any longer it would’ve begun to drag. I was so happy to see that there were snippets from David’ point of view, even if they appeared without warning or acknowledgment in the middle of a chapter. Still, seeing his situation (and Harper) from his point of view was so necessary to this book.
If there’s anything I wouldv’e liked more from this book, it would’ve been more David. There’s hardly a thing to complain about, but I would’ve loved a split POV (or just a chapter in his POV here and there) to better understand where he was coming from. That being said, I didn’t feel like romance was necessary for the entire book. You got bits and pieces of the feelings Harper and David have for each other, you just simply got them with distance. What really mattered here was the care they have for each other as people and how that manifested. It was so important to me to see.
This novel built on every piece of foreshadowing that the previous novels gave. I thought coming into this that it wasn’t necessarily going to be happy, and I was right. But that being said, it was so bittersweet and hopeful. I loved that not a single moment slipped from this book. The things you saw and the people you met in both Rebel Belle and Miss Mayhem were present in this. Between the hints at prophecies, the fading Paladin powers, and the reappearance (or remembrance) of characters, you really felt like everything came together, which I think is rare for a conclusion.
The ending completely wrecked me, but it was so fitting. At the end of the day, Harper and David are ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Seeing them return - at least partially - to who they were before felt pivotal to closing out their story. As sad as I was, the ending wasn’t unexpected.I could see it coming from a mile away, but I was just as upset as I would’ve been if I hadn’t. The ending gave me so, so much hope, and if Harper and David ever want to return to my life, I would gladly accept them back in. All in all, a stunning, fitting conclusion to a series close to my heart.
“No, I’m not.” I let my tone say, Because I am totally a better person than you and hoped he hadn’t noticed the fact that my hands didn’t seem to work when it came to slapping his face
it’s ellen, jasongracist. i accidentally deleted my entire blog so i guess i’ll be here for now until i get shit figured out. help me out fam spread the word
