Book review: Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

Ask Me Anything by Molly E. Lee
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
Source: Purchased

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. 

It’s been a while since I read Rebel Belle, but I remember enjoying it an awful lot. It was a ton of fun, gave me some serious Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes, and there were so many things about it that I thought were great! I had planned to read Miss Mayhem much earlier than I did, but I kind of forgot about it until I stumbled across this book at a used bookstore (for $1!!) a few months ago.

I think that three-star reviews are the hardest ones to write, because I just don’t have that much to say. I didn’t love this. I didn’t hate it. It was entertaining enough that I finished it in about 24 hours, but not entertaining enough that I’m sad it’s done.

Harper is still a great character. She’s so strong, she’s just trying to do the right thing, and she knows how to use good manners as a weapon. She finally gets her best friend, Bee, back, and it was so great to see their friendship and how they supported each other. Harper’s Aunt Jewel was amazing and I wish she could just adopt me.

Aside from those high points, though, the book was just okay. The book is only 272 pages, but it felt like it moved very slowly. There’s only one real plot point in this book (aside from a lot of relationship drama), and while it’s interesting enough, it’s not enough to support nearly 300 pages, and I didn’t really feel like any progress had been made by the end of the book.

It almost feels as though Miss Mayhem was written to set up Lady Renegades. Given that Lady Renegades has a lower Goodreads average than Miss Mayhem, though (3.41 vs. 3.48), I’m not really sure that I want to take the time to read it. If you’ve completed this series, I’d be really curious to hear what you think. Is it worth continuing?

#killingthetbr: four months on shelf
#ps19: a book about someone with a superpower
#romanceopoly: magic row


Have you read Miss Mayhem? What about Lady Renegades?
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