Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle #1) by: Rachel Hawkins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Published: April 8, 2014 by: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 345
Rating: 3/5 stars

Harper is a Southern-belle through and through. Destined to win Homecoming queen, Harper suddenly faces unexpected new challenges when she discovers that she is a Paladin, an ancient warrior sent to protect someone. The person Harper is meant to protect, is her mortal enemy David Stark. As Harper comes to terms with her prophecy, she must learn to create a friendship with David, all while testing out her new powers against anything that could come to harm the people she loves.

This book contained some loveable characters and hilarious southern-charm which made this one of the most light-hearted fantasies ever! It was utterly adorable and a very fun read. I did have some issues with the themes and plot, but this book didn't feel overbearing.

Harper was utterly hilarious in this book! She had a bit of a sass to her that helped her in anything she encountered, and she was incredibly smart. David was also so incredibly adorable and he really cared for the people around him. I found that these two had amazing chemistry.

Hawkins did a great job and keeping this book light-hearted and charming, despite essentially being a fantasy. The comic relief made this not seem like an overly heavy fantasy, and it made it also a bit more relatable.

I didn't really understand this book. not because it was heavy, but because of the chosen fantasy element: Paladins. I didn't think that there was enough background information on these creatures, which left me completely confused throughout the entire thing. This also made me quite uninterested in this topic of fantasy. While it is something never really written about before, it was just quite odd and confusing.

I couldn't really connect with the characters. While they were very cutesy and lovable, Harper didn't really strike out at me as being a kick ass heroine and David was that utterly amazing male side kick. They were just Harper and David, very cute and sassy but nothing else to them. They weren't the strongest.

Overall, this book was quite cute and light, but lacked in power and information. That's why I couldn't really learn to love it.

Have you read Rebel Belle? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess