Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Published by: Putnam
Pages: 273
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon

I was super duper excited to read the sequel to ‘Rebel Belle’, which I gave 5 stars because I loved it so much! ‘Miss Mayhem’ contained all the same elements of the first book, which was enjoyable, but did fall into the trap of second-book-syndrome. I was a little disappointed with how things ended, (thank goodness this is a trilogy!) but let’s talk pros and cons!

Pros!

1. Harper’s Character
She’s just great. I love that she’s the warrior protector, doing all the dirty work while David gets to have the visions. I think it’s a really good message to be projecting to girls that they can be strong and beautiful, without the two traits being mutually exclusive. Harper always has so much going on, reading about her is a whirlwind of fun!

2. The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants
I really liked that the characters were all able to follow their heart’s desire and talk about their emotions. Being a teenager is hard. Being a teenage Paladin protecting the one guy who can see into the future is even harder. Everyone seemed to be thinking about their own mental wellbeing, which was great.

3. Southern Belle
The series wouldn’t be the same without its allusions to the Southern Belle lifestyle. Instead of a Cotillion, Harper enters a pageant! How classic!

Cons!

1. The Greater Good
It’s all excellent that a character can follow their heart, but when it involves some sort of self-sacrifice/ it-would-be-better-if-we-weren’t-together even when that’s absolute BS, I just can’t stomach it. It’s OK to be selfish about love sometimes, and when you know Harper and David are meant for each other, the idea of them splitting up for ‘the greater good’ was really annoying and unnecessary. Instead of avoiding the problem, they should be trying to work it out, as a couple!

2. Lack of Conflict/Stunted Action
So, Blythe, the main villain of the first book completely vanished in this book. I was a little put out that she didn’t turn up and start a fight or something. It was like she was forgotten about! She was replaced by Alexander, who was significantly less villainous and therefore, tension kind of bled out of the action scenes. Also, I thought what happened to Bee at the end of ‘Rebel Belle’ would cause more drama between the best friends. She could have gone to the dark side, Evil Bee, and tried to stop Harper being a Paladin, but she simply was returned to her parents and then nothing. Talk about a missed opportunity!

3. Trials and Tribulations
If I have to read another story about a girl/boy having to do a bunch of challenges/trials/tests to prove something to a higher power, I’m going to scream. The fact that Harper’s three trials were cut short and sort of anticlimactic was irritating and a bit cliche.

4. The Ending
Anyone who’s read it will know what I mean when I say it was abrupt and unsatisfactory. It just left the characters in an odd place, but that could mean we start the next book straight in the action!

Overall, I give ‘Miss Mayhem’ 3 stars. It was good and a fun read, but because I re-read ‘Rebel Belle’ beforehand, I could recognise a lot of similarities in some of the plot points, and the constant dousing of the action or possible dramas made this a much less entertaining read. I’ve got a lot of hope for the final book to clear up my worries, and round off the story!