“Lady Renegades” is a Dull Finale

“There had been a time when I’d prided myself on being the most competent girl in the room, the one who always knew what to do. But the deeper I got into all this Paladin stuff, the more I seemed to be screwing it up.”

I think this series plummeted after book one.

Rebel Belle was all silly, lighthearted paranormal fun with a dash of romance. In Miss Mayhem, things took a turn when the author tried to take the plot more seriously. In my opinion, this took the enjoyment out of things.

The absolutely hilarious story suddenly turned grim, and the characters acted much more unsure of their positions. The plot seemed to be going nowhere, with vague mentions of Harper’s Paladin powers and quests . . . If anything, Lady Renegades felt more hastily plotted and uncertain.

This third book follows the event of David’s disappearance and Harper going out of her mind with worry, trying to find him. Suddenly new Paladins are attacking Harper, and David—the Oracle—is the only possible person who could be sending them after her.

It was honestly hard for me to pinpoint what the plot even was. As far as I could tell, there was some sketchy stuff about a spell, prophecies, and Harper and her friends going on a road trip to find David.

Granted, Harper and her girl friends, Bee and Blythe, were pretty awesome. I’m glad the girl power wasn’t taken out of this series, at least.

“What’s a pretty thing like you want with a sword anyway?”
“She’s going to use it to castrate guys who ask stupid questions,” Blythe answered for me, her voice flat.

There was a huge cliché at the end that made me role my eyes—the “dying and being brought back to life” trope—and things got wrapped up way too quickly. I think the more solemn approach the author took just didn’t work with this kind of story.

My advice is: read Rebel Belle, but skip the sequels.