Book Review: Hex Hall

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Pages: 352
Read it in: 2 days

Summary: On her 12th birthday, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. Three bumpy years later, after a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, she's exiled to Hex Hall, as isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Then when a mysterious predator begins attacking students, and Sophie's only friend is the number-one suspect, a horrifying plot begins to surface. Soon, Sophie is preparing for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

LC's Take:  

Can I just say how much fun this book was to read with Sophie Mercer as the narrator? She was freaking hilarious! Her tone was clever, snarky, and sarcastic to the point where I was laughing out loud through pretty much the whole thing. (One particular LOL moment was when Sophie is observing one of the drop-dead gorgeous girls in her school : "I bet she woke up with her hair looking like something out of a Pantene commercial while little bluebirds circled around her head, and raccoons brought her breakfast or something.") She is a character who is secure enough to make fun of herself and pretty much everyone else around her, and that made this book really entertaining.

The story unfolds as Sophie arrives at Hecate (A.K.A "Hex") Hall after a love spell of hers turns senior year prom into a nightmare. Right away I got drawn into the world Sophie finds herself in, surrounded by witches, warlocks, faeries, shape-shifters, and one lone vampire (who turns out to be Sophie's roommate-- lucky girl). When Sophie meets the super-popular and snotty witches Anna, Chaston and Elodie on her first day, it's like a scene straight out of Mean Girls. Within a few weeks at Hex Hall, Sophie starts learning a lot about her past and who her family is-- all while being haunted by a mysterious girl in green who looks disturbingly similar to herself... and then of course there is the hott love interest, Archer who, unfortunately is dating Elodie, the meanest of the mean girl clique.

It soon becomes clear that something evil is lurking at Sophie's school, as one by one students are attacked by an unknown force. By the end, it turns out that there is a lot more to Sophie than she first thought possible... The unfolding drama and mystery combine into one story that had me hooked through all 32 chapters. I guess the only thing that sort of got to me about this book was that it dealt with some really dark things in the plot, especially towards the end, which didn't seem to match the humorous tone set throughout the book. Just my opinion, but those two things clashed for me. I also may have had a slight issue with the book not being quite as original as I'd have liked (if you read it, you'll probably be able to pick out certain influences from other books/movies, too). All in all though, this was still a good pick. I really loved Sophie with all of her smart-aleck observations and her down-to-earth personality, and the clever dialogue and fast-paced series of events made it super-easy to fly through this book in 2 days.

LC's Rating:

If you are looking for a fun read that you can easily blow through in a couple sittings, this is a really good book to chose. The humor keeps the story light-hearted while the mystery moves the plot along pretty quickly. Each chapter ended on the perfect cliff hanger, making it nearly impossible to put down-- altogether an enjoyable and entertaining pick!