Hex Hall Review

TITLE Hex Hall  (Hex Hall #1)
AUTHOR Rachel Hawkins
PAGES 219 (ePub edition)
PUBLISHED March 2nd 2010 by Hyperion Book CH
READ March 26 - 27, 2012
BUY THIS BOOK AT Amazon / Kobo / Chapters.Indigo

SYNOPSIS Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, 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 student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Hex Hall wasn't exactly the most original read, but it was a satifying read none the less.   Sophie Mercer is a witch who grew up with a bit of a disadvantage, she was estranged from her warlock father and raised by her normal mother.  Her naive use of her magic gets her into trouble and she is sentenced to Hecate (Hex) Hall until she is 18 years old.  At Hex Hall Sophie starts piecing the missing parts of her life together and she finds out that she is in fact, a pretty important person.

This was a pretty fast read and it had a great flow to it.  Things start out quickly and keep getting more and more interesting as it goes on.  I liked the various "prodigium" living at Hecate Hall, there is witches, shifters, faeries and vampires.  The visuals presented in this novel are pretty neat from the look of the faeries to the haunting welcome video that is presented to new students. 

The fresh, youthful voice of Sophie Mercer was appealing and downright funny at times.  I loved her lighthearted approach to the turn her life had takenand her snide thoughts about the people around her had me laughing out loud. Elodie, Anna and Chastain were pretty typical "mean girls" and I liked that Sophie held her own against them and didn't succumb to their relentless bullying.  Asher was a character that I never got that "swoon" for, maybe I wasn't supposed to, I'm not sure. 


All in all this was a good, fast read and if you have the time you should definitely give it a look.  I'm excited to read the next books in this series as it kind of goes out with a bang!