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 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. [Summary from Amazon]
If you like your teen girl narrator’s quick-witted and kind of quirky, pick up Rachel Hawkins’ Hex Hall. By a country mile, Sophie is the most appealing aspect of the novel. She is funny and self-deprecating, she’s a loyal friend, easily flustered by cute boys (but manages to hold her own with them,) and I just liked her. Simple as that.
Another appeal: the humor. Sophie’s funny, I already mentioned that, but she’s also chock full of pop culture references, and manages to land a vamp roommate who plays off her quips beautifully. What I appreciated about the humor was that 1) it never veered too close to cutesy territory and 2) the pop culture references, for the most part, never felt like they would noticeably date the book.
While I very much enjoyed Sophie and the book’s tone, I wasn’t quite as taken with the actual story (or the love interest.) Maybe I’ve read too many other books with a similar set-up – girl does something wrong, gets sent to a boarding school, clashes with mean girls, crushes on a cute but unattainable guy – to feel like Hex Hall was doing anything stupendously different.The paranormal element was nice; I liked that the focus was on witches rather than the more common vamps, shifters, and fae (though they were represented.) And a twist at the end was a neat set-up for the next part of Sophie’s story.
As for the love interest…I would have thrown him over in a heartbeat for the groundskeeper, Cal, who, unfortuately and barring his role in any future sequels, came across as a bit of throwaway character. Which is a shame because he definitely snagged my attention. (I’m hoping that he will have a bigger role in whatever book follows. There was this one line…)
In any event, Hex Hall was a quick read and a pleasant one.
I love me a good quirky/witty narrator!
The actual storyline doesn’t interest me so much – mostly because its been done to death by P.C. Cast, Richelle Mead etc, etc. But if the narrator is strong enough, I’d definitely give this one a go.
Great review.
Thanks for the review. This is on my list of books to read. I like stories about witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
Danielle – Thanks! I really liked Sophie, but, yeah, the boarding school thing…
Natalie – Me, too, and this one was enjoyable. A fast read.