Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins {Review}

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

Publish Date: March 2, 2012

Source: Library
Goodreads

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.

Why, oh why haven’t I read this book before?

It’s no secret that I’m very finicky when it comes to my paranormal reading choices. I find a lot of them to be pretty similar, especially when it comes to the lovey part of the story, but Hex Hall isn’t one of those copycats. I loved the originality of this story. Yeah, there’s a boarding school where paranormal creatures go, but that’s really where any similarities with other paranormals stop.

I loved all the mythology (that’s probably not the right word at all, but I’m going with it) in the story. The witches, shape-shifters, and faeries were all interesting. I hope I get to learn more about the shape-shifters and faeries in the other books.

The characters were all fantastic. Of course, Elodie was fun to hate, but Hawkins managed to make her multi-dimensional enough that I actually wanted to like her sometimes.

I really liked Jenna and the way she would stand up for herself, but was still sensitive. She wasn’t all big-bad-scary-vamp or anything.

Oh, Sophie. Sophie was seriously awesome. She was sarcastic as heck, but didn’t pretend to be hard as nails. She still had feelings and they got hurt like a normal person. I really appreciated that. But man, did she go all kick-a**when she needed to. Plus, she was a good friend and I always love a good friend :]

Then, of course, there’s Archer. Who doesn’t love a sarcastic, hot warlock? I can certainly appreciate one  ;]

The Nutshell: Not only does Hex Hall bring originality to the table, but it has fantastic characters too. Characters aren’t something I usually notice, but Hawkins has some doozies here. I like Hawkins’ versions of witches and the magical world in general. I found it all to be very original and intriguing. If you’re wary of paranormal (like me) I highly advise giving Hex Hall a chance. It’ll make you gasp from all the twists and turns as well as laugh outright from all of Sophie (and Jenna’s) quips. Oh, and there’s kissing, just to sweeten the pot ;]

Pages: 336

Series: Hex Hall #1

Rating 5 stars