Hex Hall Book One by Rachel Hawkins

After a prom-night spell goes badly wrong, witch Sophie Mercer is exiled to an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, supernaturally gifted teenagers, where she learns that an unknown predator has been attacking students.

Enjoyed it for the author's voice alone.
It made the book totally readable.

The plot isn't startling but the humorous snark of the MC is great.

I wasn't expecting much but I really enjoyed this book! Sophie has a wicked since of humor and I found myself getting sucked into the story for hours at a time. I'm very excited to read the next in the series!

3.5 Stars

I'm going to marathon through this trilogy this week, so this review is going to be short. The writing was meh for me, but I really enjoyed the characters and the world. I feel like Hawkins could have built up the world a little more, but I guess she has two more books for that. I also really wanted to meet Sophie's Dad, but I guess that can't happen yet. Hopefully I don't have to wait long.

This book had a lot of plot twists and I didn't not see a single one coming. Each one was a surprise. That being said I'm looking forward to continue to see where this is going.

BLUF: This is a light, fast-paced chick lit. If you expect this to be the new Harry Potter, you're not going to get what you're looking for.

Plot: Hex Hall is a young adult, high school novel. Need I say more?

Fine...

Hex Hall follows Sophie, a sixteen-year-old half-witch, half-human who is trying to live a normal teenage life. Despite moving schools constantly, Sophie can't seem to control herself when it comes to performing well-intended spells to help those she knows. Her love-potion-gone-horribly-wrong gets her sent to Hex Hall. Hex Hall is a school for witches, wizards, faeries, and shape shifters for those who have been determined unfit to go to school with the humans for some circumstance or another. Sophie sees this as her final chance to belong but, after a rough first day, is unsure what the future will hold.

Oh boy, where to start.

Flaws: I'm not going to lie, this book is pretty flawed. The writing is simple, the main character makes stupid mistakes, and the mystery is disappointing.

My Take: Despite these characteristics, I adored this book. The simple writing is fine considering this is a light novel. You don't even have to think of the murder mystery much, which bummed me out. (But thank goodness because the murder mystery was weakly wrapped up. Grr.) The stupid mistakes are fine because she doesn't get away with it. The mystery is unsatisfactory as it comes to an end quick and without much attention.

Cliffhanger: Some people say that this book ends on a cliffhanger. I disagree. A cliffhanger causes the reader to feel as if they are missing out if they don't read more. The author may have meant for the book to end in a cliffhanger, but the ending wasn't of enough substance to compel the reader to pick up the next book. (Don't get me wrong, I am going to read the next book, but not because of the ending.)

Shh.. Don't tell: Between The Host and this book, it seems clear that this is my “Guilty Pleasure” genre.