Hex Hall: Hex Hall Series, Book 1

By: Rachel Hawkins

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

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, an 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.

©2010 Rachel Hawkins (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The story is well paced and plotted with tween-friendly humor and well-developed characters." (Publishers Weekly)

sequoia

I loved the narrator voice as the different chartcters I would love to read more with her as the narrator

Definitely young adult, but good

I ended up enjoying 'Hex Hall' more than I thought I would. I went into it knowing it was Young Adult, yet interested in the concept - I'm glad I gave it a chance.

First, the bad. It's a Young Adult novel, and a little too pat for my tastes. The main character is special in many ways, and it started to feel a bit like a Mary Sue character. She's the most powerful witch of her generation, yet she doesn't know how to use her power. She's the daughter of the leader of the magical world, yet she has never met him. She's one of only four dark witches in the school, so the other witches need her in their coven. She's assigned as a roommate the one student at school who stands out from everyone else. She ends up getting detention with the hottest boy in school that she has a crush on. Detention, might I add, that consists of being locked in a room with him, alone, with the teachers not caring if they actually do the work assigned to them as detention. All of this made me annoyed with the book.

Now, the good news. Several of the points that annoyed me in the list above get explained in the book, so by the end of it, I ended up forgiving the author. In addition, the book's plot wasn't nearly as simple as I had expected it to be, and didn't go in the directions I expected. I was pleasantly surprised that all the clues were in place for me to figure it out, yet I didn't - and that things I expected to happen in a Young Adult book often did happen, but then transformed in a way I didn't expect. All in all, the writing was solid - plots that made sense within the world, characters that were likeable and had motivations and stories of their own, and a fast pace that didn't leave you time to get bored.

I enjoyed the narrator and her slight drawl; she was a pleasure to listen to, and helped the characters come alive.

I've put the next book in the series on my wishlist.

So fun

I had a lot of fun with this book. It definitely had me laughing at points, I felt like a detective at times trying to piece together details (I was like half right, so it is mildly predictable). I don't really have much to say negatively towards this book though and I certainly want more, so the sequels are now on my TBR.

Such a fun "read"!

This book actually brought me back years later to finish out the series with a fresh read. I loved the lore and the fun/sassy lead. It kept me laughing and intrigued through the whole thing! I definitely recommend this book. It's clean and a lot of fun.

Hex Hall

I really enjoy this series. There always seems to be mean girls in these stories and everyone has an unstable home. But I still love these characters.