Review: Hex Hall (Hex Hall, #1) by Rachel Hawkins

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.

If I had to pick one word to describe Rachel Hawkins’ new book Hex Hall it would be AMAZING! The story was fast paced, the characters intriguing, and her new spin on the paranormal genre was refreshing, and not to mention addicting…I couldn’t put the book down.
The protagonist Sophie Mercer was so easy to relate to that I didn’t even realize how easily I connected to her character until I found myself shouting in outrage when she was picked on, or crossing my fingers that she gets the oh-so-dreamy heartthrob and holding out hope that she can make friends in a place where she finally doesn’t have to feel like an outsider. Hawkins created characters that fit the stereotypical outline but yet go beyond the normal limitations. Sophie's fellow witches, for example are not just your normal beautiful, popular, catty mean girls; they’re taken a step further when Hawkins gives them dark powers. Sophie and the readers are not sure what exactly they’re capable of, or how dangerous they really are. I was constantly on the edge of my seat wondering how far they were really willing to go in order to meet their goal, not to mention that I was dying to know what exactly their “goal” really was. Were the rumors at Hecate really true or are these girls just bluffing?

The murder mystery taking place at the Hecate school, affectionately known by the students as Hex Hall will have readers staying up late into the night to see if Sophie can discover who’s behind all these strange attacks, or will she be too late? Will it turn out to be the obvious suspect or someone she least expects? My lips are sealed, if you want to know what happens, you’ll just have to read the book to find out, you won’t regret it. I wasn’t disappointed in the least, but I was left craving for more. So now there is yet another sequel’s release that I’ll be hoping comes out sooner rather than later…these authors will be the death of me with their cliffhangers, and far away release dates. Hex Hall was AMAZING, the series is sure to be a success, and Hawkins has only given us a preview of the amazing writing she’s capable of and we’ll definitely see more of in the future.

I gave Hex Hall (Hex Hall, #1) 5 shamrocks!