The Hex Girls: A Rogue Thorn

by Lily Meade

Everything’s chill in Coolsville. . . until the Hex Girls move to town. Can Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang solve the mystery surrounding the goth rockers before someone gets hurt? Find out in this dark, mysterious, and exciting take on the beloved Scooby-Doo cartoon!

Coolsville is shaken up when eco-goth band The Hex Girls move to town. Teenagers Thorn, Luna, and Dusk are looking for a fresh start for themselves and their band after the disastrous events that destroyed their hometown and Thorn’s reputation. But things take a turn for the worse when a mysterious mist starts killing crops and making people sick wherever Thorn goes. She quickly becomes the town’s prime suspect and is outcast once again.

As her band falls apart, Thorn turns to the Mystery Inc. gang, especially Velma, for help as they try to solve the mystery and prove Thorn’s innocence. While the gang thinks that Thorn’s magical powers are the key to stopping the growing threat to Coolsville, Thorn is sure magic will only bring more harm than good—and that revealing her true nature would make her an outsider forever. Can they solve the mystery and save Coolsville before someone gets seriously hurt. . . or worse?

Full of classic Scooby-Doo antics mixed with darker, more mysterious horrors, this spooky, romantic mystery is sure to thrill teens and Scooby-Doo fans!

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, LGBT, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Middle Grade, Romance

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2025

Reviews

[Aiden Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hex Girls: A Rogue Thorn is a spellbinding remix of fame, friendship, and fury! With sinister secrets, magical reckoning, and the raw energy of a punk rock riot, Lily Meade delivers a fierce and emotionally charged story about girlhood, grief, and taking back what's yours. This book hits like a curse and heals like a scream.

Perfect for fans of FT Lukens, Kalynn Bayron, and stories where girls fight back with magic and fire!

[♥Milica♥]

SCOOBY DOO AND THE HEX GIRLS IN A BOOK?? 👁️👄👁️ SEATED

[Lily Meade · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a dream to say I wrote this! Can't wait for you to read this summer! Consider following me on social (@LilyMeade everywhere) to learn more about my time playing in the world of my favorite meddling teens!

[Kaycee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited for this book but it really fell flat for me. I am a Scooby Doo fan but the other characters in the Mystery Inc. gang did not feel very authentic. I also was not a fan of the romance storyline within and thought it could do without. I love a good mystery and was hoping it was geared toward that instead. I also found this to be a way younger YA than I am used to as well. For a younger audience, it would be extremely easy to follow.

This could have just been me not realizing that it was a totally different vibe than normal Scooby but if you're not too set on that, then you would probably enjoy the book.

In other comments, I loved the artwork on this and the author is super sweet. I will still check out her other book but this one ended up not being for me.

[Kaitlyn]

I saw this on NetGalley and actually smiled so hard. It's super YA - so will I read this? Probably not tbh. BUT The Hex Girls and Scooby Doo were my jam as a kid and this was so nostalgic I couldn't help but save it on goodreads lol.

[Rianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spooky Reads #3

Based on e-arc from Edelweiss

2.5 stars

When I first saw this on Edelweiss I was so excited. Witch’s Ghost is one of my favorite Scooby-Doo movies. But this is not the sequel I was expecting.
First, in this universe the gang are now teenagers instead of the adults from the movie. Which I could live with only at first. Cause you can’t really do an R-rated Scooby movie. (And please no one ever do). So I think it would have been completely fine keeping them as adults in a YA book.

Anyway.
Basic premise is Thorn’s family has become quite ostracized by their hometown after her father’s involvement in summoning Sarah Ravencroft. They decide to move to Coolsville cause the Mystery Gang made it seem so nice a town. Conveniently, Dusk and Luna’s family are able to just up and move like Thorns. Not long after arriving the Harvest Host is wreaking havoc.

First impressions: this is nothing but ANGST. Just teen angst and woe is me.
Too much drama and not enough mystery solving. We follow Thorn throughout who is mostly used as bait but all the mystery solving by the gang is done mostly off page.
SCOOBY DOESN’T EVEN TALK
The romance between Velma and Thorn is fine. Though we all know Velma is more into Coco. Or even Daphne if we go by tv show.
Reads like a fanfic. Nothing against fanfiction to be clear.
And the gang has been ‘updated’ in ways that didn’t them feel liked their character. Never once read of Shaggy or Scooby running in fear. Early in the book Thorn is warned against befriending the gang because they are known for stealing and breaking into places but never get in trouble because Fred’s police chief father covers all that up.
SCOOBY. DOESN’T. TALK.
I think that was really the breaking part for me that I wasn’t going to enjoy this immensely.

[hannah rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 - As someone who grew up watching Scooby Doo and still adores it, I feel almost offended by this book. The characterization of some of these characters and the romance aspect feels soooo out of left field. Not to mention the plot. It feels like one too many things were added in and not explored nearly enough. Because it was so short and I’m prideful I did finish it. However, it is definitely not something I will be picking up again.

[Maria Franceschini · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars is being generous because I DNF this book. I loved the concept and the art on the cover but I got 7 chapters in with nothing happening. I expected a mystery to quickly develop but instead I got a weird romance story. I know this was a YA book but I thought it would be more like scooby doo and it wasn’t.

[Raaven💖]

So. I’ll start by saying what I liked. I thought the idea of an all black band with Thorn being sapphic was cool as hell. I enjoyed that part. Unfortunately, it didn’t really go anywhere.

What I didn’t like:

I’m a huge fan of The Hex Girls and of The Witches Ghost where they were introduced. This book is a direct sequel a year after the movie. Unfortunately, this book is for people who have never seen the original movie or any Scooby Doo media in their lives. Why are they in high school? In the movie they are at least in their early 20s. Why did Thorn have to move? She was celebrated for saving the town with her magic at the end. You’re telling me an entire town hated a teenage girl to the point she had to up and move her life and go across the country because her dad helped pretend the town was haunted? He wasn’t even the only one!! Most of the town was involved!! The mayor was involved!! Now everyone hates her? And her entire band was able to just up and move with her because they didn’t want the band to get split up?

The first antagonist is revealed and because it names The Hex Girls, they are said to be the bad guys. Or more like Thorn is the bad guy. And you want me to believe the entire school/town turned on Thorn because a magical mist said their band’s name and it messed up the plants in the garden club?? Who cares about the garden club that much?? There’s like 2 members in it! And you also want me to believe Dusk turned on Thorn and befriended a girl who picked on her and was mean to her because she didn’t have anyone to talk to in class? She told one of Thorn’s biggest secrets to this stranger she knew for like a day because none of her friends could sit with her in their hour long class? After she moved across the country to be with Thorn?? How does that make sense! If you knew The Hex Girls, they wouldn’t turn on each other for anything. Especially not someone who was actively mean to another band member. And Luna was barely in this! I kept forgetting she was a member. It was just Thorn and Dusk with Velma. And I’ll get started on the Gang. Everyone is barely in it except Velma. Shaggy and Scooby, the favorites of the show? Nope. Scooby doesn’t even talk!! I think shaggy has 2 talking points and shows up maybe twice as well. Also I’ll say again SCOOBY NEVER TALKS!!! How is it a Scooby Doo universe book with Scooby not being a focal point and him being out of character? He’s just a dog.


And that “plot twist” near the end. Ugh. It doesn’t make any sense with the story. And why would Thorn no longer want to do her Wiccan magic when again she used it to save the town!! I was trying not to rip my hair out at all the inconsistencies. I dont mean anything by this at all. This book felt like I was reading a fic on AO3 with the Velma/Thorn rare pair tag with a highschool AU. Tagged OOC. It just didn’t feel like a real Scooby Doo book. But I also want fans to know this isn’t really for us. It’s for people who haven’t seen the movie. And it coming out in 1999 probably means less and less of the new gen know it. Which is fine. I hope they enjoy this more than I did.

[heysapphie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute!

[Liberty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really really could have done without the romance plot. I just wanted a good classic mystery. It delivered that but every other sentence out of the character's mouth was romance plot related and I ended up just skimming those chunks of dialogue. The random pairing and race swapping is a bit odd. At times I even forget the characters are were swapped because it's mentioned so little and if it weren't for the book cover I would forget it completely. That said the mystery was solid the Easter eggs were fun and I loved the twists and turns. A really quick good read.

[Dipper Pines · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the Hex Girls, so I really, really tried not to have a biased opinion of this book. Fortunately, that wasn't too hard at all; unfortunately, it's because this story felt so far removed from either a Scooby-Doo story, or a Hex Girls story, or even a good story for that matter.

Starting with the writing style, it just feels so juvenile, not in the sense that I think the writer is incompetent, not by any means, but in the sense that this truly felt more like a middle-grade novel than the YA book it was advertised as. It's not a major thing, but if you notice it--which you will--you can't unnotice it. This is especially shown in the dialogues or internal monologues of characters, prime examples being, "I'm going to make out with her for so long that the oxygen loss brings her IQ back down to those of us normal mortals (Pg. 235), and "I'm lost in this merry-go-round of gay panic (Pg. 134)." This doesn't truly affect my personal ranking of it, I think it's just extremely weird, feeling as if they bumped it to YA at the last minute to reach a wider audience.

Then, the characters feel so one-dimensional. Thorn feels like a different character from herself in Scoob-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, as does Mystery Inc. The biggest offender, in my opinion, is Luna and Dusk, as the book is marketed as the Hex Girls , it really just is a Thorn story. Which is fine, I mean, she is the face of the Hex Girls, but the other girls are so sidelined. They're never given a chance to shine. Dusk is never given a chance to serve as a complex character, with her own feelings till halfway through the book, and then we barely see her for the rest of it. The huge rift that divides Dusk and Thorn is never fixed. Dusk's new friend just dies so suddenly her and Thorn are cool again. On the topic of Dusk's friend, Jordan, she functions as a generic bully character, othering and terrorizing Thorn, believing she's keeping Coolsville safe from a girl who allegedly ruined her last town. There's no chance for Jordan to make amends with Thorn or Dusk, however, as she dies to further the mystery of the story. What's truly unfortunate is that the story could've done something interesting, humanizing Jordan after her death, showing that she herself was a victim of a system that encouraged conformity. Being critical of Coolsville, Thorn would recognize how Jordan was a victim, forced to perpetuate the rhetoric she grew up around to fit in, having a newfound understanding of her that only came after her death, making it all the more tragic. But, no, her death is only used to sloppily prop up a twist twist-villian. For the life of me, I can't even name significant things Luna did in this story.

Brief intermission from being mean-spirited; all the references throughout the book are great. From Zombie Island, to Mystery Inc., to Where Are You?, to the live-action movies, to what I even believe was supposed to be a What's Cool Scooby-Doo reference, there are so many references to spot. If you read this book purely to skim and find references, you'll have a good time.

Finally, the plot feels so slopy. There are two major villains, but we're introduced to the person behind the Harvest Host, the main villain of the book, a little over 200 pages in, and then are killed shortly after their introduction to prop up the other twist villain. To reference this book's source material, it feels like it's going for a Ben and Sarah Ravencroft plot twist. One villain who's a human, and one twist villain who actually is a supernatural creature. However, the difference is that we’re introduced to Ben from the very beginning, through his character, Sarah is propped up as a misunderstood, good-natured witch, who was persecuted and killed for being ahead of her time. But the Harvest Host scam and the actual ghost are completely separated from each other, making the twist very uninteresting. Then, with the man behind the Harvest Host, we understand that he’s clearly evil, acting as an over-the-top caricature of out-of-touch CEOs, but besides him, sort of being a jerk and not caring for the environment, we’re never given a reason to care (or I guess not, to care) about him. We never firsthand see the lives impacted by the scheme; the closest we get is Velma’s hospitalization, and at that point in the story, it’s so late that her hospitalization barely matters. We never see people losing jobs, losing their property, lives ruined, all we do is hear about happening to characters Thorn has no personal connection to.

There’s also the growing tension between Thorn and her father, which we never truly feel is realized or worked through. The actual resolution to this problem is her father giving her mother’s journal and being like, “Sorry I ruined your life, lmao.” After this, we don’t see her father till the very end, where he has no dialogue and seems to be on good terms with her father. So thanks for that character resolution, we never witnessed, Lily Meade.

We also never get a true resolution to the Hex Girls feeling out of place within Coolsville, just an ending that’s along the lines of “well, with the spirit of Laura Cooldige gone, people can be free to not fit the status quo.” However, we never see characters that don’t fit the status quo pretending to try and fit it; we only see the Hex Girls and Mystery Inc., who are already established not to fit the status quo, continuing to not follow it… so nothing truly changed? We never see people begin to accept Mystery Inc., even though it’s been established that they’re ostracized for being weird, gungho mystery solvers; nothing feels like it’s changed from the beginning to the middle to the end of this book. The only difference is that there are two dead people, one less ghost, and one extra couple. On the topic of Velma and Thorn as a couple, it’s so unimportant that I’ve gone this far into my review without mentioning them as a couple that, and if I hadn’t mentioned them right now, nothing would have changed.

Finally, considering that this story focuses so much on Thorn over the other Hex Girls, she barely does anything interesting in terms of solving either of the mysteries. It’s really Mystery Inc. who are the ones who put in the effort of solving this mystery. Wow, Lily Meade, having your lesbian poc lead being upshowed and constantly saved by a group of financially well-off white people, not very progressive. Seriously, though, it’s Velma and the rest of Mystery Inc. who help get her out of trouble throughout this whole book. Thorn has no sense of agency throughout the whole thing. She only develops one less than 15 pages before the book ends. With how little ANY of the Hex Girls do throughout this book, this really should’ve just been a Scooby-Doo book, cause it really does feel like one, just told from the perspective of an outsider. Matter of fact, there’s a scene where Thorn sacrifices her own values to keep Mystery Inc. from receiving backlash, which they were never even going to receive if she stuck to her own values. This book sure does put Mystery Inc. on a pedestal of not being able to do any wrongdoing. The one instance where someone raises the idea that Mystery Inc.’s mystery-solving can cause more problems than it solves is never given any merit, never explored. All Thorn does is cut off the person who said this, and we never even see them again. This book holds Mystery Inc. to such a weird standard of not being capable of any wrongdoing that no other adaptation, which is actually about them, shies away from exploring. Causing it to fall flat as either a Hex Girls story, cause you can’t be one without the rest of the Hex Girls, and falling flat as a Mysetry Inc. story, as it relegates them to such shallow versions of their characters. This is a poor story and a poor adaptation, and I can’t even decide which one’s worse.

There’s so much more I could go off about on this book, but I’d rather spend my Halloween going into Dia De Los Muertos doing stuff I enjoy, and forgetting this book.

(Also, like Shaggy never like says like, and like I think that’s such a big problem, and like what caused me to give it like two stars, man.)

[Austin Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely garbage fan fiction with zero respect or regard for the source material. Even if you try to ignore the franchise and characters this is based on, this is still a terrible story. It's nothing but extremely cringeworthy and cheesy teen melodrama, woe-is-me, angsty characters, bad characterization in general; very little to no focus on the mystery aspect, very little threat or stakes involved... just all around BAD.

The only thing slightly redeeming about this is there are some moments of decent writing, I think Lily Meade must have some experience as an author - and I liked the first three or so chapters that recap the events of The Witch's Ghost movie and begin to set up the story.
That's really it. After those first few chapters it was downhill and kept progressively getting worse.

This should have been titled: Thorn and Velma's Love Story.
This is not what I come to a Scooby-Doo type story for.

1.5⭐

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read as more of a middle grade title than YA, but it was still fun. I do wish there was more depth to the characters and I'm disappointed that Scooby didn't speak in this book. I wanted more Scooby and Shaggy antics to lighten the mood.

[caroline hernandez zamayoa · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m going to be incredibly biased, since my special interest is scooby-doo.

but i absolutely ADORED this book. so fun, and so sweet. the characters felt so true to who we know them to be. and FINALLY, more queer velma representation in the scoobyverse!!!

[Larissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Scooby Doo and I love the Hex Girls, but honestly, I wasn’t blown away by this story. I really love that the Hex Girls are getting a book told from their point of view. They are an underrated group of reoccurring characters in the Scooby Doo series. I also don’t mind that they insinuate that Velma is part of the LGBTQ+ community, what I didn’t like was the gang just didn’t read like it was an authentic voice for any of them. Which I kind of get since the story is really about the Hex Girls and not the Scooby Gang, but when they did interact none of the characters read like I know them from the show. Not that they didn’t still fit the fashion diva, the food loving young man, the trap enthusiast, and the loyal friend. But the way they actually talked didn’t seem authentic. Especially Velma. She just felt really off. She didn’t come off as the super nerd she normally does, nor did she have the quick whit that I am use to. I love the Scooby Doo world because in each generation they change a little bit, but their main essence always seems to come with them and I didn’t feel that quite as much with this book.
Thank you so much to Random House Children’s Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Where do I even begin 😩 I love love looooove Scooby-Doo, The Witch’s Ghost is one of my all time fave movies and I GASPED when I saw this at the library, not even reading the description before I took it out. When I realized it’s supposed to be a direct continuation of the movie I literally said out loud “holy shit let’s go” 🎸🤘🏻

So I got into it. It takes place in ~modern~ day, which on one hand I understand but also I don’t because there weren’t cell phones and video calls like there are now when the movie came out, so mkay. I saw they were in high school. Also weird in the face of it being a direct continuation but I do get it. And then they just randomly dropped that Thorn is Black. I had to do a double take because no she’s not? I looked at the cover and realized they all have a darker complexion than I would have expected, but I thought Thorn and Luna were just weirdly tan (Dusk has always been a woman of colour). 😵‍💫 Her skin colour is only mentioned that one time (unless you count the comment from Laura at the end about “someone foreign” and her response being she’s from the East Coast and not another country) and Luna’s isn’t even mentioned. So why do we have this change? In a book that’s supposed to be a direct continuation of a movie where she’s not Black? Her dad in the movie isn’t Black, and we find out info about Thorn’s mom in this book that also leads me to believe she’s not Black sooooooo??? Same with Velma seemingly being of Latin descent, I know that’s been explored in some other books but again I ask why.

The book mentioned colonialism a lot, which seemed weird for a Scooby-Doo story but 😬 I also am not fully onboard with Thorn and Velma as a couple, I’ve seen the theory before and while I’m mostly fine with Velma being gay I just don’t see her with Thorn. It doesn’t make sense. And the high school way Thorn thought/talked about her feelings for Velma were often cringey af. “I’m going to make out with her for so long that the oxygen loss brings her IQ back down to those of us normal mortals” 💀 like what in the AO3 at 4am is that!!! Big yikes. There was also a weird anti-capitalism, “woke” angle to it that has good, correct points, but felt out of place in the world of Scooby-Doo.

I was shocked that Jordan died, that doesn’t usually happen in Scooby-Doo. The added mystery of Laura was kind of weird, at first I thought it was setting up a sequel but then they went ahead and solved all that in the last 50 odd pages kind of out of nowhere.

My one big gripe with the book is who was it written for? You’d think millennials based on how old the movie is now, but it’s written like it’s aimed at 12-16 year olds who I can’t imagine have that same kind of relationship with these characters. Especially with the included Zombie Island reference and the super sly “running back and forth across the hall” that made me smile but also added to the confusion haha

It did seem wildly implausible that a) Thorn would have to leave Oakhaven and that b) Dusk and Luna’s families would up and move with them. Do it for the plot, I guess!

I liked the gang, I honestly didn’t even notice that Scooby didn’t talk but I do agree everyone feels a little flat. It must be hard to take generally flat characters and make them seem like real people while keeping them true, so I’m not sure how it could have been done any differently.

The Laura line about “you’re too abnormal for Coolsville” was absurd to me, how can anyone be weird for a town called that lmao I did like the inclusion of Crystal Cove, that town has shown up in the Velma and Daphne books.

In the end this was fun enough to read during spooky season but I don’t think it’s a good or accurate representation of Scooby-Doo or the Hex Girls. I’m gonna go re-watch The Witch’s Ghost and sing my heart out 🙌🏻

[Scoobyfan93]

Fun Hex Girls adventure

This was fun, nice humor, and a cozy little mystery set in the world of one of my favorite animated worlds. It was fun seeing a Mystery Incorporated mystery through someone elses eyes. And the mystery was a little darker than a usual scooby doo episode, there are murders, theres a love story, and [SLIGHT SPOILER] Scooby doesnt talk (sadly, the real reason it lost a star for me) but overall this was still a good YA read. Especially for Hex Girl fans

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC of this one. Like a lot of bi millennial women I was obsessed with Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost with the Hex Girls when I was younger so obviously when I saw an ARC for a Hex Girls novel was available I had to immediately download and read it.
This novel was a delight start to finish. When I started reading I thought oh, I’m picking up something between Velma and Thorn and it was so great watching their relationship develop over the whole novel. This read like an extended episode of Scooby Doo with some updates to fit with current day.
I really hope there’s more books in the future and I’m going to have to check the author’s other book as well.

[Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge Scooby fan, I ADORED this book from start to finish. Everything about it was phenomenal, and it’s clear Lily is a huge fan and put so much love and research into this! I love how there were references to both the events of witch’s ghost and zombie island, while still keeping this book and its universe a separate entity entirely and MWA!!! Also have to say that I love the way we get to see more of Dusk and Luna, and truly get to know more about their personalities and the like.



And HUGE spoiler warning, but OMGGGGGG

The Ravencroft twist took me OUT omg, I actually really enjoy that part of the story, and would love to see that sort of thing further explored. I think having Thorn learn more about that side of the family would be interesting in a future book (though I’d also be down to see a Dusk or Luna pov if that’s in the cards lol).

Shifting focus a little bit: Lily is an excellent writer and I already thoroughly enjoyed her debut novel (would defo recommend, it’s titled ‘the Shadow Sister’!!!), so I knew I would likely enjoy the characterizations presented for the gang here, but WOW, she hit it out of the ballpark, particularly with Velma.

In a few recent shows and films, Velma has been portrayed as a very stone cold skeptic, leaving zero room for the supernatural in her mind, and while that’s all well and good, it doesn’t read super Velma-y to me. But this Velma, keeping in line with the classic series and 90s films, is actually quite open to the idea from a scientific point of view and I think that is PHENOMENAL. Also always down for a Latina interpretation of the character, which this book also provides and YES. So good!!!

The hex girls themselves were, again, phenomenal. I love the group dynamic set up in this book, and Thorn herself made for a wonderful protagonist! I loved the way that Lily explored how the events of the witch’s ghost film affected Thorn’s psyche, and her relationship with her father as well. Also, giving her a pet Venus flytrap? Amazing. No notes. Eldritch ily.

Overall, wonderful Scooby book, would love for Lily to come back for more if she ever so chooses to :)

[Paul Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

While nicely written the mystery wasn’t very good. I felt Meade rewrote the character a bit too much. Velma and Thorn are a bizarre pairing and one that doesn’t really work in my opinion. Their relationship read like a bad fan fiction (especially that one scene where Thorn describes kissing Velma.) I also felt that some of the secondary characters weren’t well fleshed out like Jordan specifically.

I also think that by aging the characters down to high school it simply doesn’t work with the narrative in the movie The Witch’s Ghost. In that era of Scooby-Doo (Zombie Island, Witch’s Ghost, Alien Invaders, and Cyber Chase) there are multiple references to the gang being older. They have careers and even make references to “Well back in high school”. If Meade had simply made it to them being in college it would have worked better. They already solved all these mysteries so when they experience real monsters it’s a shock.

If you’re a Scooby fan it’s worth a read, but I wish it was more faithful in its interpretations of the characters.

[Courtney Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to stumble upon a book about the Hex Girls. They were my favorite part of Scooby Doo, and I always felt they were underused unexplored. I was certain this was my chance to get more background on all three of them and add new adventures.

That being said, I was a bit disappointed in how the plot of this book actually developed. It’s more about Thorn dealing with the aftermath from The Witch’s Ghost film and learning to pick up the pieces. I didn’t think the romantic subplot added to the book because I wanted it to focus on the Hex Girls. Luna and Dusk take backseats in this book and occasionally pop up throughout it. The interactions with Mystery Inc. were more about Thorn and Velma instead of everyone in both groups interacting.

It had a darker tone than normal Scooby Doo iterations because of some character death, which that could’ve been Meade playing into the darker characters of the Hex Girls to begin with.

It sets it up for another novel with the ending. If that’s the case, I would like to see more of the Hex Girls themselves the next go round.

[Horror Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never thought there'd be a YA sequel to the 1999 animated movie "Scooby Doo & the Witch's Ghost", but here it is. This was a fun Scooby Doo-type mystery, with the story being told from one of the Hex Girls POV (Thorn). This short book has all the familiar ingredients. A supernaturally tinged mystery, a number of suspects, the gang trying and failing to avoid trouble, a good amount of teenage angst, and one of my favorite scenes of the whole book (Fred trying to justify wearing an ascot to his friends was hilarious). The ending feels satisfying and I'm hoping there will be a sequel in the future.

[Nicholas Krochta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I love the hex girls and scooby doo, so this was perfect. also, this being a direct follow-up to Witches ghost was fantastic.

[Abbey Flentje · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little book I took to kill time in the ER.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great mix of mystery and paranormal elements! Perfect for fans of Scooby Doo and YA!

[Jenna Alcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh boy .... the story flowed, but if it was trying to be a sequal it really didnt succed, as it created too many plot holes for the original movie. I grew up watching this movie, and this didn't feel like this was meant to be based in the year 2000 if your going by release date of the orignal film. this book is far more a tie in to mystery incorporated series then the actual film as they clearly were adults not high schooler.

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want this to be a series, with the Hex Girls popping up between Where Are You? episodes! My only quibble is Scooby not talking

[Yessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read exactly like the Scooby-Doo movie the Hex girls came from. A possible real world mystery mixed with supernatural elements, hints of which were sprinkled in through the story. While the book series title is Hex Girls, this book mainly focuses on Thorn, the guitarist and lead singer of the band. While Dusk and Luna are there, the main focus is on Thorn and her relationship with Velma. As a result, it didn't really feel like a Scooby-Doo story. The gang is there, and fills their role just fine, but that's it. Meade essentially has them do their bit then leave. I do appreciate the changes to the characters to diversify the world, such as the sapphic romance between Thorn and Velma, and Velma being (possibly) Hispanic in this story (she was eating tamales and said she has an abuela). There are attempts to worldbuild Coolsville, such as the divide in Fred's relationship with his dad, but it's just breezed over. Everything is just hand waved away, and explained as that's the way Coolsville is, but it felt like a cop out. The ending leaves it open for more to happen in Coolsville, so maybe there will be more books to expand on the town (featuring Luna and Dusk, I hope!)

[Ellyn → Allonsythornraxx · Rating 3 out of 5]

19/10/2025
3.25 ⭐
Cause I'm a Hex Girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you!!! I will officially be annoying everyone by singing this around the house on repeat. I do wish I'd rewatched The Witch's Ghost before I read this one, just because it picks up a few months after that story with The Hex Girls and Mystery Inc, but I was still able to easily follow along with my vague memories of the movie, so it's deifnitely not a must if you haven't seen the movie in a while. I do wish this had maybe seen one more round of edits because I spotted one or two typos (which absolutely did not interrupt my reading or interrupt the story at all) and there was a vegan/vegetarian mix-up, but other than that, I really don't understand why this is getting such a low reception. It's a Hex Girls novel with the Mystery Inc. gang fully present!! Why isn't everyone else going as crazy over this as I am? I really, really hope that the poor reception doesn't scare the publisher or Lily Meade off from making this a series because I had a blast reading it and will absolutely be keeping my copy as a trophy on my shelf next to my Scooby funkos!

Read for the Scoobathon Round 4 Buddy Read on Discord

22/09/2025
I’m bringing back my scooby-doo themed readathon!! Will you join me?? 🐶📖🎃👻🔎
I’ve been running a Scooby-Doo themed redathon ever since 2021, except for 2024, because, for health reasons, I wasn’t able to run it. But, I’m finally bringing it back! I am not someone who can handle scary things, but I am someone who LOVES Scooby Doo, which is very much my scary limit lol.

You can find out more about the readathon here, but the gist of it is that this round runs from October 1st to 31st, and there are 5 reading prompts. But, for anyone who wants the extra challenge, we also have a bingo board and a buddy read!!
You can join our little community on Discord here



11/05/2025
Lily Meade wrote this for me personally. It's true. She told me.



My Blog | Letterboxd | Instagram | Bookstagram | Tumblr | Twitter | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Hoemance Book Club | Graphicsathon | Scoobathon | Wishlist