Hex Hall (Hex Hall, #1) in TeAmNeRd ReViEwS

Jan 25, 2011 Moonlight Gleam rated it it was amazing

After a love spell has gone horribly wrong, a teen witch named Sophie Mercer is sent to live at a reform school known as Hecate Hall by her father as punishment. There, she and other teen Prodigium, witches, warlocks, shape shifters, faeries, and a vampire, learn how to use and control their powers so that they do not attract the attention of their mortal enemies, ‘The Eye’.

Sophie is immediately befriended by her roommate Jenna, the only vampire at Hecate. Soon after, not only does Sophie discov After a love spell has gone horribly wrong, a teen witch named Sophie Mercer is sent to live at a reform school known as Hecate Hall by her father as punishment. There, she and other teen Prodigium, witches, warlocks, shape shifters, faeries, and a vampire, learn how to use and control their powers so that they do not attract the attention of their mortal enemies, ‘The Eye’.

Sophie is immediately befriended by her roommate Jenna, the only vampire at Hecate. Soon after, not only does Sophie discover that someone has been attacking the students at Hecate; she also learns that her roommate and friend Jenna is the prime suspect. Elodie, the most popular girl in school and two other witches try to get Sophie to join their coven for protection, however, she immediately refuses their offer. From there on, Elodie makes Sophie’s stay at Hecate as uncomfortable as she can.

The story would not be complete without the handsome warlock named Archer Cross. Although Archer is Elodie’s boyfriend, he and Sophie show signs of chemistry from the very beginning and their friendship develops throughout the rest of the story with many surprises hidden around each corner.

Hex Hall is an attention grabbing read which will have you tearing through the pages to get to the end. Sophie’s adventure to discovering her roots will keep you on your toes and surprise you after learning the true strength of her powers and the position her father has in the supernatural community. Sophie is a character that shows determination and loyalty to those she cares for. I admire that Sophie is portrayed as a realistic character through her emotions and flaws, although she is powerful, she is vulnerable at the same time. There is a great deal of emotion presented within the novel such as fear, love and hate. By having these emotions presented in the novel, it is easy for the readers to relate to the story and it’s wonderfully portrayed characters.

Rachel Hawkins did a fantastic job in keeping the mystery threat to the students hidden from her readers tuntil the very end. I admire that Rachel kept the characters in the novel true to themselves at all times. From the sarcastic, witty main character Sophie, to the fun, pink loving vampire sidekick Jenna, each character is unique and reveals their hidden depths throughout the novel. Some of my favorite elements were Sophie’s quirky narrative voice, the adventure, the developing romance, and definitely the paranormal elements.

I believe that Rachel Hawkins is a wonderful storyteller that knows exactly which elements to combine in order to please her readers. I recommend Hex Hall to anyone who enjoys Young Adult fiction and the Paranormal with a little hint of romance.

5 /5 - MUST READ!!! LOVED IT!!! ...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Annabell rated it it was amazing

I had instantly been intrigued to this book through the cover. One girl standing in a forest dressed in a school uniform. Another girl upside standing in a lake with a black cat. As soon as I read the blurb, I was hooked and I was not disappointed! Hex Hall was filled with witty banter, well defined characters, and tantalizing mystery.

The novel is told from Sophie’s point of view. She is a witch who was raised only by her mother. Her father she has never met so it’s been up to Sophie’s mother to I had instantly been intrigued to this book through the cover. One girl standing in a forest dressed in a school uniform. Another girl upside standing in a lake with a black cat. As soon as I read the blurb, I was hooked and I was not disappointed! Hex Hall was filled with witty banter, well defined characters, and tantalizing mystery.

The novel is told from Sophie’s point of view. She is a witch who was raised only by her mother. Her father she has never met so it’s been up to Sophie’s mother to teach her how to handle being a witch which has made Sophie pretty inept at creating spells. Most of the time, her spells don’t exactly go the way they are supposed to. One of Sophie’s love spells goes wrong at prom and Sophie’s mother sends her to a reform school called Hecate (Hex) Hall. It is a boarding school for magical children who haven’t exactly hidden their powers well in the human world.

I was very happy the book was told from Sophie’s point of view. She is too funny! She will cause you to have a lot of laugh out loud and shake your head in amusement. You wind feeling like Sophie is your friend and caring about what happens to her. She is sweet and caring but is she also stubborn and strong. She doesn’t care about being Miss Popular. She just cares about being true to herself. She can be gullible at times but she has never had any real friends and has always felt like an outcast. She also doesn’t understand the magical world and has to learn as she makes mistakes but that’s what makes her endearing.

Of course, no YA novel would be complete without a set of villains and a really hot guy. Elodie, Anna, and Chaston are the top witches at the reform school. They are super powerful and have nasty attitudes to go along with it, especially, Elodie. Archer Cross is the hot boy on campus. He is, technically, off limits considering he is dating Elodie but that doesn’t stop Sophie from daydreaming about him. He is your all around bad boy: sexy features, toned up body, powerful magic, and huge vault of sarcasm at his disposal. I was surprised at Archer’s character because he comes off as being this egocentric jerk but turns out to have a heart.

The pacing of the novel is wonderful. You never feel weighed down. Sophie’s voice flows seamlessly with the plot as it moves forward. The chapters are just the right amount of length. The plot is filled with magic and a dark, sinister mystery as Sophie’s fellow pupils are falling victim to an unseen force attacking the school. All fingers point to Jenna, Sophie’s best friend who also happens to be a vampire. Jenna was, by far, one of the best characters in the book. She is open and loving but don’t mess with her, she will take you down! She cracked me up many times throughout the book and she is completely obsessed with pink which is my favorite color, so it was hard not to love Jenna *hehe*

The novel is a bit predictable but that didn’t stop me from enjoying Sophie and her story. The magic was so much fun and the characters were engaging. The twist at the end was a very nice touch by the author! There did, at times, seem as if the characters weren’t taking what was happening as seriously as they should but I’m hoping in the next novel the author has the characters mature more. I also hope the drama intensifies since in Hex Hall, the drama was there but not as much as I feel it should have been considering the characters were facing such difficult and tragic situations.

Hex Hall is an easy and fun filled read. It may at times lean more towards humor instead of drama, and at times seem somewhat predictable, but the characters are lovable and the plot is very interesting. I look forward to reading the next novel, Demonglass, and continuing Sophie’s adventure.
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