Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Summary: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.


My Favorite Quote:"Wow," I heard Mom say, and I turned to her with a smile. "Good luck explaining to God that you used to spank one of his heavenly beings." Mom gave a startled laugh, "Sophie!". "What? You did. I hope you like hot weather, Mom, that’s all I’m saying."


My Review:This book is hilarious! Full on, laugh out loud funny. It's like a cross between Harry Potter, Vampire Academy,Sarah Mlynowski's Magic In Manhattan series, Anna and the French Kiss and Mean Girls meets Sabrina the teenage witch.That may seem a bit much for one book, but it works for this book. This book is a light, fun read that I read in the space of a day or two. It is undoubtedly aimed at a young adult audience, but this didn't affect my enjoyment at all. I would say it is a book for all ages. The book had a brilliant ending that left me wanting for more. A boarding school for witches and whatnot isn't exactly original and it's a hard field to compete in when you're up against the likes of J.K.Rowling, but Rachel Hawkins managed to do it, and I loved it. I won't say that I expected to hate it, but I did expect to be bored. I never imagined there would be moments that made me laugh out loud and annoyingly stereotypical bad boys that are actually hot enough to get away with being annoyingly stereotypical bad boys. Yes, you heard me right: another young adult novel with another hot but dangerous male love interest... but this time I completely loved it. Hawkins addresses some very real-world issues in this book, even though it's set in a fantasy world. She deals with jealousy, angst, teen sexuality, crushes, friendships, and just what makes a gorgeous prom dress. There is backstabbing, secrets, betrayal, mystery, and a cliffhanger ending that is enough to make you excited for the second book, but not so suspenseful that you feel as if everything went unresolved. I love the pacing of the story. It was not too slow or too fast.The only thing this novel is missing is some solid world-building, for there certainly were times when I wasn't sure if the author was being intentionally enigmatic or if it was just lack of information. Despite its faults, Hex Hall was an excellent read filled with sarcasm, hilarious situations,great characters and an intriguing story. I will most definitely be reading the second book in the series.