Monday, November 15, 2010

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

This was a fun, fast paced book, filled with humor and many memorable quotes that I read from cover to cover in a matter of hours. The main character Sophie is a sarcastic, self-deprecating witch, who was raised by her human mother and knows very little about her magical heritage or her warlock father. When a love spell goes horribly wrong, Sophie is sent to Hex (Hecate) Hall, a reform school for Prodigium (magical folk) where she learns the dangers and consequences of exposure to the human community and how to protect and defend herself from those who hunt the paranormal. Since, Sophie and her mother never stayed in one place for more than a few months, she has always found it difficult to bond with her human peers. Now that she lives with her own kind, as well as werewolves, shape shifters, and fairies, instead of finding comfort and acceptance, she finds that she is even more alone and alienated than ever. It doesn’t help that her only friend and roommate is a vampire suspected of murder, or that a group of dark witches want her to join their coven and aren’t too pleased when she refuses.

My only complaint with this novel is the lack of attention paid to secondary characters. Most of the focus is on Sophie, her roommate Jenna, her love interest Archer, and her nemesis Elody. What about the other students? Sophie has little if any interaction with the Fey, werewolves, and shape shifters that go to her school. Hex Hall encourages its students to intermingle with one another, which is how Sophie gets Jenna as a roommate. However, Jenna is the only character that isn’t a witch or warlock that plays a significant role in this book. Also, what happened to all the male characters? Almost all the characters introduced are female, including the teachers. Archer was the only male character that appeared frequently throughout the novel. Cal the groundskeeper had a very small role and Justin the werewolf disappeared after he was introduced briefly in the beginning! Despite this one flaw, I really enjoyed reading Hex Hall and have already put its sequel, Demonglass on my to read list.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

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