Hey, guys! I am excited to talk about a book I have always wanted to read, which is Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. Unfortunately, I was left pretty disappointed with the book, but I still think its a fun and enjoyable read. I just think it’s not really for my age demographic or what I personally am into at the moment. But let’s just go ahead and jump right in!
Synopsis:
“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 Thoughts:
I think I may have liked this a lot more if I were still in high school. It wasn’t a bad book, but it’s a book aimed at a certain age group that is just not me. More than that, however, it did seem to be very predictable to me. I pretty much guessed almost every single thing that happened in the book. I felt like the love interest, Archer, was like every other YA love interest. There was not a single unique thing about him. Tall, dark, handsome, snarky and constantly has a smirk on his face. That’s literally almost every single YA love interest.
This honestly read like a Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets fan fiction with a little bit of Percy Jackson thrown in for good measure. The whole time all I could think about was Harry Potter. Mrs. Casnoff, to me, was Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter. There is a scene in this book where three girls try to recruit Sophia who immediately turns them down because they seemed creepy and kind of like bad people. That reminds me of the scene from Harry Potter in the first book when Harry declines to be friends with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. There are just too many similarities for my tastes.
Okay, and come on. There is literally a reference to a magickal groundskeeper who is compared to Hagrid. Who lives in a hut on the grounds of Hecate (the school). She’s not even trying to hide it at this point. I just wanted this story to be more original. I’m not attacked Rachel Hawkins personally. I just wish the story was a bit more unique and didn’t follow typical YA tropes and rely on overused plot twists and bland characters.
Overall, it wasn’t terrible, but it was pretty disappointing and I will not be continuing with the series.
And there you have it! That was my review of Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. And that is going to be it for this review today. Thank you so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you next time!
The Perks of Being a Book Freak 
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