Monday, July 5, 2010

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Year of Publication: 2010
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Pages: 323
First Line: "Felicia Miller was crying in the bathroom. Again."

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 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 start to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Source: Back of book

Review: So, really, this book was scattered, and basically everything was stolen from Harry Potter. Sophie managed to be a mix of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as she was the main character and living in an unconventional family situation (Harry), was teased by everyone (Ron), and always went to books for help (Hermione). Aside from that, there was the whole bathroom scene, quite like HPatCoS, plus all the ghosts, one of which reminded me of Moaning Myrtle. I won't say I was disappointed in this, because I hadn't had a lot of faith in it to begin with, but seriously, it was blech. Not really worth the time or effort, in my opinion.

Worst part: None of it seemed to be original.

Best part: There were some characters, such as the faeries and some shapeshifters, that I liked, but they weren't in the book much. I also liked that the school was located on Graymalkin Island. I'm not sure how many people got that Macbeth reference, though.

Grade: D

Other Books by This Author: No others at the moment, it seems.


51 / 50 books. 102% done!

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