Book Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

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. - Goodreads

The story begins with Sophie being shipped off to Hecate Hall - a reformatory school for ‘special’ people. Sophie has always known she’s a witch, and that came in handy with this story. There was no awkward moment of having Sophie discovering her powers, and there was no explanation needed for the parental figures either. Sophie’s mum already knew.  


As soon as Sophie arrived at Hecate Hall - fondly nicknamed “Hex Hall” by the student body - I knew this was going to be a great read. There were important scenes around every corner, and no filler scenes to be seen.


Sophie even caught the eye of the school hottie - Archer Cross - within the first few minutes of arriving. If that’s not immediate chemistry, then I don’t know what is! The story followed Sophie through her settling into her room with her new vampire roommate, Jenna. Then, all of a sudden, students start getting attacked. From then on, the reader is left trying to guess who - or rather, what - attacked those girls. 


There are a couple of surprise moments thrown in, as well as a couple of twists that also left me shocked!


The pacing was pretty average throughout the book. Whilst it was fast, I wasn’t made to feel that the plot was leading up to anything huge. I was left wondering if anything was going to happen, and if it was, when exactly things would kick off! 


Before I start with Sophie, I just wanted to say that I absolutely loved reading about all of the Prodigium that were at the school. Hawkins described each different type of Prodigium (isn’t it easier just to say “creature”?) in such a magical way, I just kept wanting to read more about them to see if there was anything else to discover. 


Now for Sophie Mercer… I did like her character a lot. She was humorous, stubborn, and a great friend - even at the hardest of times. She dealt with moving away from her mum and in with a vampire and an assortment of other “creatures” very well, and it showed how strong she really was. However, what I didn’t like about her was the way she spoke. I know that may sound silly, but the dialogue just did not seem up to par with her character.

The love interest - the dashing Archer Cross - was a wonderful addition to the cast. He was extremely witty, which you know I love, and while he’s no Jace Wayland he’s certainly way up there. 


Jenna, the new roommate, was a darling. I loved how the author included Jenna’s struggles in with the story as well. She really was a treasure to read about!


The writing style was incredible. It was descriptive and not dialogue heavy. It drew me in straight from the prologue!


I think that if you enjoy reading about magic, witches, wizards warlocks, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters and demons - then you’re definitely going to want to buy this book! It’s a must have for your bookshelf! Make sure you read it before Demonglass (Book Two) comes out in March!

Rating: 4.5/5

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Series: Hex Hall #1

Published on March 2, 2010 by Hyperion Book CH

US hardback edition; 323 pages