Hex Hall

Hex Hall
Rachel Hawkins / YA Paranormal

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, aka 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 tag-along 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.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was easy to get caught up in the storyline and it had my attention from the get go. I love the whole idea of throwing a whole bunch of paranormal misfits together in one place and hoping that they don't all kill each other. There's always those essential elements at play - nervous heroine finding herself in a new and scary environment, the necessary cliche of horrible girls that seem hell bent of ruining the heroine's life, the lonely misunderstood girl that the heroine always seems to befriend and of course, my personal favorite - the gorgeous bad boy. In this book it was Archer and within moments of starting the book, there he is and without even missing a beat, Sophie has fallen head over heels in "crush" with him. Although it follows that familiar pattern, the story has twists and turns and you become absorbed in the drama as it unfolds. I thought this book was funny especially when Sophie is faced with a charging werewolf, flying at her in attack. What does a witch do in a moment like this? A protection spell? A transporting spell? A freezing spell? No she freezes in fear and in a trembling voice yells "BAD DOG". The book is filled with these moments and thankfully (because it was the first thing I checked when I finished) the author is planning on writing a second book. So keep an eye out for this book - it's a guaranteed good read :) Oh, and what's a review without mentioning one of the most important part - it has a hot kiss in it in the basement. So all you bad boy lovers - you're going to not want to miss it.

Ratings: 4.5 stars and 2 hearts