42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bring on the movie..., March 3, 2010
This review is from: Hex Hall (Book 1) (Hardcover)
I want to begin with, Bravo and Bring on the Movie!
Sophie Mercer has been carted around to nineteen different schools throughout her very young life; we first meet her at one particular school on prom night. Sophie feels bad for a young woman crying her eyes out in the ladies' room; the young girl is dateless to the prom and wants this to be rectified. Sophie takes her out to the parking lot, tells her to close her eyes, and think about THE boy who she wants with all her heart to be her escort. Dark clouds amass above their heads; a purplish light glows within the black core; and green lightning rains down from above... Yes, the girl's wish is granted, but the nice, sweet prom quickly turns into Carrie. Suffice to say, Sophie is on her way to her twentieth school.
She arrives in Georgia in the brutally hot month of August on her beloved mother's arm. She's being sent away to Hecate Hall - a reformatory school for witches, shapeshifters, faeries, and other even more non-humans, who have flaunted their skills in the wrong places, risking exposure to their world. This is no Hogwarts, people; Hecate Hall is a cold, two-hundred-year-old mansion that looks like something out of a horror movie, with fugly wallpaper and an addition of pink stucco that goes off the back of the house and into the woods. Sophie's very first meet-and-greet with a supernatural being comes in the form of a young man named Justin, who turns and snarls at her while transforming into a werewolf. Sophie raises her finger, screams "bag dog," and basically sees him as a cocker spaniel standing on his hind legs. (This is what I love most about this writer - she's wonderfully sarcastic).
Sophie's roommate is Jenna, a young girl who is a vamp and is at Hecate Hall on scholarship. She's the only "monster" that's at the school and many witches, warlocks - the "elite" of their world - can't stand her. In fact, a coven at the school believes Jenna bit and killed her last roommate, Holly, and they tell Jenna that she must join them and become their "fourth" so they can have the most power within the old, stone walls. Unfortunately for these three witches (who act like a modern-day Macbeth trio), Sophie doesn't like them; she likes her roommate who, although, a bloodsucker, is a nice girl who loves the color Electric Raspberry Pink, which is the color of her clothes, the stripe in her air, the bedspread, etc. Sophie can't help but liking the poor girl who seems to be blamed for all the harsh goings-on at the school.
Sophie also meets Archer Cross, who's the resident hot-guy - a gorgeous warlock who everyone loves. Archer was once the boyfriend of the poor unfortunate Holly, and he's now going out with the head of the coven that Sophie can't stand. As the story begins to unfold at the school, Sophie learns things about her past - and her father who she's never met. Apparently, her ancestral genes go far back in history; her family is powerful, her father is very "high-up" in the magical world, and the magic that runs through Sophie's veins is rather dark and frightening. There are many characters that are absolutely fantastic in this story including a young girl by the name of Taylor who can morph into a mountain lion at whim; a headmistress who knows far too much about Sophie's family; a ghost who walks the halls wearing a green dress that's part of Sophie's mysterious history; a vamp teacher who's also a famous poet; and, a groundskeeper who should definitely become a doctor.
The author inserts a variety of "clues" that will lead the reader through many books, hopefully, to come. Readers are told of the demon glass sword that's held in the depths of Hades, as well as a group called The Eye of God whose job it is to hunt down magical beings and take them out in order to protect the human world. Drawing from Roman and Egyptian history and characters (i.e.: Hecate, The Furies, etc.), this author has managed to put together a story that's fun, exciting, and interesting with a main character who's extremely sarcastic and brutally funny.
I, for one, can't wait for the next in the series. I hope the author is "banging" away on her keyboard right now and conjuring up her next fantastic story.
Until Next Time,
Amy Lignor, [...]
Reviewer
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh snap!, March 4, 2010
This review is from: Hex Hall (Book 1) (Hardcover)
haha like the title? It's for all the fans of boring similar same young adult books/genres/titles/bleck.
Sooooo why oh snap? Well Rachel Hawkins has given us a typical plot. Let's see we have a school for paranormal students (Evernight, Vampire Academy... well sort of, House of Night, Rampant...yes learning to kill unicorns count, and I'm sure a few others) anyway she took that and shook us up as far as the genre would allow.
Sophie has been to 19 different states in her 16 years of life. She's a witch (we learn a dark witch) and tends to mess things up, dying her hair purple for three days, love spells gone haywire or too strong... exc. Her father (mysterious Warlock in the curtains) sends her to Hectate Hall where she will learn to control herself and her power in a secluded environment. This school has everything Fae, shifters, weres, warlocks, witches and an odd vampire. Unfortunately Sophie's years of ignorance are about to come to an end, and of course sometimes ignorance IS really bliss.
Sophie does not seem like a dark witch, also I want to see a butt kicking vampire not just Jenna and Lord Byron (please Rachel Hawkins let the vamps see some action). But I have to say the ending really was surprise, I didn't trust certain people from the start, however I did trust others that turned out to be way wrong.... perhaps. I really hope the last line of the book doesn't come to pass and Sophie decides a different path, but who knows. All in all this book was a great YA read, I enjoyed every moment, every hex, every spell and fight... there were some good scenes. The next installment will definitely be one I'm looking out for.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Did Not Match Up With the Hype, May 11, 2010
This review is from: Hex Hall (Book 1) (Hardcover)
In Rachel Hawkins book, Hex Hall, we meet Sophia Mercer. Sophie is a teenage witch, who lives with her human mother and is just trying to be a normal high school student. When a love spell goes awry, Sophie is sent to Hecate Hall, a school for misfit Prodigium. Surrounded by witches, faeries, shapeshifters, and her new vampire best friend, Sophie still finds herself just not fitting in. When something starts attacking students and her best friend is suspect, Sophie must solve these mysteries and rise up to meet her destiny. With an absent Warlock father, and family secrets that Sophie doesn't even know, Sophie finds herself in a heap of trouble and struggling to find her way out.
I enjoyed reading this story. I wasn't in awe, but it was a decent book. I wasn't completely drawn into the story, but it was a light and easy read. I don't feel like there was enough character development in this book and I was left wondering a lot about characters. I'm ok with a mysterious character here and there, but not when all the characters have an air of mystery about them. There was a lot of things that characters did, that were never explained. I also never felt sucked in. There wasn't a lot of aw moments that you usually find in this sort of book and I didn't really feel like any of the characters were someone a young adult audience could relate to. I feel plot wise, there was some good moments, but everything just happened so quickly and the journey to big moments wasn't there. I enjoyed this book, but I feel there could have been more to it. I hope there is some character development in the next book and that we get to understand Sophie's world a bit better.
Originally posted on my blog Draw A Blank
Disclosure of Material Connection: I got this book from my local public library! I can say whatever I want. :)
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