Rachel Hawkins's fun Hex Hall series tells the story of a witch who gets sent to a school for delinquent magical creatures. Among witches, shapeshifters, vampire, and faeries, this witch learns about herself and her unique powers. This fun, lighthearted story progressively becomes darker, but remains full of sarcasm and sass. This series earns 4.04 stars on good reads and 3.75 stars here.
Rachel Hawkins’s School Spirits is the fourth book in the Hex Hall series. The first three books told Sophie Mercer’s story. A story of a demon who was afraid of her powers before realizing they were an intricate part of who she was. Her story is finished, but now a new story must begin. Rachel Hawkins turns to Sophie’s cousin Isolde Brannick, the youngest child of a dying family of Prodigium hunters. After the disappearance of her oldest sister, her mother decides to give Izzy an easy assignment. She is sent to a school in Ideal, Mississippi to investigate a ghost. Despite being a deadly killing machine, Izzy is completely unprepared for the complex drama that is high school and she soon finds herself attached to the very people she needs to avoid. Izzy is a lovable new character. From birth, Izzy was trained to be a killing machine. She is talented, caring and constantly striving to prove herself. Like her demon cousin, she is thrust into a new unfamiliar world and must navigate new feelings and friendships. Despite their similar circumstances, both characters react extremely differently. Sophie is knowledgeable about high school, but when confronted with Prodigium, she retreats into a cocoon of sarcasm. Izzy new nothing about high school, but her naïveté made her even more lovable. Throughout this book, Izzy is exposed to a barrage of new people and emotions and must decide if she is willing to endanger the friends she just made, but will soon have to leave. School Spirits was a fun side story. While it is officially the fourth book in the series, it contains almost no relevance to the plot of the previous books. It doesn’t add to Sophie’s story in any way and only creates more questions than answers. If it weren’t for the spoilers it contains about Spell Bound, School Spirits could distinguish itself as a companion novel as it gives the Brannick’s a unique story and voice. This mystery plot has a slow build and gradually gathers suspense and urgency. It is lacking in action as it chooses to focus on character development. The book contains a rather small cast of relevant characters, making them easy to keep them straight. Each has a unique quirk or personality that makes them lovable. Some even show depth with multiple motivations, while most are boring and bland. I give this 297 page book 3.5 stars. Rachel Hawkins’s Spell Bound is the third in the Hex Hall trilogy. After escaping the Prodigium Council by way of Itineris, Sophie finds herself in the middle of nowhere. Her powers are sealed away, leaving her defenseless when she comes face to face with the Brannicks, a family of warrior women that hunt down Prodigium. Fortunately, the Brannicks are not the people she learned about in Hex Hall. While against the Prodigium, the believe that a war is coming and acknowledge that Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the Casnoffs and their army of demons. Unfortunately, Sophie is currently powerless and must return to Hex Hall to regain her magic. Sophie has proven to be a strong lead character for this series. She is brave, smart and sarcastic. She entered Hex Hall unaware of the world of the Prodigium and the magnitude of her abilities. She battled her way through mean girls, demons, and detention in the first book, before discovering that she was a demon. Her fear of hurting those close to her and desire to rid herself of her powers brought her to London. In London, she met the demons Nick and Daisy who taught her to accept herself and her power. Now, in Spell Bound, she fights for the friends she has made and the powers she has come to appreciate. Sophie faces many emotional and physical challenges in this book and must overcome them with the friends she has made in Hex Hall. Spell Bound is a decent conclusion to this series. It is an action packed book from beginning to end and the pacing is extremely fast. Unfortunately, this book suffers from the fast pacing. Aspects of Sophie’s journey seems surprisingly easy as the author sprints towards a rushed finale. The plot dashes from scene to scene, without allowing time to develop the setting. Character development was also cut out of the story to advance the plot. Many of the settings and characters would have been greatly improved if there was enough time to develop them. The series also shifted tone at the end of Demonglass and for most of this book. The plot of self-acceptance and growing up became a battle of good versus evil. The book went down a darker route, making some of Sophie’s jokes seem out of place. Although the book has its faults, it does many things right. While it fails to develop it characters, it shows how much the bond between Sophie and her friends have grown. The supporting cast played an active role in aiding Sophie as they helped her through emotional and physical pain. Sophie’s iconic humor is back to add some levity to the somber book. While it works sometimes, a couple of her jokes fall flat. This book does a decent job of wrapping up the series, but the finale feels rushed and unsatisfying. I give this 327 page book 3.5 stars. Rachel Hawkins’s Demonglass is the second book in the Hex Hall series. Picking up soon after the events of Hex Hall, Sophie Mercer is finishing up her first year at Hex Hall. She wasn’t expecting much when she entered the magical reform school, but nothing could have prepared her for the year of death, detention, and demons. In her short time there, she fell in love with the enemy, was attacked by her demon great-grandmother Alice, and discovered that she was a demon. Her experience with Alice showed her the dangers of a demon losing control and made her determined to go through the Removal, a dangerous procedure that takes away her powers and could result in her death. Before she can go through it, her dad steps in and takes her to England so she can be educated on what it truly means to be a demon. Sophie is very similar to the fun girl that we know from Hex Hall. Strong, smart, and sarcastic, Sophie Mercer is an entertaining main character. Her encounter with Alice scarred her and convinced her that she was doomed to be a monster. During her summer with her dad, she is exposed to many people who teach her more about herself and the world she lives in. Demonglass was another great book by Rachel Hawkins. The book started out slow as it recapped the events of the previous installment, but the pacing picked up as the book progressed. It stayed relatively slow, allowing Sophie to grow as a person until the book hit the halfway mark. From then it was non-stop action and intrigue as the book accelerated towards an explosive finale. From time to time, the plot could get dark, but Sophie’s biting sarcasm tried to keep the book lighthearted. It made the book hilarious and the slower sections of the book enjoyable. In addition to being entertaining, the book also expanded on the world of the Prodigium. In Hex Hall, the characters were relatively isolated. This installment allowed for a slightly broader view of the world. Unfortunately, the book failed to make use its international location to enhance this. Despite spending the summer in England, Sophie mostly stayed in one location and didn’t learn about the Prodigium in the area. The book did a much better job of expanding its supporting cast than its setting. New characters were added to the roster while old characters were given more depth. While most did not develop individually, each one helped Sophie mature as a person. I give this 359 page book 4 stars. Rachel Hawkins’s Hex Hall is the first book in the Hex Hall series. Sophie Mercer is a witch who lives with her human mother. She first discovered her powers when she was thirteen and they got her into plenty of trouble. After wielding her powers for years, a love spell gone wrong attracts too much unwanted attention. As punishment, she gets sent to Hecate Hall (aka. Hex Hall), a reform school for shapeshifters, witches, warlocks, and faeries. At this enchanted boarding school, Sophie soon meets a new best friend, makes three new enemies, and falls for the hottest boy on campus. But before she can settle into Hex Hall, witches start getting attacked and her new best friend is the prime suspect. Sophie has a lot of average qualities. Like many protagonists, she is curious and brave when she needs to be. She is extremely sarcastic and her sense of humor makes the book light-hearted. Growing up in a human home, she is unaware of many things in the world of magic. When people offer her advice, she trusts them because she is in need of basic information. Sadly, her trusting nature gets her into trouble. Sophie is extremely accepting of new people and ideas. Her self-confidence in her powers is shattered upon entry to Hex Hall, but, as the book progresses, she regains her confidence in her powers. Hex Hall was a fun read. Sophie’s new school is just like any cliché high school, but on a smaller scale. While this school lacks clubs and seemingly is female dominated, it does have people like, the hottest boy on campus, the trinity of bullies, evil teachers mixed with nice ones, and the best friend who is a social outcast. Instead of social clubs, most students are divided by race. Faeries stick with faeries while witches generally stick with witches. Thankfully, the book’s unique location, and Sophie’s sarcasm distracts you from the overused tropes. Very little world building is done in this book. Readers do get to learn about Hex Hall, but there isn’t much emphasis on the world these characters live in. Hopefully, there will be more on that in the next book in the series. The story’s plot remains moving throughout the entirety of the story. Every time you begin to get comfortable with the story’s progression, Rachel Hawkins throws a curveball that changes everything. Side plots unravel around Sophie making the story more interesting. Some of them create grim and sad scenes that add depth to the usually sarcastic story. Hex Hall remains a fun read while occasionally delving into sadder topics like bullying and the loss of friends. Sophie’s emotional side makes her easy to sympathize with and the cliché setting make the book even lighter. I give this 323 page book 4 stars. |
Hex HallThis world is full of witches, warlocks, shapeshifters, vampires, faeries and demons. These magical entities try to stay hidden from the human world due to some bad history (like the Salem Witch Trials). When someone growing into their powers attracts unwanted human attention, he/she will get sent to Hex Hall, reform school for witches, faeries, shapeshifters, etc. Archives
November 2016
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