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. |
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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