Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall was far from disappointing. I mean it. After reading a few reviews I wasn't that impressed, so I thought I'd read this as a challenge, to see how I would cope if I had to give it a bad review. I'm embarrassed that I didn't read more reviews of this, because it is definitely my type of book!

Sophie Mercer is a (half-breed) witch who is shoved slap-bang in the middle of Hecate 'Hex' Hall - a boarding school for magical 'creatures'. She's tormented by the admired, and attractive (but bitchy) witches, and as usual, the 'leader' just happens to be going out with the (most) handsome warlock in their school. She also 'just happens' to be sharing a room with an isolated vampire who is hated by all the other students. This is certainly not a good start for Sophie. And what about those secrets about her family and their past? They must never end..

The storyline just hooked you in and it was different to other novels like this; the popular witches actually wanted her to be in their 'coven', though not for all the right reasons, they still asked..and asked..and asked! I also liked that there were elements of Harry Potter in there, as well as Twilight and another fantasy novel I can't remember the name of (!).

At first, I was struggling to really get into it, but after a while I felt like I couldn't put it down and finished it that same day. The author has done an awesome job of building the tension, as well as including enough humour to make us laugh and cry!

Hawkins has done a truly impressive job with the characters: Sophie was a great central character, she has a very clear voice, lots of wit, and you can feel yourself warming up to her at times. Being surrounded by an unusual setting just made everything Sophie said just so much more funny! I loved the fact that everyone had their own notable feature, and in their own ways, they were quite enchanting. Especially, Elodie: she was one of those average mean-girl types that we all hate because of their perfectness, but Elodie was something unique. I wanted to cry for her at the end, she had me feeling so sorry for her.

This exquisite novel is exploding with magic and mystery, every ingredient of supernatural fantasy: faeries, demons, shapeshifters, you will find it hard to describe this amazing novel! I just know that this will be very popular amongst young adult/teens!

A gorgeous debut novel with so much attitude! I'm looking forward to the sequel! And more of Archer Cross..I haven't said anything about him for a reason, but *swooooooooon* LOL :D