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The Cover: The cover is very nice, but really has nada to do with the book as a whole. It is pretty though . . .There isn't even a cat, anywhere in the book. First Line: " Felicia Miller was crying in the bathroom. Again." My Thoughts . . . . First, let me give a big thank-a-you to Laura over at the Bookie Bunch for suggesting this book via her vlog, because it was a really fun summer read!! Hex Hall tells the story of Sophie Mercer who has known that she was a witch for some time now and after making a big flop of a spell at her school dance, is sent to Hecate Hall a.k.a Hex Hall, a reform school for paranormal creatures known as Prodigium, that have done something bad with their abilities. This book reminded me of several things, Harry Potter obliviously being one of them, but it also reminded me of the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, I guess because it has to do with magical situations going down at school/camp and it was really fun and humorous, but not only did Hex Hall have a similar quality as the books listed above, it also had its own, really grool mythos. Hex Hall is a school for Fey, Witches and Shifters including Werewolves and the origins of each species is really awesome! I loved the lore Hawkins put into this book, not only with how each group of beings came to be, but also about the groups of people that hunt the Prodigium, 'the Eye', being the Biggest Baddie. Sophie was a good protag. She was funny and sarcastic and overall relateable to just about every teenager, besides the being a witch part. I enjoyed watching her grow from a girl who couldn’t control her magic, to a girl who in the end, kicked some serious butt! My one complaint is that, though she was struggling with using her magic and understanding it, I didn’t quite get how she was able to do the things she did in the end. I never got see her actually grow and learn with the magic; one day she was just making a mess and the next, after about a few ‘lessons’ she was basically a pro. I get how she got better; I just didn’t believe that she got so ‘strong’ so fast. Soph’s best friend and really only friend at Hex Hall is a vamp named Jenna and Jenna was awesome. She wasn’t annoying at all and though many things relating to her were really obvious for me, I still enjoyed reading about her, especially her interaction with Sophie, ‘cus they were great friends. Elodie to me was probably the most intriguing character. I liked her a lot and though she was the ‘mean’ girl of the school, I never really hated her until one of the ‘big’ discoveries that occur. I don’t want to give a lot away about her, but everything concerning Elodie is not as it seems. She might be a total witch (yep, I said it!), but she did have her own faults and sadness and I really liked that - she wasn't 1-Dimensional. There is something lurking behind her . . . Also her minions, Chaston and Anne were awesome and weren't cardboard cutouts - they had their own personalities. I really liked the interaction between the different Prodigium and thought it was really funny. Archer was the love interest and though I did not get why Sophie liked him, I did like that her affection for him was not at first sight and was very believable. Archer wasn't annoying - none of the characters were - and I liked him better then most YA heartthrobs, because he wasn't obnoxious and all " I to-taleeee, like, love you!" But that brings me to a bad point. The characters use um, like, and and, waaaay too much. It was really annoying. Not all teens talk like that, in fact most don't, so my ish is that all of these characters, should not be constantly using these words in their sentences. Though at times the story was predictable, there were PLENTY of times where I was really surprised! There were lots of twists and turns in this book and I loved it. Hawkins' writing style is quick, clean and to the point. Sometimes it was too fast, but I liked the pace, because it made for a simple, yet intriguing fun read, with nice, slick descriptions! Question: Should you read? Answer: Hex YES!! Story: 4/5 Pace: 3.5/5 Originality: 3.5/5 Characters: 4/5 Writing: 4/5 Ending: 4/5 A Total of 4 Stars!!

2022-11-14 17:28