Book Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her. - From goodreads.com

Hex Hall is the first in the Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins. It's about witches, vampires, faeries, werewolves and demons, and is full of fun, laughter and awesome-ness! Everything that a good book needs.
Sophie Mercer is a witch, and has been sent to Hecate Hall, a reform school for the Prodigium. She's funny, sarcastic, and you can't help but want to be her friend. She seemed like a genuine teenager, with her quick comebacks (good and bad) and crush on the school's bad boy, even when they try to kill her. She's completely believable, and I love her.

The characters in this book are just like many other YA books out there. There are of course, some mean girls, who are beautiful and deadly. There is also a super-hot guy that you have to have a little crush on, even though he's not that nice. And, the heroine is a plain and ordinary girl, who is not remarkable in any way when you first meet her. Even though this is the case in lots of YA books, they are completely different, and they actually seem believable, like you could really find them in a school.

My favourite character though, has to be Jenna, Sophie's vampire room mate. She was a great to Sophie when she really needed it, and when things started to look bad for Jenna, I worried about her, until I found out that she would be OK. I'm really looking forward to reading more about her in the next book, Demonglass, and where her friendship with Sophie will take her.

Hawkins' writing style is fun and easy to read. It's not complicated and there isn't much detail, yet you don't feel like you're missing anything while you're reading, and you don't feel as though there was more that could have been said. In fact, had she written any more, it might have felt cluttered, and too detailed. I like to read books that are driven more by the plot and characters than the description of the world etc, so Hawkins really hit the nail on the head for me, as I could imagine how the school and characters looked without being told.

The end was quite abrupt, and it ends on a major cliffhanger, which is so annoying! Although, there is a book 2 on the way soon, which makes it just that little bit easier to wait for, but not much. I can't wait for Demonglass, and if you haven't read Hex Hall yet, you should!

I give it 4 Feet!