Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1)

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: Hyperion

Release Date: March 2, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

On her 12th birthday, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. Three bumpy years later, after a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, she's exiled to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day, 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. Then when a mysterious predator begins attacking students, and Sophie's only friend is the number-one suspect, a horrifying plot begins to surface. Soon, Sophie is preparing for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

I have had Hex Hall sitting in my bookshelf for about a year, and it was only recently that I finally picked it up. The first thing that went though my mind when I started reading was "Why did I wait so long to read this?" Hex Hall kept me turning the pages, all the while never really knowing what to expect.

Sophie Mercer never really wanted to be a witch but then she got her powers on her twelfth birthday, courtesy of the father she has never met. From then on, Sophie's spells never exactly go quite as planned, until one sends her to Hex Hall. And Hex Hall isn't just a normal school. It's where delinquent witches, shapeshifters and faeries get sent to learn to control their powers. But Sophie doesn't really feel at home at Hex Hall, and rooming with the only vampire at the school isn't making it any easier. And it doesn't take long for Sophie to find herself getting in trouble. Because when she isn't being haunted by a ghost, a secret society is trying to hunt her down and kill her.

Why did I wait so long to read Hex Hall? Why? I was kicking myself pretty much the whole way through. All regrets aside, I loved Hex Hall, and when I read it, it was the perfect book for my mood. Once I started reading, I just couldn't seem to put it down, no matter how many other things I had to do. They story captivated me from start to finish and put a smile on my face on more than one occasion. And by the end of the book I was totally in love with Rachel Hawkins' writing and the world she created in this book. I was also very happy to be able to read Demonglass right away because I definitely wanted more.

Sophie Mercer is definitely my kind of girl. I loved that she had a mind of her own and her self-deprecating nature just made her that much more endearing to me. More than anything I loved that she was pretty much always able to put a smile on my face. I wanted nothing more than for everything to work out for her, especially where Archer was concerned. Because Archer seemed to be a good guy and what Sophie needed. But that didn't exactly end up working out quite as planned. What was especially great about Hex Hall were all the more secondary characters who really added to the story and I was very much looking forward to seeing ore of them in the following books. 

I loved Hex Hall and seriously wished I had read it earlier. But now that I've read it, I can't seem to stop thinking about it. And I was definitely happy to be able to pick up Demonglass right away. I just couldn't get enough of this story and these characters.