Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch, the daughter of a non-gifted mother and a warlock.  When she casts a spell at her high school prom and it goes horribly wrong , her father decides she will be punished by being exiled to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters. It just goes downhill from there for Sophie. By the end of her first day at Hex Hall she has made three powerful enemies, developed a crush on a hot warlock named Archer, and been assigned to a roommate who just happens to be the only vampire in the whole school. Just when Sophie thinks it can’t possibly get worse, she learns that someone, or something, has been attacking students and her new roommate is believed to be the culprit. As Sophie delves deeper into the mystery she uncovers the deadliest secret of all: an ancient society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Sissy: I had a love/hate relationship with this book and the subsequent two books in the series. It was one of those things where I HAD to know what happened and therefore had to buy the sequels but at times getting to the resolution made me feel fidgety and teeth-grindy.

Bubby: Pretty sure I bought all three of these and shared, but that’s not the point.

Sissy: Whatever. You know what I mean.  I liked this author’s magical spin on diversity, and I liked the various twists and turns that kept things fairly interesting.  The descriptions of Hex Hall and its matron were vivid and gave me anxiety, but in a good way.  Plus there were some new and creepy paranormal beings introduced that could give me nightmares if I were an overly emotional person like Bubby.

Bubby: Not even going to respond to that attack on my character. (I am tender hearted, that’s all!) I did think that there was an overdose of teenage angst. I tend to lose patience quickly with kickbutt girl characters that agonize over whether or not the hunky boy really likes them. On the other hand, I probably would have reacted the same way that Sophie did had I been in her situation. Cute boys still make me swoon!

Sissy: The teenage angst helps with the character development and story line, but sometimes I just want to tell them characters to shut up and own their “ness.”  I was conflicted about Archer and  the mysterious Groundskeeper boy.  I couldn’t decide which one I thought Sophie should love, or who looked more like Zac Efron and who looked more like Chris Hemsworth in my mind.

Bubby: Own their own “ness”? I think I need to buy you a dictionary for Christmas. You keep making up words!  Yes, there was too much emphasis on teenage romance issues. But I liked both boys too and overall it was a great book and a great series. It kept me interested all the way through and I can’t wait to read more by this author. 3 3/4 bubbles from me.

Sissy: I did like them. I did read them. I do recommend them. But, if there was a new episode of “Downton Abbey”, I would have watched that instead.  2 1/2 bubbles.

© Bubble Bath Books 2012


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