Hex Hall Series, Book 1

January 18, 2010
Hawkins's proficient and entertaining debut is jam-packed with magical creatures and mystery. With no training on how to use the powers inherited from her absent warlock father, Sophie Mercer keeps making rookie mistakes that force her mother to move them around the country to avoid attention. But when, at age 16, Sophie makes a very public error with a love spell at the prom, she is sent to Hecate Hall, “the premier reformatory institution for Prodigium adolescents” (aka troubled shape-shifters, faeries, and witches like Sophie). She hits it off with her vampire roommate, Jenna, but three gorgeous and powerful witches have declared Sophie an enemy (she nicknames them the “Witches of Clinique”); she has a wicked crush on someone else's boyfriend; and at least one teacher is out to get her. When attacks on students get pinned on Jenna, Sophie is determined to find the true culprit. Sophie stumbles into answers more than searches them out, but the story is well paced and plotted with tween-friendly humor and well-developed characters, particularly awkward but compassionate Sophie. The ending satisfies while paving the way for future books. Ages 11–up.

A love spell gone wrong lands Sophie Mercer in Hecate Hall. Hecate, or Hex, Hall is a reform school for magical teens whose powers are out of control. Everyone believes that Sophie's vampire roommate, Jenna, is attacking witches, but Sophie believes a demon is to blame. Cris Dukehart handles the school's cast of characters deftly, giving Sophie's warlock crush, Archer, an impish voice. She conveys the book's teen appeal with youthful voices for Sophie and her roommate, Jenna. Dukehart also does her best to smooth over some plot improbabilities with realistic dialogue. It's unfortunate she consistently mispronounces ÒHecate.Ó Also, the recording sounds a little muffled, and volume levels vary. But teens will likely overlook recording inconsistencies to focus on Sophie's intriguing magical problems. C.A. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

October 1, 2012

Gr 8-10-Sophie Mercer doesn't seem too different from your average 15-year-old-except that she's a witch, and not a very good one at that. A botched prom night spell lands her in Hex Hall, a reform school for witches, fairies, and shapeshifters located in an isolated part of Georgia that's right out of a Gothic horror novel. Before the end of her first day of school, Sophie has a crush on Archer, the cutest boy on campus, meets her roommate, Jenna, who's a vampire and an outcast among the students, and makes enemies of the three queen bees. Soon Sophie is deeply involved in a campus mystery-who's responsible for the death of Jenna's old roommate and several nearly fatal attacks on this year's students? Is anyone safe at Hex Hall? Since Harry Potter, there have been a seemingly endless stream of children's and YA novels set at schools for supernatural kids and teens, but Rachel Hawkins's novel (Hyperion, 2012) stands out by gently poking fun at the tropes of the genre, with a manga-loving vampire who decorates her dorm room in hot pink, for example, and Lord Byron, a vampire, cast as the school's English teacher. Cris Dukehart perfectly captures the sarcastic sense of humor of the narrator and does a credible job voicing the other characters, including the different accents required for the headmistress, the other teens, and a British ghost. First in a trilogy, this audiobook would be an excellent addition to school or public library collections.-Margo Tanenbaum, Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, CA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.