Published: March 2nd 2010
Publisher: Hyperion books
Description from Goodreads:
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 student 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.
My thoughts:
I was looking forward to reading this book because I've seen some really good reviews for it, and I can see why others like it. But for me, it was nothing that hasn't been done before, it brought nothing new to the genre. That being said, the writing is very funny and I appreciated that. Maybe I've just read too many school-setting YA books? I liked the main character, Sophie, but unfortunately I knew the main twist of the book before I read it, so that wasn't a huge surprise. I felt alot of the characters involved were very 2-dimensional and the rest very cliche. Oooh beautiful mean girls, hot boyfriend of mean girl who sees her inner depths, the school loner etc. I felt the book was a bit too much like Evernight Academy for my taste, with the main character not being who she thought she was, the lies and coverups of her parents, her requited unrequited love and subsequent betrayal by said love interest. I figured out many of the twists before they happened, mainly because they were fairly predictable ones.
Despite all this though, it was an enjoyable read. I liked Jenna and her complete anti-vamp personality, and like I mentioned I did like Sophie, and also her relationship with Jenna. I liked the humour, and the plot was okay if not especially thrilling or riveting.
I'd give this book 3.5/5, if you're looking for a quick and enjoyable read, this is your book.
Thanks for a review of this book. I have it in my TBR pile. It was next up on my list.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to see what you think of it =]
ReplyDeleteI haven't read many boarding school books around the time I read this one, so that very well could be the case.
ReplyDeleteSophie's sarcasm and the funnies made this story for me.
Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog
I have this book on my TBR list, but i haven't gotten around to reading it. I do like sarcastic narrators, but I don't know about boarding school settings or predictable plots. It still sounds like a descent read. Great review.
ReplyDelete