Book Review - Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

This is a great debut novel by an Alabama author! Sophie Mercer is a sixteen year old witch, by birth, that came into her powers three years earlier. Having never met her warlock father, Sophie has been raised by her all too human mother who hasn't exactly been able to guide Sophie through the process of "honing her skills." So, after her latest mishap, a love spell gone disastrously wrong, Sophie is sentenced to Hecate Hall until her eighteenth birthday. Commonly known as Hex Hall, it's a boarding school for delinquent Prodigium, you know - witches, shifters, vampires, fairies and werewolves. Sophie is delightfully real as she tries to navigate her way through the new world she's suddenly inhabiting. The characters are well developed and there were several scenes that made me laugh out loud while I was reading the book (Think about your own high school experiences, then throw in the complication of magic). You get a complete story with the first book, but you will definitely be marking your calendar (potentially March 1, 2011) for the second installment in this series! I highly recommend visiting Rachel Hawkins website, it's very entertaining and you can learn all sorts of "behind the cover" info.

From Product Description:
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 tag along 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.