School Spirits

School Spirits Rachel Hawkins

This is a companion novel the Hex Hall series, and takes place after that series wrapped up.

Izzy Brannick is used to moving around, not having friends, and hunting monsters who make trouble. But now everything is different-- six months ago her sister Finn went missing on what should have been a routine mission. Izzy knows she’ll never live up to Finn’s skills or her mother’s expectations.

So now Izzy and her mom have moved to Ideal, Mississippi to take care of a simple school haunting. The ease of the mission is almost insulting. The hard part isn’t the ghost-- it’s the fact that to investigate, Izzy needs to enroll in high school and blend in. Izzy can handle monsters, but can she handle friends?

LOVE this. I love Izzy’s relationship with Torrin-- the evil warlock trapped in her mirror. It’s a great friendship full of screwball comedy banter. I also like that Izzy comes to town and immediately has 2 boys like her and I can see why. Izzy isn’t very confident, but Hawkins often shows us how awesome she is, and I can see all the guys falling over her and her mysterious ways. I also liked how it was there, but it was a pretty minor part of the plot, because Izzy doesn’t have the time or energy for such nonsense. I loooooooooooooooooooooooved Izzy’s new ghost-hunting friends and how they dealt with the high school crap.

And oh my, Dex. An asthmatic Prodigium who wears a lot of purple and has a smart mouth? Can we get more romantic leads like this? Seriously fun to read and swoon over.

Fans of Hex Hall will like this one and should get it.

Sadly, Rachel Hawkins told me on twitter that this is a stand-alone and not a series. While the plot is resolved, there is SO MUCH MORE to explore-- especially with Finn’s disappearance and Torrin. (I want so much more Torrin. Someone should write me some torrid Torrin fanfic. I would love you forever).

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Spell Bound

Spell Bound Rachel Hawkins

This is the third and final installment in the Hex Hall series. It opens with some big revelations-- Sophie's mom is actually a Brannick and many of the attacks by the Brannicks and the Eye have actually been the Casnoffs, trying to rule the Prodigium.

But when everyone gets magicked back to Hex Hall so the Casnoffs can perfect their evil plan, that's when things really start to heat up.

There was a little too much Sophie/Archer/Cal love triangle for me because (1) I never fully bought into the possible viability of Sophie and Cal as a romantic relationship. Too much chemistry with Archer. and (2) Ugh. Love triangle. Over it.

But, I continue to LOVE Sophie. Her voice is as hilarious and whip-smart as ever. I admire her strength in the face of fear and evil. Elodie continues to amuse and amaze and big bad final showdown lays everything on the line.

I also loved the running joke between the friends over who was the hero and who was the sidekick. (I mean, Jenna does have the angstier/more tragic backstory and Sophie does do all of the sarcastic wise-cracking, so I think Jenna does make a strong case for herself.)

On one hand, I'm glad that Hawkins knew when to wrap the series up and she does it well, on the other hand... I WANT MORE SOPHIE PLEASE.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Demonglass

Demonglass Rachel Hawkins

So, I *loved* Hex Hall. Luckily, Demonglass didn't disappoint!

Sophie has decided to go through the Removal. She can't handle the risks of turning out like her great-grandmother. Before her father will allow it, she has to agree to spend the summer with him at Council headquarters in England.

So, with Jenna and Cal in tow, Sophie's off to England where she learns that the Council is in deep trouble-- the Eye and the Council are at war. Someone's raising demons they can't control. And well... Archer's in England and has a habit of popping up at inconvenient times. Plus, Sophie has to take lessons from her father to learn to control her powers.

As the politics and twists get bigger and more sinister, the stakes and danger get higher.

It has all the wit and humor, as well as the sexual tension of the first, but with a lot more suspense. I still love Sophie's voice and I loved discovering that she gets her sarcasm from her father. I liked how their relationship grows over the book as they learn to trust each other. I also really liked the intrigue of the shifting politics and alliances as the war progresses.

AND! I like that it proves my suspicion that I'm down with paranormal as long as it's not angst-ridden.

And the surprise revelations!!! HELLO!!!!

Now, this is the second book in a trilogy, and the seconds in trilogy's always end at a !!!!!??!!!!! moment (Catching Fire and The Empire Strikes Back, I'm looking at you! It's hard to leave a story right when you discover that the Seam doesn't exist anymore, or with Han frozen* and given to Boba Fett and Luke discovering that Vader is HIS FATHER!) And yes, this ending is the same. AIY! And we have to wait at least a year to see how it all ends!!!!

So, in case you couldn't tell by all the exclamation points and random Star Wars tangents, I loved the book.  It was more awesome than the first one and I cannot wait until the third comes out.







*Ok, this is totally unrelated to ANYTHING besides my undying love for Han Solo. But check out all these cool things you can get of Han frozen in carbonite. I want the Lego.


ARC Provided by... publisher at ALA midwinter, because I squealed when I saw it.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hex Hall

Hex Hall Rachel Hawkins

First off, shout-out to Green Bean Teen Queen for writing the review that made me finally pick up this book. I had read several reviews and where it seemed nice, nothing made me think "I must pick this up now!" until I read

If Harry Potter married Samantha from Bewitched and had a chick lit baby, with a smidge of A Great and Terrible Beauty, and a dash of Nancy Drew’smystery solving, you would get Hex Hall.

I mean, how could I not pick it up after that (totally accurate by the way) description?

Sophie Mercer is a witch that's been raised by her mortal mother. When a love spell goes wrong, she's sent to Hecate Hall-- aka reform school for witches, fairies, and shapeshifters. Sophie quickly realizes she's out of her depth because she doesn't know anything about the Prodigium and their ways.

Or the fact that the father she's never met is the Head of the Council, aka the guy who sentenced them all to Hex Hall.

But when the Mean Girls are also the only dark witches on campus (besides Sophie) and Sophie's only real friend is an outcast vampire with an unnatural like for hot pink, and her main crush is head Mean Girl's boyfriend? Oiy.

Things go from bad to worse when dark witches start turning up dead with all of their blood drained and all the suspicion is on Jenna (the vampire). Sophie knows Jenna didn't do it, but can't figure out how to prove it...

Overall, it's a fun mystery with a few really cool twists. I love how Sophie covers her fear and vulnerability with sarcasm. I also like how she deals with the situation she finds herself thrown into-- she doesn't totally fall apart, but she also doesn't slide right into it. She strikes the right balance to make her believable without being weak.

I had a very hard time putting this one down and am rather impatiently counting down the days until March, when Demonglass comes out!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.