Hex Hall Series by Rachel Hawkins – Audiobook Series Review

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect with this series. Honestly, I saw that the library had the audiobook series, and I thought, “Hey, why not?” Turns out, I ended up enjoying this series much more than I expected to!

What Fed My Addiction:

• A very snarky MC. I’ve always been a fan of snarky teenage MCs. As a mom, I should probably be irritated with Sophie’s constant sarcastic remarks, but nope – I enjoyed it the whole way through the series. Sophie handles difficult situations with snarky humor, so instead of getting overly emotional or angsty when things go wrong (which they do throughout the series!) she just cracks sarcastic jokes – I can relate!! I never got tired of Sophie’s voice, and while she definitely grew throughout the series, she never lost her “Sophieness” – which I appreciated.
• The secondary characters! There were lots of secondary characters in this series that really shone!
  • Jenna. First off, there was Jenna, Sophie’s vampire best friend. I loved that these two shared a true, deep friendship that, even when it was tested for various reasons, stayed strong! Jenna wasn’t just a secondary character, pushed to the sidelines, she was incredibly fleshed out and had depth and a story of her own. (I should mention that one aspect of Jenna’s story is that she’s gay – it wasn’t really made a big deal of, it’s just a fact – but her backstory has to do with her first love and she has a bit of a romance in the series.)
  • Archer. Then there’s Archer. He’s all dreamy and awesome – but he has a girlfriend, so Sophie knows he’s off limits. It’s hard for me to say much about Archer without spoiling things, so I’ll just say that he gets Sophie’s humor (he’s kind of snarky too) and that things between him and Sophie are far from simple.
  • Cal. Cal is the groundsman at Hex Hall, and he has the ability to heal through his magic. He’s kind of the stoic type, and has a smaller role in the first book, but he becomes central to the plot as the series goes on. Cal is sweet and kind and selfless, even if he isn’t always incredibly expressive.
  • Elodie. Elodie’s kind of a typical mean-girl at first, but she ends up playing a pretty pivotal role in the series. Again, it’s hard to say much about her without spoiling things, but I’ll say that her role in Sophie’s life changes more than once!!
  • Sophie’s parents. Yay for parents who are involved in their kids lives and actually good influences. (Okay, this doesn’t apply to her dad in the first book, but there are reasons, and this isn’t an issue past book one).
• Pacing! These books kept moving and never lost my interest for even a moment! I felt like there was plenty of action and excitement to keep me interested, and I was invested in these characters, so that kept me engaged even when we were “waiting” for the other shoe to drop!

What Left Me Wanting More:

• Love triangle. A love triangle was introduced in the second book (sorry if this is a little bit spoilery, but I think people deserve to know). It wasn’t my favorite aspect of the book, and by the third book, I knew exactly how it was all going to end (not just the romance, but the story arc of the characters) – I was exactly right. This is pretty much the only reason the final book got 4 stars instead of 4.5 – I found it to be relatively predictable. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it, but I did kind of think to myself, “I told you so.” (I found the revelations in the first book much more surprising!)

The Narration: 

I thought that Cris Dukehart did a fantastic job capturing Sophie’s snarky teenage personality! Her narration was spot-on – fun, but also appropriately emotional in spots. She also did a great job with the Southern and British accents. I would definitely listen to books by this narrator again!

Overall, I give this series 4.5 stars! It was fun and perfect for the YA set!

Series Favorites:

Favorite character: Sophie Mercer. Like I said, I loved her snarkiness! But I actually kind of loved them all!
Favorite moment: The major revelations at end of the first book. LOVED them! Nothing else ever quite measured up or took me by surprise like those did!
Favorite villain: Elodie

Huh? What’s with the black cat on all the covers? There isn’t a black cat in the series.

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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 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.

Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

About the Author:

Rachel Hawkins was born in Virginia and raised in Alabama. This means she uses words like “y’all” and “fixin'” a lot, and considers anything under 60 degrees to be borderline Arctic. Before deciding to write books about kissing and fire (and sometimes kissing while on fire), Rachel taught high school English for 3 years, and is still capable of teaching you The Canterbury Tales if you’re into that kind of thing.

She is married to a geologist, which means that they have incredibly strange dinner conversations (“So today at work, I wrote a chapter where killer fog, like, ATE PEOPLE.” “Huh. Well, I was chased by an angry reindeer while trying to map parts of Norway.” “Um…okay.”)

Rachel also has a little boy whose main hobbies are playing video games, running around in circles, and plotting his Future Intergalactic Take-Over.

When not writing books, Rachel enjoys reading, travelling, and knitting (very terribly.)

 

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