Hex Hall

Hex Hall

a novel by Rachel Hawkins

Waktu edar : March 2nd 2010

Waktu membaca : Januari 2011

Media membaca : ebook di Stanza for iPhone

Hal paling berkesan : a different look at a wizarding school

I love books about school. I love books about normal school, like The St.Clair series by Enid Blyton about boarding school in England or Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar about a school for rich kids in New York. I love abnormal school too. Books that come to mind is Harry Potter of course, about magical school. A couple of other is Knightley Academy by Violet Haberdasher about a school of Knights, Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter about a school of spies, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead about boarding school for vampires, Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund about a school of teen space pilots, and even My So-Called Death by Stacey Jay about a school of teen zombies.

To say that I love books about school is an understatement. My love for these books is equal to my love of Post apocalyptic books and romance books. Why do I love these books exactly? It’s because I love school. I love looking through the curriculum. My lifelong dream at elementary school is that an owl would come at my house and delivered my Hogwarts acceptance letter. I even downloaded Yale College Guide just so I can browse through the classes, even though in a million years I could never got into Yale. I love school.

And this is one more book about school. Hex Hall is a book about a school of witches actually. I am actually a little bit wary, because magic school is something that belongs to Harry Potter, and no book can surpass that. I’m afraid that this is just some copycat of Harry Potter. BUT it turns out that this book is so much different than Harry Potter and that to me is very impressive. The concept of witch in this book is so much different than Harry Potter, and even though it still can’t surpass Harry, didn’t even come close, but this is a hell of a fun book.

The book is a story about Sophie. She is a witch, but she lives with her mom, who’s not a witch. Her dad is a warlock (boy witch) but they’re divorced so Sophie was raised only by her mom. Because of some accident about a love potion gone horribly wrong, Sophie is sent to Hecate School for Prodigium. Prodigium is magical beings, consisting of witches, warlock, faeries, shapeshifter, and a little bit of vampire. In there she met her roommate, which also happens to be the only vampire on campus, a gorgeous warlock which also happens to be the boyfriend of the most gorgeous girl on campus (and the most bitchy), and mysteries about a dead classmate and an organization that is intend to kill her.

Okay, maybe the bit about organization that intends to kill her, bitchy and gorgeous classmate, and a hot guy is so cliche. But believe me when I say that the concept of witches in this book is original. The school doesn’t actually teach magic, because this is kind of a reformatory school. They teach boring subject like Magical History and Ancient Witch and Warlock of the 17th Century. But the school is portrayed really well and I like it, even though I personally want more description of the classes in the school. But I’m a school freak, so it’s different. Other people would have no problem about the descriptions.

Sophie, as a character, is not so memorable to me. That’s because I feel like I’ve read about characters like her a couple of times already. The world around her is the center of the story, but not her. I guess that’s why the book is titled Hex Hall I guess. Other characters, like the trio of gorgeous and bitchy girl, is just as unoriginal. It’s fun to read, but I’ve read dozens like them. The love interest, Archer Cross, is also that mysterious gorgeous bad boy, with a gorgeous bitchy girlfriend, that falls in love with the heroine eventually. Nothing original.Compared to other YA I’ve read recently, he falls flat. Wesley Rush from The Duff is as bad a boy can be, but he’s so damn hot because of his badness. Etienne St.Clair from Anna and the French Kiss meanwhile, is so nice and charming, and he’s hot because of how nice and charming he is. Archer Cross is kind of a cross between them, but because the author didn’t explore further about him, he’s kind of average in every way.

I guess this book falls above average. It’s even good, but it’s not very good. It’s a fun book, and I love the world building. But the character falls flat, and I didn’t exactly fall in love with the love interest. The book also have similarity with Jinx by Meg Cabot, but it’s distinct enough that I can enjoy it.

Overall, one more book I’ll add to my collection of books about school, and I’m looking forward to the sequel, Demonglass, coming out in 2011. But there’s a lot of better books out there, so if you want a quality read about witch and wizard, stick to rereading your Harry Potter book and you’ll be better off.