ARC Review: The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol

The Apprentice Witch
By James Nicol
Publisher: Chicken House
Format: Print ARC
Source: Publisher
Publication Date: July 25, 2017

To Sum It Up: After failing her evaluation to become a full-fledged witch, Arianwyn Gribble remains an apprentice. She is assigned to the town of Lull to assist the residents there with any magical needs. Lull isn’t as quiet as its name implies, though, as something dark seems to be lurking in the surrounding Great Wood. Not only does it appear more and more likely that Arianwyn will ultimately have to face whatever is out there, even as an apprentice, but she’s also troubled by a mysterious glyph that makes her spells go awry.

Review: It’s quite difficult for me not to compare every middle grade magic book I read to a certain series that turned 20 this year about a certain boy wizard, especially when it comes to its appeal to readers of all ages. I try to keep my mind as open as possible, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be able to pick up books about witches, wizards, and the like again, and there’s just something irresistible about the possibility that magic exists.

Poor Arianwyn Gribble flunks her evaluation exam to be recognized as a fully qualified witch and is stuck at the apprentice level. Although she receives an assignment to help the town of Lull with tasks like dealing with unfriendly magical creatures, it’s not much of a consolation to Arianwyn, especially since her grandmother is a very prominent witch. Arianwyn is a very relatable heroine; she tries so hard to prove that she’s ready for the next step up in rank, but fate just keeps seeming to throw a wrench in her efforts. Readers will quickly find themselves cheering her on to succeed.

One of my favorite aspects of The Apprentice Witch was its magical creatures, even the pesky ones like snotlings. The vivid descriptions of the creatures were also one of the novel’s strong points; they were what truly made me feel like I’d been whisked away to another world.

Unfortunately, another area of the world-building was not quite on the same level. There’s mention of a war going on and Arianwyn’s father is off fighting in it, but the book doesn’t go into further detail about it. Lull is the novel’s focal point, and that’s fine, but I couldn’t help being curious about what was happening outside of the town.

Something else that became a bit distracting was the book’s quite liberal use of exclamation points in the dialogue. After a while, they lost some of their effectiveness because they kept popping up.

The book’s plot is fairly straightforward and doesn’t deviate much from its projected path. There is a certain charm, however, in watching Arianwyn gradually settle into her new life in Lull and into her new duties as its apprentice witch. Anyone who’s ever searched for a sense of belonging is sure to find a kindred spirit here in Arianwyn.

All in All: Younger readers will likely find Arianwyn’s adventures thrilling, but for me as an adult reader, they were missing a little something to make them as compelling as some other middle grade books have been.

Review: Half Wild by Sally Green

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous book, Half Bad.

Half Wild (Half Life Trilogy #2)
By Sally Green
Publisher: Viking
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Nathan may be on the run from the Hunters who want to kill him, but there’s a life that he values more than his own. He’ll do anything, even risk death at the hands of the hated, merciless Hunters, to wake Annalise, one of the few people to touch his heart, from the deep sleep that only another witch with highly dubious motives can release her from. Nathan himself must warily join forces with some rather suspect “allies” in order to even have a chance of saving Annalise, and their assistance comes in exchange for playing a key role in furthering an agenda that will impact all witches, both Black and White, across Europe.

Review: Half Bad turned out to be a neat surprise when I read it last year. At first the narrative style, which often has a stream of consciousness feel to it, made me a little hesitant, but my doubts were quickly squashed by the utterly compelling story of Nathan, a witch persecuted for most of his life by the Council of White Witches for being a Half Code, the son of a White Witch and England’s most dangerous Black Witch. Half Wild finds Nathan now in possession of his Gift, the special ability that every witch has and which varies from witch to witch. Nathan’s Gift, which is the same as that of his notorious father, Marcus, is powerful and a struggle for him to control; he has zero memory of turning into an animal, and a predatory one at that because sometimes he wakes up covered in blood.

Quite a bit of blood gets spilled in Half Wild, as the Council of White Witches steps up its efforts to eradicate Black Witches as well as punish any of its own who are not 100% loyal to the Council. The developing resistance movement recruits Nathan to join against an organization that he’d love to pulverize, but it’s an uneasy allegiance, with mistrust lingering on both sides. I’m not always into the political aspects of a novel, but this particular plotline, coupled with a ton of action, is potent.

I think my favorite thing about this series so far is the complexity of Nathan’s character. He knows he’s far from being a hero, and he’s not trying to be one, either. And that’s what I find truly appealing about his character—that there’s so much gray to it. I love that his narration consists of his unfiltered thoughts and that he often doesn’t have a filter when interacting with other characters. Nathan’s slightly unconventional narrative voice may not hit the right note with everyone, but for me, it’s made both books in this series extremely difficult to put down. I wasn’t sure if Half Wild would match the excellent pacing of Half Bad, but it absolutely does.

I loved Nathan’s friend Gabriel in Half Bad, and I love him even more after reading Half Wild. His devotion to Nathan is completely unwavering; even when Nathan fails to appreciate this fact, Gabriel is still there, still ready to do anything to help him. Of the new characters introduced in Half Wild, I took an immediate liking to Nesbitt, a witch whose snark rivals Nathan’s. Nesbitt takes great joy in winding Nathan up, and their verbal volleys provide some welcome comic relief.

Overall, Half Wild delivers all of the progression a reader could ask for from a sequel. I even about almost started crying at one point because a particular scene was so perfectly written. I’m glad that Ally urged me to pick this up because I hadn’t realized how much I missed the series until I stepped inside Nathan’s world once again.

All in All: No sequel disappointment here—at. All. This is an awesome series if the narrative style is a fit for you. It was for me in Half Bad and continues to be very much so in Half Wild.

Review: Half Bad by Sally Green

Half Bad (Half Life Trilogy #1)
By Sally Green
Publisher: Viking
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: For his whole life, Nathan Byrn has faced increasing persecution from the Council of White Witches, ultimately leading to his imprisonment in a cage. Nathan is a Half Code, the son of a White Witch and a notorious Black Witch. Nathan’s prospects for escape are bleak, as the Council has taken every precaution imaginable to maintain its grip on the only possible leverage it may have against Nathan’s father, whom the Council is determined to kill.

Review: Half Bad is not your run-of-the-mill witch book, not when the protagonist starts off the story by recounting how he wound up shackled inside a cage. It’s a story that I quickly became engrossed in and read in every spare moment I could find because the need to know what happened next was so strong. This is not a joke: my head nearly slumped forward onto the book a few nights as I attempted to fight off sleep in order to read a few more pages (I failed, by the way).

The tone of Half Bad is quite dark. Our MC Nathan has been treated with horrible cruelty by the Council of White Witches, which claims to protect its own from the evil committed by Black Witches. Nathan’s late mother was a White Witch, but his father, Marcus, is the most dangerous and vile Black Witch, at least according to the Council. What the Council subjects Nathan to, and this is even before his imprisonment, is abhorrent. Nathan’s maternal grandmother, half-brother Arran, and half-sister Deborah care about him and do their best to protect him, but the Council is ruthless at pursuing its objectives. Nathan is a pawn, a means to a much bigger target, and totally expendable once he’s no longer useful to the Council.

Nathan is a fascinating character. With the nonstop misery he’s experienced throughout his life courtesy of the Council, it’s no wonder he’s an angry, bitter young man. There’s also a part of him, though, that actively seeks trouble and keeps his smartass mouth running when he should have shut it a while ago. Then again, you can’t help but wonder how much of his character has been shaped by his circumstances and how much, if any, is a consequence of being his father’s son. Nathan cuts an intriguing figure, one who also wants to keep the Council and its lethal Hunters away from his family and who feels a genuine affection for his half-brother, Arran. Arran doesn’t see Nathan as a Half Code (the Council’s designation for a witch with only one White Witch for a parent) or a half-brother. Nathan is just his brother, and the relationship between the two is very touching.

The novel’s writing style is a little different from the norm, as well as a little difficult to describe. The book opens in the second person, as though you, the reader, are in Nathan’s shoes. This doesn’t go on long, however, and then the book settles into Nathan’s first person point-of-view for good. His narration has a bit of a blunt feel to it, in that he’s a to-the-point kind of guy and doesn’t launch into a song and a dance with his descriptions. This works very well for the book and gives it a brisk pace that spurs you on reading.

With its complex protagonist, quirky minor characters, and fresh take on witches, I enjoyed Half Bad a lot. The sequel is a must-buy for me, and I can’t wait to have it in my greedy hands.

All in All: A very strong start to a promising new series. I’m extremely eager to see where the story heads next.

Hold Tight Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

I'm excited to be a part of the blog tour for Cherie Colyer's Hold Tight, organized by AToMR Tours! I have a review of Hold Tight for you today, and you can enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a print copy of Hold Tight and the previous book, Embrace, (open to U.S. and Canada) or an eBook copy of Embrace (open internationally). Also be sure to follow the rest of the tour by checking out the tour schedule.

Hold Tight (Embrace #2)
By Cherie Colyer
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publication Date: August 20, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

* A copy was provided for review for the blog tour.

Synopsis: What’s one little spell?

When you’re new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want . . . and ruining the lives of everyone you love.

Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend—and fellow witch—can’t even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores.

But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simple spell, Madison instantly conjures the help she needs around the house. Or so she thinks. Her idea of “help” invites trouble of its own as a pair of dangerous yet enticing beings enter her life. When a classmate disappears soon afterwards, Madison discovers she's the next victim of a threat she's powerless to resist . . . and there’s nothing it won’t kill to make her surrender.

Caught in the crossfire between two dashing but deadly creatures, Madison must figure out which one to trust and how to rid her world of the other—before one of them destroys her and everyone she cares about.

Review: I really enjoyed reading Cherie Colyer’s Embrace last year, and I was thrilled when I heard that there was going to be a sequel. Embrace was such a fresh take on witches and magic, and I loved how the book slowly revealed what sort of paranormal activity was going on. The mystery element was so much fun, and I looked forward to seeing what kinds of surprises awaited me in Hold Tight.

Madison, Isaac, Kaylee, and Josh are all back, and I really love the friendship between the four of them. Just as Embrace did, Hold Tight presents a balanced portrait of these characters; sure, the supernatural is very real for them, but we get to see them as regular teenagers, too. It’s the latter side of her life that ends up causing trouble for Madison. When juggling school, helping out at home, and dating Isaac start becoming overwhelming, she secretly borrows Isaac’s fae book and summons a faery to help her around the house. At first the arrangement with Brea, the faery who appears, seems fine, but all too soon Madison learns that one has to exercise extreme caution when dealing with these creatures.

The faeries depicted here are more the type who’ll trick you into abandoning the human world for theirs than the kind who grant wishes with no expectation of something in return. One faery in particular has an ax to grind with Isaac and is determined to exact revenge. The fae are a welcome addition to the series as adversaries, and pretty formidable ones at that, yet they don’t steal the book away from the witches. There’s still plenty of spell casting and other witchcraft, and it’s a thrill watching it go up against fae magic.

I’d hoped that there would be a twist in Hold Tight à la finding out that Isaac was a witch in Embrace, and Hold Tight didn’t disappoint in delivering one. A certain character totally caught me off guard; it was apparent that this individual was hiding something very important, but I never would have guessed what it was. I did try to puzzle it out, but I wasn’t all that upset over my lack of sleuthing skills because I really liked being surprised.

The tone of Hold Tight grows quite serious in places, and Madison faces some of her biggest challenges to date. Her trials, and she does undergo a lot here, only strengthen her, though. That’s precisely the sort of character development I like to see with a series, and this series moves forward very nicely.

All in All: Hold Tight is a strong follow-up to Embrace that deftly adds some troublesome faeries to its existing paranormal element. I’d love to see the series continue, especially with this book’s introduction of an intriguing new character who wasn’t at all what I’d thought.

About Cherie Colyer

Cherie Colyer is the author of YA paranormal thriller/romance, EMBRACE (available now), and HOLD TIGHT (August 2013), from Omnific Publishing. Check out her website and blog for news on her books and bonus material. Follow Cherie on Twitter and/or Facebook for updates on writing, book and special offers.

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Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1)
By Rachel Hawkins
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

To Sum It Up:

Sophie Mercer is a witch, and her magic doesn’t always work the way she wants it to. She’s been to nineteen different schools, and when her latest spell goes awry, she’s sent to Hecate Hall, a sort of reform school for other Prodigium (witches, warlocks, fae, and shapeshifters) students. Even at Hex Hall, though, Sophie can’t escape trouble. A group of mean witches wants her to join their coven, and almost everyone suspects her vampire roommate of being behind a series of attacks on their classmates. Sophie is at Hex Hall to learn to control her powers, but it may actually be the most dangerous place for her.

Review:

It can’t be easy trying to compete with a certain über-popular series set in a magical boarding school, but Hex Hall carves out a nice little niche for itself. This was a quick read with a mostly breezy tone, though it also didn’t shy away from going dark when it needed to.

For me, the book’s greatest appeal was its humor. From Sophie’s overdone love spell that backfires horribly at the beginning of the novel to her failed attempts to magically create a non-hideous dress for a school dance, I was very amused while reading this. Sophie herself is a pretty sarcastic protagonist, and her snark-laden exchanges with Hex Hall’s resident hot guy, Archer Cross, are especially entertaining. I don’t know—I wasn’t particularly impressed with Archer. He’s sharp with a one-liner and dreamy to look at, but I wasn't exactly swooning over him. I did think it was hilarious how he and Sophie, after getting off to a rocky start when they first met each other, ended up being punished together, assigned to inventorying the school’s storage room of unwanted magical items, thanks to their sadistic teacher, the Vandy (loved her nickname).

Almost from the moment she sets foot in Hex Hall, Sophie is beset by a trio of witches who want her to complete their coven. Elodie, Anna, and Chaston are your archetypal mean girls, and Sophie sees them for what they are. I really liked that about her, but I also thought that she should have figured out who the culprit was behind the attacks on some of Hex Hall’s students a little sooner. To me, piecing the clues together didn’t take too much of an effort. And, despite Sophie being 16, the book sometimes had a youngish feel to it; not all of the time, because it ventured into decidedly young adult territory in some places. At other times, though, I felt like I was reading a book written for a slightly younger audience.

Still, I enjoyed reading this, and it left some very intriguing loose ends that I’m eager to find out more about. I’m also curious about Cal, the groundskeeper (not janitor like Sophie mistakenly calls him); I have a hunch that there’s an interesting story there. Plus, Sophie is a likable, funny character, which gives me further motivation to continue the series.

All in All:

Hex Hall isn’t an overly challenging read, but it is a fun one. The standout aspect for me was the humor, which made the book very much worth a read even if the premise wasn’t entirely novel.

Review: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Carnival of Souls
By Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperCollins

To Sum It Up:

Although she lives in the human world, away from a city inhabited by daimons, Mallory is still in danger. Daimons and witches are mortal enemies, and both want to use Mallory as a pawn in their war against each other. Kaleb is the daimon who’s been sent to find her. Back in The City, Kaleb is also a contestant in a fight-to-the-death tournament that could mean escape from his low-caste status if he wins. First, though, he’ll have to defeat fierce competitors like Aya, for whom the tournament represents the only way for her to obtain a voice in The City’s council. Both Aya and Kaleb desperately want to emerge victorious, but their connection goes beyond being rivals in the tournament. The two daimons are also connected by Mallory and the plots centered around her that both the witches and the daimons are planning in order to eliminate one another.

Review:

After finding Wicked Lovely, the first book in Melissa Marr’s fey series of the same name, on the underwhelming side, I was iffy about reading Carnival of Souls. Curiosity, prompted in large part by the dramatic cover, got the better of me, though, so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t sorry; Carnival of Souls turned out to be quite a compelling read about daimons locked in a battle against witches, and in one plotline, against each other.

The book focuses on three main characters: Aya, Kaleb, and Mallory. Their plotlines intertwine, and I was impressed with how Marr brought them together. I found Aya and Kaleb’s stories thoroughly absorbing. Kaleb is a low-caste daimon hoping that victory in the tournament held by the The City’s ruler, Marchosias, will elevate his social status. Aya was born into daimon nobility, but all a highborn female has to look forward to is marriage and children. She actually wants to improve life for her kind, and for her, winning the tournament is the only way to gain a seat on The City’s council and a say in its affairs. I really liked seeing things through the eyes of two characters from opposite backgrounds; it was very effective in conveying the determination that both characters shared despite how vastly different their castes were.

To me, the weakest storyline in the book was Mallory’s. I thought that she was the least developed of the three main characters, but it was mostly due to the circumstances surrounding her upbringing. Adam, her adoptive father and a witch, has only told Mallory enough about daimons so that she knows how to defend herself against them. For the most part, Mallory is ignorant of the world that her daimon mother fled and has been sheltered from the world in general by Adam. Mallory is rather naïve, and her personality contrasts quite a lot with that of the fiery Aya, but I don’t fault Mallory for that considering how she has been raised in such a protective bubble.

One area of the novel that I found lacking was the world-building. I had the same problem with Wicked Lovely, the feeling that I’d joined the story in progress. With both books, I wouldn’t have minded some additional exposition to give me a clearer picture of the worlds. I’m still puzzling over what exactly a Watcher is in Carnival of Souls and why some of the daimons in The City wear masks. Some sketchy details here and there didn’t lose me completely, but I couldn’t help but think that had they been filled in, they would have nudged this book’s rating up to a solid four stars.

On the whole, I’m glad that I took a chance on reading this. Aya and Kaleb really drew me into their stories, and I would definitely read a continuation of them.

All in All:

This was a pretty thrilling read, with a significant amount of conspiring and backdoor dealing going on, not to mention the vicious fighting taking place in the arena during the daimon tournament matches. While it occasionally seemed like the specifics of the world had been glossed over, the main story lines didn’t suffer because of it and were tightly focused.

Review: Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1)
By Jessica Spotswood
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons

To Sum It Up: Cate Cahill and her sisters are hiding a dangerous secret. They are witches living in a community that punishes those suspected of using magic by sentencing them to hard labor on a prison ship or shipping them off to an asylum. Since her mother’s death, Cate has assumed responsibility for protecting her younger sisters, but this is not an easy task, especially with Cate quickly approaching the age at which she will either have to get married or enter a convent and join the Sisterhood. A mysterious letter warning her that she and her sisters are in great peril leads Cate to find her mother’s diary and with it a shocking prophecy that could tear her family apart.

Review: Because I love a good historical fiction read every once in a while, books set in a historic time period with a paranormal twist to them are especially appealing to me. I had high hopes for Born Wicked, which is set in an alternate version of late 19th century New England, but I ended up disappointed. I just couldn’t buy into this world, and there wasn’t enough magic to really draw me into the story.

The book’s narration attempts to capture a manner of speaking consistent with its time period, but it doesn’t always succeed. The rather abrupt shifting between wording that was supposed to be contemporary with the book’s setting and more modern sounding language became distracting to me after a while. I wasn’t fully convinced that Cate inhabited a world filled with afternoon tea socials, calling cards, and petticoats. Overall, I thought that the book had a choppy rhythm, and I had a tough time getting past it.

I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, either. Cate’s idea of protecting her sisters pretty much amounts to bossing them around. I don’t doubt that she loves her sisters and means well, but her methods of dealing with them need a serious rethink. I did not like the middle sister, Maura, at all; she was a brat with a bad attitude. My favorite sister was the youngest one, Tess. She showed some pluck that would have made Cate a far more interesting heroine. I think that I would have liked the book better if it had been told through Tess’s eyes.

Most of the action in Born Wicked doesn’t take place until about 2/3 of the way through the book, and even then, it’s not that heart-pounding. I understand that the Cahill sisters are trying to keep their magical abilities a secret to avoid a horrible fate and so cannot perform magic openly. I still think that the novel could have benefited from the sisters using their powers more, though. In a book about witches, I expect to see a fair amount of spell casting, and that doesn’t really happen here. Still, this might be worth a read if you’re interested in Puritan New England and the Salem Witch Trials, albeit with several creative liberties taken.

All in All: This wasn’t a standout read for me, so I won’t be continuing with the series. I do hope that Tess plays a larger role in the sequels, though; she’s a character to keep an eye out for.

Review: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Near Witch
By Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Hyperion Books CH

To Sum It Up: All of the children in the small town of Near know the legend of the Near Witch. Lexi Harris knows the story better than most; her father would whisper all sorts of stories about the small village in which they live, tales about the moor which surrounds Near on all sides, and rumors of the witches who live on the brink of both worlds. When Lexi catches a glimpse of a strange figure standing on the hills just outside the reach of her home, she doesn't know what to think. And when the figure becomes a wisp of a shadowy wind and disappears just before her eyes, Lexi begins to think that she is imagining things. That is, until the next morning, when the whole town of Near is gossiping about the stranger. It is all harmless curiosity until children start to go missing in the night. Almost everyone in town is convinced that the mysterious stranger is the culprit. Lexi is the exception. She has met the stranger, Cole, and he's just a boy, maybe a few years older than she is. And while the whole town is convinced of his guilt, Lexi believes he is innocent. Cole wants nothing more than to help, and Lexi can use all the help she can get. While the rest of the town wastes time chasing shadows, Lexi has a real idea of who is magically making the children disappear. Lexi doesn't just believe in the stories of the Near Witch; she believes that the Near Witch is real.

Review: The Near Witch was an excellent book. I have always been fond of fairy tales, so when I heard about this book I just knew I had to read it. It was a fantastic story and I really did enjoy it.

The Near Witch isn't one of those princes and princesses/happily ever after sort of books; it kind of reminded me of one of the Grimm Brothers' stories. And since I love the Grimm Brothers, I obviously liked this story as well. Victoria Schwab perfectly mixed darkness and danger into her fairy tale. I actually remember reading the first couple of pages and thinking, wow this really reminds me of The Hunger Games. I mean, come on, the main protagonist is the eldest daughter of a single mother, who just happens to be the town's bread baker :D Said girl has just recently lost her father whom she was extremely close to, leaving the teenage girl to look after her beloved little sister while her mother ghosts around the house, an empty shell of her former self. Try telling me that you wouldn't be thinking the same thing! Lexi, the protagonist of the book, even wears her father's old leather boots and hunting knife, and Lexi just happens to be a tracker. Talk about déjà vu!

Anyway, enough about the factors which reminded me of The Hunger Games; let’s get back to the book I'm reviewing. The Near Witch was really sad at times, and the conflict was pretty haunting. I couldn't read certain parts late at night because like the little wimp that I am, I got pretty creeped out. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I like to think of myself as fairly brave. I usually don't get scared so easily.

Aside from my fear of being kidnapped by the Near Witch, I really liked the plot and premise of the book. I thought the whole thing was pretty unique. Sure, witches and the battle between good and evil are in a lot of fairy tales, but Schwab managed to put a new twist on some old ideas. The characters and mystery of the book were enjoyable as well. I really like Lexi. She sometimes reminded me of Katniss Everdeen while also being a totally new and different fictional character. Lexi was strong but didn't think she had to do everything on her own; she was more than willing to accept help from others. I also liked the fact that she had a mind of her own. The whole town seemed to be brainwashed, except for Lexi.

Cole was all right. He was the main male protagonist but I didn't care about him. I obviously liked how he helped Lexi and all; he just seemed a little weak. Not weak in the muscle sort of way, but in the emotional, strength of mind sort of way. He was very quiet, and I tend to like the snarky type of fictional guys. So, in a way, me not loving him is not Cole's fault. It's me, not you, Cole! He was an okay guy and I liked his back story, but he just wasn't my kind of guy.

My favorite characters in this book have to be the Sisters. I loved them; they were hilarious. The Sisters are two hedge witches who live on the outskirts of the small town of Near. They are not accepted in the town's society, but they still help whenever they are needed. The Sisters are very old, sarcastic, powerful, and intelligent. Those girls had attitude, and I loved them for it! Almost every time Lexi or Cole had a problem, they went to the Sisters for help. The two witches seemed to know everything. They knew what was going down and how to stop it. They were just that cool.

In the end, I enjoyed reading The Near Witch. It had me intrigued from the very first page. I enjoyed the story, and the characters were likable. Besides being beautifully written, the concept was truly unique. Heck, I think Disney should make a movie out of this fairy tale! Not many people can write good, original fairy tales anymore. To say the least, I would gladly reread The Near Witch or read a sequel, if there is one; I'll need to check on that ;) I'd even happily watch a Disney movie adaptation!

All in All: The Near Witch was very enjoyable to read. I do not have my own copy of the book nor do I think I will be getting one any time soon due to a lack of funds; I will, however, happily jump at the chance to read a sequel. I love this sort of stuff; I just eat it up!

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1)
By Rachel Hawkins
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

To Sum It Up:

When a simple love spell takes a turn for the worse, Sophie Mercer is exiled to Hex Hall, a reform school for the least desirable members of Prodigium society. Having lived in the human world with her non-gifted mother all her life, Sophie is not prepared for all the different students at Hex Hall, and she is definitely not prepared for her first day there. As if getting attacked by a werewolf, sniffed by a shapeshifter, and made fun of by an incredibly handsome and arrogant warlock isn't enough, Sophie also has to deal with her new roomie, who just happens to be a vampire, and a clique of beautiful dark witches who insist that Sophie join their coven. To top it off, there's been a mysterious string of murders, and the prime suspect is the only vampire student on campus. But Sophie can handle it; she is a witch, after all.

Review:

Hex Hall was a surprisingly good book. Although I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, I do it all the time, most recently with Hex Hall. I can't tell you how many times I walked past this book and scowled at the cover. To me, it just wasn't appealing. It didn't look like the kind of book that was supposed to be about witches. Eventually I caved, curiosity getting the better of me, and I picked up the book. And, it is safe to say, I was wrong. Hex Hall was an enjoyable book. It was one of those easy reads that gets you back into the groove of a certain genre, in this case, witches.

Sophie was a funny, easy-going character, and I liked watching her grow as a witch. Though at some times she was stupid and vain in a way that only spoiled teenage girls can be, Sophie was all right. The other characters in this book were very intriguing. I liked how Hawkins didn't limit herself to one supernatural character. She let her creative mind take charge and included characters ranging from fairies to shapeshifters to supernatural hunters. The whole concept of a reform school for these creatures was beyond interesting; it was hilarious. The teenage angst mixed in was great, too! The main guy, Archer Cross, gave me a good laugh. First, his name was funny (come on, Archer?!) and secondly, he was a very sarcastic wizard. I looked forward to all the parts of the book where he played a big role, and I don't think I spent as much time as I should have trying to figure this guy out. Though in my defense, I was trying to piece together other parts of the puzzle.

Surprisingly, nothing really bugged me about this book. I thought the writing was fast-paced, and the characters weren't unbearable. The story itself had a good hook and was deeper than a one plot kind of book. Then why, Allison, isn't this book marked five stars? Well, the book was good—it was all right. And that right there is your problem. The book didn't stick out for me. In a few months I'll forget the names of the main characters and eventually parts of the plot. I think the Harry Potter references in this book made me like it more than I would have originally. But that's me, and in the end, I'm glad I caved and read it.

All In All:

Hex Hall was a good book. I think anyone who enjoys reading about the supernatural or even good old high school drama will like reading this book. I borrowed Hex Hall from the library and will kindly return it. I feel no urge to go run out and purchase a copy. For that, Hex Hall, I thank you. Demonglass, the sequel to Hex Hall, is happily sitting on my dresser at home.