Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

16 year old Sophie Mercer is a witch. And what good is a witch if she can't use her powers to help people? That's what Sophie thinks when she tries to cast a love spell for a girl Sophie repeatedly sees sobbing in the bathroom at her high school. Everyone deserves a prom date, right? Well...one disastrous love spell gone wrong later and Sophie ends up at Hex Hall, a school for delinquent Prodigium (aka, witches, warlocks, shapeshifters, and faeries) who have trouble keeping their identities (skills, powers, etc...) from humans. And of course Sophie would have to room with the only vampire student who is accused of murdering her former roommate, and of course she would turn down the offer to be in a coven with the three most powerful witches in the school (and evidently be on their bad side), and of course she would have a crush on the cockiest (and most gorgeous) warlock on campus. Things couldn't get worse, right? Wrong. Sophie has a lot more mysterious and secrets to discover at Hex Hall...some of which leave her in danger.

This was so much fun to read. Sophie was so kick-ass. I loved her attitude. She was witty, sarcastic, and just all around level-headed and awesome. I wasn't sure what to expect opening up Hex Hall. I mean, witches have been done to death (Charmed, anyone?) and there's so many stereotypes and cliches out there. And they're all still there in Hex Hall but in a spoof-like caricature of themselves.

     "Wait. You said your sleeping spell lasts for only four hours". I glanced at my watch. "It's been almost four hours now, and it took us at least half an hour to get out here. How are we going to get back in time?"
     Alice smiled, and with a snap of her fingers, two brooms suddenly materialized beside her. 
     "You're joking." I said.
     "Come on Sophia!" she called. "Be traditional for once!"

Sophie's sardonic view of everything had me cracking up. This was such a gem of a novel, light-hearted and full of mystery and intrigue. I couldn't get enough of it. I was genuinely upset when I turned over the last page. And Archer. Man oh man Archer. He was one HECK of a hot warlock. He might be my new literary crush. Like, whoa. Cold shower whoa. And now I have to wait almost a year to hear about him again. We're left on kind of a "wtf?!" note with him and I need to know! Rachel Hawkins, call me and please tell me there will be more Archer, more hot, sexy, warlock-y Archer!

Anyway, if you pick this up you won't be disappointed. It's like Mean Girls meets Charmed meets Buffy. It's awesome! And once you do read it, feel free to email me so we can gush about Archer. On second thought, maybe not, because we might get into a fight. He's mine and all...:)

Happy Reading!