Thursday, June 3, 2010

Guest Blogger for Hex Hall


Any giveaway I do, I ask the winner if they would be interested in doing a guest blog about the book they won because I want to know what that person thought about it. My first ever guest blogger is Ashley who was the winner of a signed copy of Hex Hall and here's what she had to say:

I will admit that I didn’t have a great deal of interest in Hex Hall when I first heard about it and didn’t give it much thought.  But then the girls in my online book club started raving about how great it was and how we all just had to read it, so I finally added it to my TBR list. I was then lucky enough to win the signed copy Crystal was giving away and I’m so glad I did. 


What a fun read!  You know those books that just seem to grab you and take you right along on the adventure with the characters?  Like… Harry Potter or even Hunger Games?  Hex Hall is right up there with them, yet lighter and infused with a little more humor which makes it really enjoyable. 


Every character felt real to me.  Beyond the magical powers part, I could see each of them, from Sophie, to Jenna, to Elodie, being students in my high school.  I admire an author that can do that because likable and/or real characters are hard to write; especially an entire novel worth of them.   Archer was the perfect mystery, I loved to hate Elodie, Jenna was a fantastic best friend (which is saying a lot because I normally hate the best friend) and Sophie… well she just seemed so normal.  I really liked her and could easily identify with her. 


The setting and writing were perfect on their own as well.  I’d love to meet Rachel Hawkins in person because I’m sure she’s absolutely hilarious.  The book is full of witty dialogue that had me hooked. Here’s one of my favorite examples (that doesn’t give anything away): 
    "Good luck explaining to God that you used to spank one of his heavenly beings."   Mom gave a startled laugh. "Sophie!" "What? You did. I hope you like hot weather, Mom, that's all I'm saying." 
I think the best elements to this story were the major twists the plot took.  So many recent books are so predictable that by half way through you’ve pretty much figured out what’s going to happen.  This story had a conclusion that I never imagined and the unexpected twists and turns were great. It was a fresh story that in no way felt like the same old thing. 


Here are my only two complaints:
-it was over far too soon
-I have to wait much too long for the sequel. 


I’m very much looking forward to the next installment and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun adventure read.  A great debut for Hawkins! 


Thanks again Crystal!

Thanks Ashley! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and reading this just made me want to re-read Hex Hall already!

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