Hex Hall

Summary: 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 tagalong 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.

I think the reason this book is successful and has such good reviews on amazon and goodreads and such is because it's much more complicated than the blurb up there would lead you to believe. It sounds like just a teenage story - with a little magic thrown in - but the plot ended up having some very interesting and subtle layers. I enjoyed peeling them back bit by bit and found myself completely engrossed in this book. I liked the characters, particularly Sophie. And HOLY COW!!! There is a twist that really threw me. Completely unexpected. Such a shock. I'm an expert at predicting books, so when this happens I really love the feeling.

This book is also very clean, but I have to add the disclaimer that one of the main characters is gay. I was really disappointed in that, because being a Disney-Hyperion book, I thought it would be perfectly clean. It bothered me a bit, but it wasn't a huge part of the book. I plan on reading the sequel because, really, the story is so interesting!