Hex Hall is a trilogy of Young Adult fantasy novels by Rachel Hawkins.
Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch when she was twelve years old. Since then her powers have gotten her onto a whole heap of trouble, and when a wayward spell at prom draws attention, Sophie finds herself sent off to a reform school, Hecate Hall, better known as Hex Hall. Hex Hall is filled with all sorts of Prodigium, witches, warlocks, faes, shapeshifters and weres. It's all a bit much for Sophie who was raised by her human mother. Between the fact that Sophie's new roommate Jenna happens to be the only vampire in the school, the obnoxious, annoying, mysterious, totally hot warlock Archer Cross that Sophie couldn't possibly have a crush on, and the strange ghost girl that seems to have taken an interest in Sophie, it's almost enough to forget that there's a series of attacks going on at the school that have already left one girl dead.
In the sequel Demonglass, Sophie travels to England to spend the summer with her estranged father along with Jenna and Cal. They stay at Thorne Abbey, which is acting as The Council headquarters. Sophie is trying to learn what it means to be a demon and control her powers, but is distracted by the fact that someone has been raising demons, a war is brewing between Prodigium and the Eye, her recently discovered betrothal to Cal, and she can't seem to get Archer Cross out of her head.
In Spellbound, just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.
A short story set after Spellbound, "A Very Hexy Valentine's Day"
, was published by the author on Tumblr.
In 2013, a spinoff novel titled School Spirits was published.
This series provides examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: The Brannicks consist of Aislinn, Finley, Isolde and Grace (Sophie's mom)
- All-Ghouls School: Hex Hall is for delinquent witches, werewolves, warlocks, shapeshifters, faeries, vampires, ghosts, and demons.
- Alpha Bitch: Elodie is constantly obsessing over fashion, telling lies, making Sophie feel inferior, and getting into trouble with her Girl Posse coven at least until her death in Hex Hall. By the end she has a few aspects of Lovable Alpha Bitch.
- Amazon Brigade: The Hunter of Monsters Brannicks are all women who are deadly fighters alone and together.
- Arranged Marriage: Apparently, when a witch is thirteen she is betrothed to a warlock, although either member of the couple can call things off whenever they want.
- Cassandra Truth: When Jenna says that Elodie's coven summoned a demon, almost everyone in the school laughs at her. They shouldn't have.
- Cliffhanger: The ending of Demonglass has most of the characters MIA amidst a terifying fire while Sophie is De Powered.
- Everyone Is Related: Archer and Nick; their fathers were brothers.
- Everything's Deader with Zombies: Zombies guard the place where demons are being raised.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Jenna is perky, obsessed with bright colors, and not in a rush to drink anyone's blood, although she gets a lot of fear and suspicion from people.
- Kryptonite Factor: Demons can only be killed with demonglass.
- Love Triangle: Archer, Sophie and Elodie in the first book and Sophie, Archer and Cal in the second.
- Monster/Slayer Romance: Demon-hunter Archer and half-demon Sophie are the main couple of the series.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: There are several ghosts roaming around Hex Hall. Alice is one. Or at least Sophie thought she was one, turns out she's a demon that was raised from hell. Elodie becomes one.
- Pair the Spares: In Spell Bound, Cal decides to sacrifice his life in order for Sophie to live, knowing she is in love with Archer. Afterwards, Elodie's ghost asks Sophie to unbind them so that she can stay with Cal's ghost.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Sophie and Cal seem to be heading in this direction for a while given the quick bond between them even before she learns he is the warlock her dad betrothed her to.
- Single Line of Descent: The Brannicks have been a Hunter of Monsters family for a thousand years but not one woman and her two daughters are currently fighting the good fight. Handwaved with a few comments that the boys of the family have always been mostly excluded from the supernatural and the rest of the Amazon Brigade (not quite fifty in all) disowned the current matriarch and her immediate family over her sister having a Star-Crossed Lovers romance and then followed their new leader on a Leeroy Jenkins raid that killed them all.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: The whole "she's a demon, he's a demon hunter" place Archer and Sophie firmly into this category. Especially after the Council's reaction to finding them together.
- Stop Being Stereotypical: In the second book, Sophie’s father tells the other councilors that their Godzilla Threshold reaction to the recent m Van Helsing Hate Crimes is exactly the reason so many ordinary humans hate them in the first place.
- Sword and Sorcerer: Archer and Sophie. Though Archer is a Warlock, "he's not the strongest [one]". He is a great fighter, however. A solid type 1 in the fight at Hex against the dead.
