Monday, July 1, 2013

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 304pgs

The Story

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt? 

The Review

I admit I'm not the first reader out there to start having withdrawals from Rachel Hawkins's books (especially since her first series had just ended recently), but I was pretty damn excited to read her spin-off Hex Hall series and I have to say it's great having the author back writing at her very best!

SCHOOL SPIRITS may not have beaten my love of the Hex Hall series as of yet nor did I find it to be the best book ever by Hawkins plot-wise, but it's a very quick read with plenty of fun things happening to keep you entertained in the long run. I mean, what's not to like about that? Plus it's super funny with the character's humor and all, especially with the main character and her new set of friends, which is one of the main reasons why I loved Hawkins's writing in the first place since she's great at writing the humor sections of her books. But like in Hex Hall the characters featured in this particular spin-off series was the best part of all! Really they were the BEST!

To name one, Izzy, our new leading heroine, was - to put it simply - such an amazing character. She is just something else and I actually liked her a little bit more than Sophie from the Hex Hall series and that's really saying something there considering I loved Sophie a lot as well. Izzy is . . . I don't know . . . she just makes me laugh out loud like . . . all the time . . . and for someone who is so young at her age, I thought she handled every single tough situation that's thrown at her like an adult. She's just so mature for her age and just so Izzy. I loved her to bits. But of course, to name another two favourite characters of mine, I just HAVE to mention Torin and one of Izzy's new friends at school, Dex, who were such a delight to have in this particular book.

Torin is this super confident, inventive, attractive, frustrating and a very interesting guy (and a warlock mind you) and even though he is forever stuck in a mirror (since he has been trapped in one for centuries and has watched over Izzy's family for many of her generation) I just hope he gets more of the spotlight in the future books because he is the comic relief in this book and I love him for it. But what I love even more? Well that's Dex. Even though Dex is a very quirky guy with a lot of mystery to him, but I love the fact he's not a bad boy kind of a character for once but rather a sweet and overall nice guy (hooray for the nice guys!) and also a potential love interest for Izzy. He and Izzy are perfect together and while their romance isn't really focused on in this first book, but I can't wait (or I rather hope) for their relationship - and friendship - to grow in the future books (if there are going to be any more). Go Dex is all I say! He's . . . gosh . . . SO SWEET.

But the only real kicker at the moment? Well, I've heard from the author herself and she says there are no currently plans for any more books in the series. Talk about frustrating! However, while she works on other projects for the meantime, she did say there was a possibility of more books in the distant future so I'm going to cross my fingers for now and hope she is right because I need more from this spin-off story. It's just fair especially since I and so many other readers enjoyed this book so much. So please publishers force the author to write more from this series by all means necessarily hehe.

Overall, SCHOOL SPIRITS is a such a fun book and I hope the author decides to write more from this series because I can't wait to find out how our characters develop even further.

The Rating
4/5 stars

4 comments:

  1. I knowwww. I really wanted more Torin! She also told me right now there is no talk about a sequel.. I found it quite sad. I haven't read the Hex Hall series and I'm glad I will be reading it after School Sprits since everyone (including you) seems to love Hex Hall the most!

    great review,
    - Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf

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    1. Yes! I really loved Torin and even when he was causing some mischief. But damn I really wanted a sequel. But I would definitely recommend the Hex Hall series. It's a great one! :)

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  2. I was really frustrated that she decided not to continue. I wonder if it didn't sell as much as anticipated so they decided not to pick it up. Or whether she has writer's block. I enjoyed School Spirits and want it to continue.

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    1. Maybe it's because it's a spin-off. Sometimes they work well and other times they don't. But on a whole I thought it was a great start to a series (which sucks now because I was starting to love this new book) but I'm pretty disappointed there is no sequel in the works. But fingers crossed one will be written in the near future.

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