Easily likable and a quick read, Hex Hall is a fast paced YA novel, enjoyable for any reader. Hex Hall tells the tale of Sophie Mercer's arrival at Hecate Hall where she is sentenced to live until she is 18 after revealing herself with a love spell overblown. She's a witch with magic powers, yes you got me, magic powers actually. Yet Hecate Hall isn't your normal reform preparatory school, it's a place where all forms of supernatural creatures - vampires, werewolves, shifters and warlocks reside. Sophie must learn to get through a zany school while falling in love with the school heartthrob while learning the truth behind murders taking place. 
 Hex Hall is a good read, it's solidly strong writing, easy to follow and has enough twists to keep the reader entertained. However, it was a bit too reminiscent of common supernatural-paranormal tropes to be wholly unique or completely wondrous. Any reader will quickly sigh and wish for a bit more originality in the world of YA. Specifically the reform school idea (seen in Fallen and The Summoning), girl falls in love with the school's classic pretty boy (Fallen), girl must learn to harness her own powers etc etc. are all to common to any paranormal reader. 
 In some ways, I don't really like Sophie at first, she seems a bit spoiled and kinda dim witted. She falls head first for the jerk Archer Cross - even though all he did was insult her, and she admits this to herself! Really, I don't understand the cliche girl falls-head-over-heels-for-the-first-pretty-boy-she-sees idea. But I think I'm being too harsh on this novel, maybe I've just been reading too much of this YA supernatural genre to love this novel. 
 Well, let's think positive now! Hex Hall introduces a great range of characters from numerous fairies to the looked-down-upon "monster" vampires, and the most populous witches. The division of supernaturals, history of them, and even Sophie's own secret past is pretty intriguing, and I'm willing to read the next novel to find out more. As another paranormal YA series trope, Hex Hall reveals only more questions instead of answers, though there's a pretty nice twist at the end. 
 Regardless of all my negativity, Hex Hall is indeed enjoyable to a degree, yet too generic to be anything more. It's more like one of this guilty reads to indulge in, but not to read frequently - like a chocolate tart it's nice once in a while.