School Spirits: Review

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?



 First  off, I have always been a huge fan of Hawkin's writing. Her Hex Hall series were some of the first books that I devoured and when my reading addiction heightened. So, as I learned of this spin-off series of Hex Hall, I had to get my hands on it.
 

Luckily, I was able to get my copy of it, thanks to the wonderful Disney Hyperion.

The writing. Hawkins still has that feel-good, laugh out loud type of writing-or at least, that is always how I have thought of it. Her descriptions are usually short and sweet, not overwhelming. They are not like ones of Blood Red Road, for example. But I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that.

The characters. Izzy was an amazing character. Lots of snark and humor, alot like Sophie. I wish that perhaps, though, that Hawkins would have tried to do a different type of character for Izzy. I just think that she was way too like Sophie at times. Sometimes, I enjoyed that, other times,  not too much.

The secondary characters were also humorous, and they added some depth to this novel, which I think definitely was needed. I especially liked Torin, because he was just...awesome. I can't explain why I loved him so, but I did.

The romance. What's weird is that I thought there might be romance between Torin and Izzy.

 I don't know why, because that would be...not cool. Because of the whole age difference? Right. So, I have no idea why I thought that.

On to the real romance. Between Dex. and Izzy. Truth is, I saw this from miles away. It was predictable, and not everything about it was great. However, because I miss Archer I will forgive Hawkins, just this once. And trust me, I actually very much did enjoy the romance. It was cute, and I loved them as a couple!

The plot. The plot of the story isn't great as Hex Hall's, I will admit. Nothing about it made me scream at the book, or cry, or do any sort of emotional thing. I did find it bland at moments throughout the book, and other times, I found it just ok. Mainly, I think what bugs me now, after I have read WAY more books than I had when I first read the Hex Hall series, I found out these types of books aren't one of a kind. Their basic paranormal books with a couple twists in them. I guess that is a depressing thought, but I find it quite true, however much I love Rachel Hawkins.

Overall. I liked this book alot, but if I hadn't read the Hex Hall series before, I wouldn't have been as easy on it. The romance was cute, and characters mostly great. It has a light air to, but I wish it would have had more depth to it, Showed some ugly sides of the characters.