Review: SCHOOL SPIRITS by Rachel Hawkins

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins
Get It | Add It
Supernatural/Paranormal, 304 pages
Expected publication: May 14th 2013 by Disney-Hyperion

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?

Rachel Hawkins' delightful spin-off brings the same wit and charm as the New York Times best-selling Hex Hall series. Get ready for more magic, mystery and romance!

School Spirits is the first in a spin-off series from the Hex Hall books. And though I own the Hex Hall series, I was worried when this showed up in my mail that I wouldn't be able to read it, since I haven't actually read Hex Hall even a little bit. Being completely buried in books right now, and heading into what is inevitably my busiest month of the year, combined with the fact that I haven't read HH, I figured the best thing would be to set this on a shelf and let it languish for a bit while I responsibly go about the things I need to get done...which is why I opened up to the first page "just to see" and then proceeded to finish it.
[Don't look at me like that, I know I'm not the only one who does this.]

Since I haven't read HH, I guess I can't talk about how School Spirits compares to that, but I can certainly say that it makes me more eager to read it. Though this may not go down in history as the most memorable or most original book I've read, it was pure fun throughout, and I think I may come to find Hawkins' style a perfect funk-breaker. There are those authors or works that I always recommend when someone tells me they're in a reading rut (or when I, myself, am) because their breezy, effortless style doesn't make you work at enjoying reading. These types of books make a great break when you're stalled in something that you just can't seem to finish, because they remind you that reading can be fun; an author can be have a sense of humor; a book can be quick and light and exactly what you needed to jumpstart you when you're in a slump. I have a list of such books to use as go-to recommendations, which includes things like Kiersten White's Paranormalcy, Jana Oliver's The Demon Trapper's Daughter. I have a feeling School Spirits will be added to that list.

That's the type of book School Spirits was. It's begging to be on "beach reads*" lists, or "curling up in a hammock with the sun on your face reads" lists or "OMG I'm done with finals, give me something fun!!1" lists. It was breezy and cute (not cutesy), with just the right amount of fluff to it to make it quick and compulsively engaging, but keep it from being a throwaway. The story is pretty standard paranormal fare, but Izzy - and a number of the other characters - are so engaging that they make the story shine. Hawkins has done a really good job of setting up the series, giving us all the basics to dive into the world, engaging characters to lead us through it, and enough mystery and openness to keep us coming back for those unanswered questions. And because two - at least - of those questions are pretty big ones, I have a feeling that the tension in this series is going to build quite nicely, and make each book stronger than the last. (At least, I can hope!)

So if you're in a rut and in need of a funk-breaker, or just love a good damn fun book, School Spirits might be just the one to pick up. And if you're like me, and still have Hex Hall sitting on your shelves, unread, then you may just want to have a summertime Rachel Hawkins binge...


*In fact, I've been wanting to do the Beach Reads thing again this year, so even though it's April and this is probably a little wishful/jinxful of me, we're going to go ahead and slap a Beach Reads button on this one.  ^_^

Looking for more beach reads? *click*