Release Date: May 14th, 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Format: ARC
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?
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?
I absolutely adore the Hex Hall series, so I was incredibly excited when I found out that it was getting a spin-off and our lead girl was none other than the delightfully spunky Izzy Brannick. I had heard rumors of a spin-off and when I finished the last book in the Hex Hall series, I so hoped it would be Izzy's story we got next.
Izzy's world is quite a bit different than the one we grew accustomed to in Hex Hall. There are still prodigium, to some extent, but the Brannick's are all about putting them away. Not going to lunch with them. I will admit, I missed hanging out with all the prodigium in this book, but I loved watching Izzy try and adapt to the regular world. What's not to love about a girl who watches teen soaps to try and get an idea of what school will be like (remind me to tell you sometime about my theory that any problem in life can be solved by relating it to things seen in a Dawson's Creek episode).
I like the sort of parallel we get here between Izzy and Sophie. In the Hex Hall series you have Sophie coming out of the normal world and into a world full of prodigium, and we get to see her learn and adapt. With Izzy, she's coming out of a world where all she knows is prodigium and magic and into the normal world, where we get to see her learn and adapt. We get to meet some cool kids and go on the journey with them to try and figure out this mystery at their school.
This book has still got Rachel Hawkins signature wit and writing style, great characters, a solid story arc, and some twists to keep you on your toes. While I wasn't quite as charmed with it as I was hoping, I still think it's an excellent start to this new series and I can't wait to see where Izzy's story goes next :0)