Even though the witch-and-sorcerer theme is so used in YA, Michelle Krys’ first book in the new ‘The Witch Hunter’ series, ‘Hexed’, did manage to conquer me completely. The story is wonderful unpredictable and loads of fun.
| by Peter |  |
Title:
‘Hexed'(The Witch Hunter #1)
Author:
Pages:
373
Reading Level:
Advanced Beginner
Published:
June 10th 2014
Publisher:
Corgi Books
Random House
Feelings Thermometer:
Indigo Blackwood – a just few years older high school version of Sharon Spitz from ‘BraceFace’ – really wants to be popular. And she’s doing well.
At high school she’s a really little cheerleader, and her best friend Bianca is captain of the team. Her boyfriend Devon is the football teams heartthrob, and even though the others girls jealous glares makes Indie a bit uneasy and Devon’s quite unaware of her feelings, she most of all enjoys that she’s got the schools most coveted guy.
But one day on the busy LA roads to her mom’s shop The Black Cat, a young guy literally drops dead in front of her car. In the days after, Devon tries to comfort her in his own superficial way and invites her to a sold-out concert to make her forget. But how can she forget, when she’s suddenly stalked by a guy in a peculiar out-dated leather jacket, and he starts talking about her mum, like he knows her better than herself?
An important aspect is that Indie’s mum has an old witch bible hidden in The Black Cat, and Indie knows that something far worse than the end of the world will occur if the book disappears. But the only thing Indigo really cares about now is mom!
Excerpt from ‘Hexed’
“All right, all right.” He shrugs off his leather jacket, revealing a sleeve of colorful tattoos on his right arm, then spreads his legs and grips the wood. And then he does something really strange, even for him. He closes his eye and whispers something inaudible. I can’t believe I wasted precious time on this weirdo. I snatch my cell phone out of my bag and dial 911.
“Hello, uh, hi, I need help. A bookcase fell over in my Mom’s shop and she’s trapped … Yes, she’s breathing, but she can’t get out and she’s hurt … Yes, it’s The Black Cat on Mel—” Before I can finish my sentence, the guy’s lifting the bookcase.
And making it look easy. I mean, he’s got a deep crease in his brow and he’s lifting slowly, as if it’s a strain, but the muscles in his forearm aren’t taut and his knockles don’t whiten a bit.
But that’s crazy!
“Little help?” He nods toward Mom.
“I have to go. The Black Cat, two ninety Melrose. Hurry!”
The classic witch-and-sorcerer theme
‘Hexed’, the first book in Michelle Krys’ ‘The Witch Hunter’ series, obviously is about witches and sorcerers and a brutal war between them. And no, there’s nothing new to the setup.
A high school full of dumb jocks, cheerleaders acting like bitches and a girl with hidden skills within witchcraft, that she yet has to discover. And – oh yeah, almost forgot – a strange but cute guy, our heroine may or may not fall in love with.
It was actually FUN
But ‘Hexed’ felt new. Why? Because it was fun! You know fun, in the old fashioned way, like hanging-out-with-your-best-friends-in-the-lunch-break-sharing-stories-about-guys-losing their-swim-trunks-when-they-jump-into-the-pool FUN.
And what happened to fun books? I’ve really missed them. Today everything in YA is about “Is this going to be the new ‘Hunger Games’, ‘Divergent’ or ‘The Mortal Instruments’?” And every author takes themselves and their stories so serious in trying to achieve this unattainable goal. They take every aspect in their stories into so much work, and the fun is lost.
Love Indie’s uncontrollable temper
Indigo is temperamental – in a very bad, but also charming and loveable way, and the funny thing is that she’s absolutely aware of – and hate – her outbursts. Still, she can’t control them.
Her counterpart, the sorcerer Bishop, who gets most of the criticism, quickly learns how to trigger her emotions. And what’s more fun than a selfish, snobbish girl constantly being teased by an adorable guy, she would be more than happy to push down Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills, but without whos help she can’t survive all her new witch challenges?
Never missed things for a long time
The plottet witch-and-sorcerer things are wonderful fast paced and action packed, and it felt like Michelle Krys could read my thoughts, while reading. Because when I missed a bit of romance, a romantic scene suddenly appeared, and when I felt a nothing-at-stake issue building up, blood suddenly spattered all over and point-of-no-return things I never would have believed could happen, actually happened! Wow!
Don’t be a party stopper
But 230 pages into the story, pace went down low, and I felt quite disappointed. Krys began building up activities for the next book in ‘The Witch Hunter’ series, and it was obviously that we wouldn’t get the answers now.
I hate that kind of building-up-excitement-for-later in novels. 😉 The reader should be amused through all pages, not saying that the tension has to be level 10 all the time, but don’t show signs of closing down a great story, when we’re only 3/4 through.
The only one who goes to bed at 11 P.M. at New Years Eve, is Mr. Beans, but I almost lost interest for the book and al-most DNF’ed it when Krys showed signs to do the same. Why bother reading the last 150 pages, if I’ve already consumed all the good stuff? Luckily she changes her mind, and we get another last go in the roller coaster at the Fairfield High Homecoming – Phew, that was close.
Conclusion
I must say, even though the witch-and-sorcerer theme is so used in YA, ‘Hexed’ did manage to conquer me completely. The story is wonderful unpredictable and loads of fun. And the descriptions of the LA streets and environment, Indie’s feelings and the characters body language are so precise and recognizable, that I could see every funny situation, every movement and every facial expression so, so clear. Together with the sharp dialogues, that part actually became the biggest pleasure reading ‘Hexed’; an author who really understands and can describe every little detail in a teenagers mind.
It remains to be seen, whether the witch theme really can create enough excitement for several new books in the ‘Witch Hunter’ series, but as far as I am amused right now – only with the characters, I already anticipate all the funny conflicts there’ll be between Indie and Bishop, if they really dare to go for the full relationship in ‘Charmed’, book two in ‘The Witch Hunter’series coming out May 26th next year.
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