Review: Hexed by Michelle Krys

Hexed

Michelle Krys

(Hexed #1)

Publication Date: June 2014

Hardback, 384 pages, Delacorte Press

Genres: YA, Paranormal

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If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

My Review

Indigo Blackwood may not be an average teenager. After all, she’s a cheerleader who’s dating Fairfield High’s star quarterback, her mom is seriously into all things Wiccan, and she’s just seen a guy die right in front of her eyes on a sunny Californian street. It doesn’t help that her mom’s mysterious Bible, but-not-a-Bible, book has gone missing, and now she has to put down her pom-poms and grab hold of her life by the broomstick, literally. Hexed is a little hocus pocus and toil and trouble all packed into a surprisingly short read.

Michelle Krys isn’t using poetic and beautiful language to create a novel of literary distinction, instead she’s creating a story using the voice of teenagers everywhere. And although Indigo’s first-person narrative is a little too immature at times, she does manage to capture the life of a teenage girl and all of her insecurities perfectly. Because of this, Indigo does come off at first like a childish character, but, once you’ve flipped through the first 50 pages, her immaturity turns into the thoughts of a fantastically witty female lead. Her banter with her friends, frenemies, and just plain ol’ enemies, is a Good time with a capital G.

These qualities in Indigo, as well as the fast-moving plot, made for a quick, light read. And while sometimes a quick, light read is all a reader wants in life, there are other times when a book with a more fleshed out world would make escaping from the boring, spell-free life of a human being, into a fantasy adventure that will have someone dreaming about zapping mean boys into frogs, or sending snobby girls into a far-off galaxy with a minute twitch of the nose.

The side characters of the book are just as entertaining as Indigo. Bishop is hilarious, mysterious, and a whole lot of other –ious’s, Devon is unintentionally, and stupidly funny, and Jezebel is fierce and scary. I just wish there had been a little bit more character development for them, instead of it all going to Indigo.

If you’re a fan of any paranormal television show, from Charmed and Witches of East End, to The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural, getting your hands on this book may be a wise decision. And if you don’t pick it up, well… let’s just say Indigo may have to learn how to put a hex on you.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via Book Review Board of Missouri. This in no way altered my opinion/review.