School Spirits was entertaining. It was a light, fun, and cute read. I did enjoy it but I was also pretty disappointed, I mean I really enjoyed Hex Hall and for me this series doesn't seem to be up to par.

Did not finish around the 120-page mark.

The mystery of the ghost wasn't all that compelling. The group of misfits was generic and dull. This was a mediocre plot with mediocre characters. The writing was decent. I did enjoy the first two Hex Halls, but I can't seem to muddle my way through this one.

Shelving this as did not finish due to boredom. I had this as an ARC way back in 2013 and am delayed in reviewing it.

Being someone who read the Hex Hall series, I didn't have a lot expectations for this one because spin-offs are something that usually make me wary. However, this book killed it!

Title: School Spirits (Hex Hall, #4)
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Format: e-galley
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "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!"

My Opinion: Izzy is only 15 and has never attended a normal school because she and her family (her mother and sister) are Brannicks, the last of the monster hunters. They go where the hunt is, and they only stay as long as they need to. But Izzy's older sister, Finley, disappeared on a job 6 months ago, and they haven't had a lead at all, so Izzy's mom decides they need to take a breather and they stop in a small town with what might be a haunting, and enroll Izzy in the local high school. Izzy doesn't know what to expect, but she meets some friends right away, one of whom may be what is called a "Prodigium."

Quote: "But things were different now. For starters, there were no more Brannicks besides me and my mom. Rather than hunt the Creatures of the Night, we worked for the Council that governed them. And they didn't call themselves monsters; they went by the much more civilized term "Prodigium." So the Brannicks were now more or less Prodigium cops. If one of their kind got out of hand, we tracked them, captured them, and did a ritual that sent them directly to the Council, who would them decide their punishment."

I confess that I didn't read the first three books in the Hex Hall series, but this book was advertised as a spin off of that series, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was very easy to follow and can definitely be read as a standalone.

I liked the characters of Izzy, Dex, Romy, and Anderson, but my secret favorite was Torin, the man (warlock) in the mirror.

Quote: "It was the mirror I walked to now, yanking off the heavy canvas cover. Inside the glass, a warlock stared back at me. His name was Torin, and he looked a couple years older than me, maybe eighteen or so. But since he'd gotten trapped in the mirror back in 1583, he was technically over four hundred years old."

Torin is sassy and insufferable, and I really hope we get to see more of him in the next books of this spin off series.

I found that this book was well written and the pacing was quick and easy, making this a fun, quick read. The characters were likeable and the plot was easy to follow.

4/5 stars

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to read it.

It has been 8 years since I requested this title and I still haven't read it. I am still interested in the book and have since purchased a copy for my shelf but I don't know when I will get to this at this point, if ever. I appreciate the approval for this title and if/when I do decide to read I will leave a review on instagram, goodreads, storygraph, and amazon. thanks again for the approval.

When Rachel Hawkins said she was writing a hex hall spin off I knew I had to read it and oh boy was I not disappointed! This is everything I wanted in a book! Highly recommend if you loved the original trilogy and it is great even if you haven't read then yet!

School Spirits is the first in a spin-off series from the Hex Hall books. A great sequel to the previous trilogy from the author.

School spirits is a spin of the Hex Hall books and is just as good, perfect for young teenagers wanting into get into The YA books.

I loved the Hex Hall series and this spin off was disappointing.

Have I mentioned how much i love Rachel Hawkings. Her books skew younger YA, that bridge between middle grade and YA. They are fun, fast and quirky. They have a great sense of humour, with just enough pre-adolescent angst of what am I doing in them to really hit there mark.

Absolutely loved this series! Great author, quirky fun lead character. I recommend these books to teen and adult readers alike.

3.5 stars

I was super glad to hear that there was a spin off to the Hex Hall series which happens to be a favourite so I just had to read this.

School Spirits was a easy, light and fun read. It was awesome to explore the life of a Brannick especially being on a journey with Izzy, from starting school for the first time ever and crushing on a cute guy it was a lot of excitement.

I guess most of the way through it was an okay read, nothing about it was wow but in some sense it was basically 'cute', I don't even think that's the right word. It had all the ingredients for a good book and it delievered. It was predictable at times but there were small twists that made it intriguing.

The new characters were all very quirky and great to hang around and read about. Even though Izzy is rather kickass and all, she still has this air of normalcy and kind of awkwardness (that I could relate to). Some of my favourite parts were when Izzy watches Ivy Springs to try and learn about how to be a teenager, those moments made me smile and laugh.

Hawkins pulled off a fun and realistic feel to the book even though there is a ghost haunting and scary things hiding in the dark occuring.

The underlying mystery of Izzy's sister Finley is definitely something I'm excited to find about more in the next book or so. I can't wait to see what'll happen with a particular two characters especially after the decision that was made at the end of the book.

I can already feel the sparks that will fly between a certain someone and another someone!

I didn't get a chance to read this before it expired. But I did purchase it! I want to go back and read the original trilogy for a second time first. I've been itching for a re-read!

Izzy has always been homeschooled because of her mother's job-- fighting vampires, witches and ghost! Izzy does some of this, too, but her mother is constantly worried about her, especially since her sister Finn disappeared a year ago. Her mother has been following leads that a hedge witch has been uncovering, and one of these leads takes them to a new town, where Izzy has to go to high school in order to investigate a haunting there. It's hard to fit in, but she makes friends with Romy, who has started a paranormal investigative group in the school, and Dex, who is very attractive to Izzy even though she suspects that he has some magic in him. Romy's group has also been looking into the haunting of the school, and Izzy begins to realize that the spirit in question is Mary Evans, a young girl who got in trouble by one of the teachers and then died. Her ghost has been summoned by someone, and until she figures out by whom, Izzy is not able to banish her. Guided by her mother, as well as the 600 year old family wizard who is trapped in a mirror, Izzy tries to navigate the minefield of high school social interaction while working desperately to save her friends, and herself, from the ghost.
Strengths: The first chapter starts with Izzy fighting off a vampire, and I only continued reading because I was waiting around for a high school band contest. I didn't want to read about vampire hunters. But somehow, Hawkins' writing is such that I kept reading and enjoyed it. Izzy's entry into high school society was realistic, and even the ghosts and magic made sense. There was a twist at the end that I didn't quite see coming. This looks to be a series. Love how the cover is similar to the Hex Hall ones.
Weaknesses: Not sure where a sequel will go-- the story wrapped up fairly well. I also didn't completely buy that Izzy was so entirely clueless about life in school, although I did once have a friend who had never been to a McDonald's until she went to one on an orchestra trip, so it could happen!

Loved this! Rachel Hawkins titles are always so fun, engaging, and action packed. I wish there would've been more!