Book Review: Hexed by Michelle Krys

Hexed (Hexed #1)

By Michelle Krys

Release Date: June 10, 2014

Source: Publisher

Summary: 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.

Review: I have not read a YA paranormal in forever, so I was really excited to start Hexed. As a contemporary book about witches, I was excited to see how the main character deals with high school while figuring out that she may actually be a witch. 

Indigo Blackwood has it all. She's a cheerleader dating the quarterback and has been best friends with the most popular girl in school for forever. Little does she know, though, that her life is anything but normal. When a strange, yet incredibly hot guy named Bishop starts showing up everywhere she goes and telling her strange things, Indie learns that she could be a witch. So when her family bible is stolen, Indigo learns that it controls the destiny of the entire witch race, so it's up to her to get it back. Caught in the middle of a war between the witches and the sorcerers, Indie has a lot more to worry about than new cheers and homecoming court…

When I started this book, I really hated Indigo. I hate main characters who are super popular and have it all. Almost always, their friends are super shallow, yet they still hang out with them. Indigo was a cheerleader with a super mean best friend and a quarterback boyfriend. Talk about annoying. For some reason, though, I just couldn't stop reading this book! I was definitely intrigued by Bishop's character (though I was a bit turned off by the tattoo of a naked woman on his neck…) and loved how much he and Indie bickered with each other. There was some serious chemistry between those two, but they had to get past figuring out if Indie was really a witch and how to escape the clutches of some scary sorcerers before they could realize just how much they liked each other. 

While the beginning of the novel was your cliche high school drama, things got really intense when the sorcerers showed up. There's murders, kidnappings, and magic, so there is definitely not a dull moment. I wish, though, that Indie discovering magic was a bit more built up and not as simple and quick as it occurred in the novel. Also, I wish more information about Indie's family was given and their own history with the paranormal. Aside from that, the characters were great and I loved how different they all were. Paige was the awesome sidekick who I could totally relate to and I really enjoyed how real she was with Indie, unlike Indie's superficial best friend. Once Indie changes and focuses on the paranormal world that's fallen into her lap, this book is impossible to put down. 

I love contemporary YA and mixing the paranormal into that world creates such a fun story. Indie is discovering the paranormal right along with us, so you never feel left out of the loop. A fun take on the paranormal with some serious freaky and heart pumping moments, any paranormal fan who can handle a cliche, shallow beginning has to check out Hexed!