Rating: 82% | B- | ★★★★ Warnings: + Sexual content Synopsis (from Goodreads): Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two. That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all. Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late. Spoiler-Free Review: The Ex Hex is an upbeat, sweet read that doesn't take itself too seriously, for better or for worse—but usually for better. I'm starting to realize that I have a thing for witchy hijinks set in small towns. Or maybe I'm just trying to chase the childhood high of watching Halloweentown by reading this novel and A Letter to Three Witches. As with other low fantasy books I've read, the best part of The Ex Hex is the setting and the blending of magic with reality. Sterling does a phenomenal job bringing the town of Graves Glen to life, with rich details about Penhallow College, Founder's Day, and more. The Ex Hex is like watching your favorite rom-com with a dash of pumpkin spice. The characters are also lovely and realistic; Vivi and Rhys's yearning for each other is effective and tense. My only qualm is that I wish this book had been longer (which was the same issue I had with A Letter to Three Witches) In the latter half of the novel, the magical conflict takes a backseat to Vivi and Rhys's relationship, and while I enjoyed this, I also felt as though there could have been a better resolution to the curse. I found myself fifty pages from the ending thinking, "is this story actually going to wrap up neatly in fifty pages?" Nevertheless, The Ex Hex is a light, fun read—and that sometimes means not all of the heavy stuff can be addressed in the end. (Click "Read More" for spoilers.) Plot (23/30) Beginning (8/10), Middle (8/10), and End (7/10) The Ex Hex starts beautifully, diving right into the action. The first chapter is a clever microcosm of what readers can expect from the rest of the novel: familial love, romantic love, and humor that is certainly not your mother's. The first few chapters do slow down a little bit due to necessary exposition—and due to the sometimes-forced references to how much Rhys and Vivi are still madly attached to each other, but all in all, it's a solid start to the story. As the story progresses and things go wrong, the reader has the brilliant joy of watching Rhys and Vivi fall back in love. It might be eye-roll-inducing to remember that the entire novel takes place over the course of two weeks, but Sterling's writing is so beautiful and well-paced that the reader realizes the two weeks' deadline as little as Rhys and Vivi do—and only until it's over. Another hallmark of the American small town aesthetic in fiction is scavenger hunts, usually in dark, dank locations, and The Ex Hex is all too ready to oblige. There's nothing I love more than falling back in love with your rival over banter-inducing activities, and this is no exception. What Rhys knew was that kissing her had felt like waking up. Like he'd been drifting sleepily through everything for the past nine years until he tasted her mouth again and remembered what actually being alive felt like. The ending, as I mentioned before, is where the story begins to feel a little contrived. Now that Rhys and Vivi are back together, it's as though they forget about the plot and the curse altogether. And when they do return to trying to solve the curse, they address the added pressure of Rhys's potential death—but do they? Most of the action is introduced and wraps up in the last fifty pages; it's hard to go through that as a reader and feel completely satisfied.
Characters (25/30) Development (12/15) and Allure (13/15) Rhys and Vivi, as I mentioned before, are two phenomenal characters buoyed by the support of an equally brilliant secondary cast. They both retain characteristics independent of each other without encroaching on each other's personalities. However, I wish that there had been more of Rhys and Vivi's in-text character development arcs; it feels as though Rhys and Vivi's respective developmental arcs center on wanting to be with the other person and that the success of reunion wipes away all other conflicts, but I would have loved to see more independent character developments. Of the secondary characters, Wells, Bowen, and Gwyn are brilliant and add much needed levity to some of the heavier moments in the novel. Writing (19/20) Descriptions (9/10) and Flow (10/10) Every point deduction loops back to the wish that this book had been longer. The last fifty pages (and yes, I am coming back to this) introduce and conclude major magical and plot developments, including Piper McBride, Aelwyd Jones' death, the threat of Rhys's potential death. More detail in all of these issues is necessary to make the plot more cohesive. Closure/Set-Up (15/20) Logic (5/10) and Allure/Closure (10/10) I'm getting tired of writing "the last fifty pages" and I think you're getting tired of reading "the last fifty pages." Let's just say that the last fifty pages certainly did not help the logic aspect of the ending and leave it at that. Overall, The Ex Hex is a lovely, witchy fall read perfect for the season, and is liable to charm the socks off of anyone that comes near it—heirloom from Something Wicked not required.
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