Fans of the Buffy-verse will quickly be drawn into this tale that is like a mash-up of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Gossip Girl. Sixteen-year-old Sophie Mercer is sent off to a reform school for magical teens who run afoul of the rules one too manytimes. In Sophie's case, it was s love spell gone awry. Her punishment is the only reason that she learns that her absentee father is a master warlock, and that she has inherited a talent for powerful magic.

Upon arriving at Hecate Hall, the above-mentioned reform school, Sophie starts to learn about the Prodigium (faeries, shapeshifters, and witches), who are the angels who did not choose sides during the war between Lucifer and his fallen and God and his other angels. They chose to settle down on Earth as magicks. All of this new information explains why her mother had been constantly moving them around the country ... in order to protect Sophie from the public learning about what she is.

Sophie finds herself quickly falling into the role of outsider. Part of it is tied to the fact that she is so inexperienced with the magical world and is trying to play catch up, but there is more to it (You are going to have to read the book to find out what the big reason is!). Being an outsider helps her in befriending her roommate Jenna, who is actually a vampire.

Vampires are not of the Prodigium, but the ruling Council that oversees this secret culture has started to bring vampires into the fold because of a lot of commonalities. While the upper echelon has been willing to do so, acceptance has not been broad. Jenna has been pretty much on her own before Sophie arrived. The one exception was Jenna's previous roommate, who died under mysterious circumstances. Most of the students suspect that Jenna was the cause.

Besides beign an outsider, Sophie also suffers from her struggles with the social current at the school. She quickly develops a crush on one of the school's queen bees, Elodie. Elodie has been hoping to make Sophie the fourth in her coven in the hopes of doing major magic, but Sophie is not interested, driving an even bigger rift between her self and Elodie's clique/coven.

It starts to become clear that something serious is going on when more students are attacked on the school grounds, which are supposed to be protected by powerful spells. The details of each attack make Jenna seem more and more guilty. Sophie can't believe that her friend would ever do anything so heinous and starts looking into the situation. The question is whether she can figure things out before more students end up hurt or dead ... including herself.

Hawkins has created an interesting mythos to present a story set in the popular occult genre. There is no question that teens (and adults) are into these types of stories, and this tale nicely weaves the modern world and humor with traditional folklore related to the various Prodigium and other creatures. It is a fun and quick read that will keep the pages turning ... and a real need to get your hands on the sequel, Demonglass. I know I can't wait for it!