The Ex Hex
Ratings244
Average rating3.5
I really really love it. It's amazing. Whole I'm not a fan of a second chance romance, I loved it very much in here. It just works. And the writing was good even if the magical puns were cheesy, they worked too. 4.95/5
okay this was literally so freaking cute and i would highly recommend for the spooky season. is this the best romance i've ever read? no. but i think this is a romance that we really put you in the mood for the season in the same way that halloweentown does despite it not being an academy award winning movie
( warning I am mean and vile :D )
I thought about not writing a review for this but I feel compelled to warn those who think this will just be a cute quick read. First, I slugged through this. It was boring, uninteresting, had no charm or mystique about it. Also the sex scenes were bland and added NOTHING to the story, maybe if the sex scenes were written better I could have ignored how egregious this book is.
Too many Harry Potter references. Like shut the fuck up lol.
The quick added little “omg women moment! women taking back their power!” feels cheap. There is nothing else in the book that supports the few pages that try to strike at a feminist notion. Its insulting honestly.
Also white people alert! I was put off immediately by the Penhallow family. Rich europeans who came to America, stole land, built a town using a woman's body, and live as legacy holders who don't even live in the town they built. The whiteness is staggering and uncomfortable. With the authors stab at feminism I expected nothing less. Any message this book tries to send about anything meaningful is so clumsily that its degrading. I'm not saying a book has to make some statement either, but this one was teetering around race and sexism in a way I suspected was meant to be cheeky and light hearted.
Next is the dialogue. HOLY SHIT. Most annoying people ever. Only characters worth not hating are the cat and aunt. Everyone else has the most insufferable dialogue and internal monologue. Would you like to read an example???
“Pushing herself off of him, Vivienne rose to her feet and began brushing the leaves and various debris from her skirt.
Her polka dot skirt.
Her whole dress was polka dot, he saw now, little orange ones on a black background.
Had he always found polka dots so instantly, intensely erotic?
Wasn't really a thing he'd considered before, and it was possible he'd hit his head somewhere in his fall, but there was nothing for it now. Polka dots had replaced black lace and red satin in any sexual fantasy he might have had for the rest of his life.”
Apologies for the formatting but is that not the most ridiculous, least funny, annoying thing you've ever read? The entire thing is written this way.
Speaking of the way it's written, the plot, the romance, the characters, it's all so boring. So many things can be removed and it would not affect anything. The characters do not develop or change, they stay the same as the were at 19 years old even though they are now 30. Perhaps these boring empty slates of words should be together.
They never talk about why the summer they shared in college ended. Us, the audience, understands both sides of the story but it was the only conversation I was looking forward to in the entire book and it did not happen. Essentially, Rhys (terrible name btw, choosing to hate it because I am a hater), the male lead, is from a prestigious line of witches, his father decides to arrange a marriage for him.
Rhys, tells Vivi about this. True he does not soften the blow, but Vivi storms off before he can explain any of it. He has never met this other woman, he had no plans of his own to get married, he is being forced into a situation that he did not intend to be in. Why did he never explain this to Vivi? And why did Vivi not have more questions herself if she was so madly in love and heartbroken by him?
Not to mention, the degree to which they hold flames for each other is ridiculous. Years, years, years have passed, they did not have an epic summer romance. The book describes a typical summer fling, not a relationship worth spending your late teens to early thirties still so deeply hurt about.
Then of course there is the magic aspect which is perhaps the most appealing part of the book. The magic is dull, not explained, not honed, and flip flops between its own rules. Not even the autumn atmosphere could have saved this for me.
Very fun dialogue and funny situations! A nice light read.
I will say I thought the pacing was a little off, which is the reason for 4 stars, and I wasn't super in love with the characters themselves, but it was an enjoyable read.
Le pondría 2,5 pero no se puede. Es lo que se esperaba de una romcon, aunque si tenía ilusión en que la magia añadiese algo nuevo. Sin embargo, es como un personaje secundario que no se desarrolla mucho. Aun así, me he reído más de lo que me suelo reír con las romcoms y ha sido entretenido de leer.
A little bit Sabrina the teenage witch, a little bit soft-core porn. Wait, actually, I think I'm making it sound better than it actually was. It started off painfully “hallmark” and had a barfy ending but overall it was honestly a fun read. Idk why the title didn't tip me off but
Very cute, like an eighties movie, with magic and love mixed with a small town.
I was expecting a story about witches breaking a curse with a side of romance, but instead got a story about two hormone-crazed witches who jump on each other at every free moment (which was surprisingly frequent given they were trying to save the town from magical mayhem) and are attracted to the strangest things about one another (the fact that she wears polka dots? His elbows?) with a side plot of breaking the curse.
That being said, there are things I did like about this book, like the overall
I loved this book. It was everything I wanted it to be for a fall rom com.
I thought the characters were likable and the story was entertaining, which is all I was looking for. I read it in just over a day, and would recommend for anyone looking for a fun, easy read.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
This was so freaking cute – every last little Halloweeny reference made me smile. What a fun little paranormal romance! I thoroughly enjoyed Rhys, the romantic interest of the main character, Vivi. He was flirty, fun, and rather hilarious, actually. If you're looking for a fun little Halloween-tinted romance I highly, highly recommend The Ex Hex!
My one complaint is that the ending/climax of the book felt kind of abrupt. They're looking for a way to fix the main problem of the novel (the Hex, as it were) and one thing goes wrong, and then suddenly they have a solution and get it done. Bam. Over with. I wish it had dragged out just a liiiiiitttle bit longer for suspense, but whatever. STILL TOTALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK.
3.5 ⭐ cute book. Nothing too memorable happens but I enjoyed the time I spent reading it. Overall, would read more in the series.
This was such a cute read! A great romance to read during the spooky season.
Vivi and Rhys were fantastic. The chemistry between them was amazing (great library scene btw...) and their dynamic was so good! The hilarious moments were perfect too.
I loved the town vibes and loved Vivi's family even more.
I wanted a little more from Vivi and Rhys' past relationship though.
Overall, very entertaining, witchy, funny, cute, with a sprinkle of steam.
I chose this as one of my October 2021 Book-of-the-Month selections. A bonus was that the audiobook showed up on Scribd recently. It was a perfect book to read right before Halloween with its spooky vibe, plus the witches, and all. To me, it read like a cozy mystery at first, and then at about halfway through it picked up. I enjoyed it and I'm glad I picked it via BOTM.
Super cute Halloween read! Surprisingly hilarious, never had a book make me laugh that hard
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Stars
Swipe for Synopsis⏩
This book was super light and cute which is exactly what I needed! My last two reads were super dark so this was perfect and seasonal which we love! Perfect light read for spooky season! Mild enemies to lovers, maybe more like lovers to enemies to lovers? I loved the male MC. He was perfectly British and had such swagger. I wish he had had a little more closure at the end of the book. I deducted one star because I felt it was a little slow paced. The story didn't really pick up for me until about right after the half way point. I also feel like it all kind of wrapped up rather quickly. Overall though, a really cute rom com. I laughed out loud at parts. There's still time to pick this up before Halloween! Check it out y'all!
3,5 stars! - Here's my BookTube channel in case you're interested: https://bit.ly/3AKldmY
The Ex Hex has a certain charm to it! It transports you to a charming small town, where Halloween is just around the corner and where being a witch is just as regular as it gets!
I didn't loved it, LOVED IT - as I think that it the second chance love trope resulted in an insta-love and I'm just a sucker for slow-burns!
But I guess that it really depends on what you're seeking for the season! If you're in the mood for something that is spicy, charming and, let's face it, explicit! this is your book! It will transport you to an adult version of Halloweentown and it will help you enjoy (even more?) this fall season!
If there's a moment to read this kind of book... it's now!
3,5 stars! - Here's my BookTube channel in case you're interested: https://bit.ly/3AKldmY
The Ex Hex has a certain charm to it! It transports you to a charming small town, where Halloween is just around the corner and where being a witch is just as regular as it gets!
I didn't loved it, LOVED IT - as I think that it the second chance love trope resulted in an insta-love and I'm just a sucker for slow-burns!
But I guess that it really depends on what you're seeking for the season! If you're in the mood for something that is spicy, charming and, let's face it, explicit! this is your book! It will transport you to an adult version of Halloweentown and it will help you enjoy (even more?) this fall season!
If there's a moment to read this kind of book... it's now!
Super fluffy second-chance romance with magic! Solid three stars because I wanted more chemistry between the leads, but this was a perfect October vacation read.
Such a fun read.
Loved the chemistry between Vivi and Penhallow.
The magic was cute and relevant to the story.
Enjoyable.
Fun romp in a cute town with Halloween vibes. What a great way to kick off the season.