I wish I actually DNFd the whole thing; but Momma didn’t raise a quitter. The Hex Ex was nothing more than a magical letdown. I had high expectations for this book, but I could barely connect well with the Main Female Character, and the Main Male Character wasn’t memorable.

The Hex Ex brings us a chaotic romance between two witches, Vivienne and Rhys. After a lovely summer with each other, Vivi finds out that Rhys is engaged. Heartbroken and very drunk, Vivi and her cousin, Gwyn, place an accidental hex on Rhys. Wishing nothing but the worst for him, both move on thinking nothing bad will happen. Fast forward a few years and Rhys returns to Graves Glenn to recharge the small town’s magic and all hell breaks loose.

Thinking all his bad luck was a coincidence, Rhys goes and charges the magical lines deep in the town’s forest alongside Vivi, who has always wanted to see the town’s magic come to life. While charging the lines, Rhys senses something is wrong and both he and Vivi are running for their lives back into town that is no longer the same. With magic askew, the ex-lovers now have to find a way to reverse the curse and restore the town’s magic before it’s too late.

The storyline leading them to fix the town’s magic wasn’t all that bad. It was a good buffer for the botched smut scenes and awkward romance between Vivi and Rhys. Vivi was an okay Female Character but I just couldn’t really relate to her in an emotional way. Cool, Vivi has an issue with being a witch and never really used her magic because her mom never wanted her to. But she grew up close to her Aunt Elaine who is such a magical baddie. It just makes me question why Vivi was written so timidly when she was written to be with Aunt Elaine and Gywn who literally used their magic so freely. I get that her mother was a big part of her not using her powers. I just wish there was more to that story, even if it was a short explanation. Maybe if I knew more of Vivi’s background I could connect with her better. I just found her Character to be just there trying to find a way to make the hex go away. Same with Rhys’s character. He was very flat and very predictable. It was another story where a boy has brothers and they have issues with their powerful dad. I couldn’t really tell if he was confident or not. At times he seems so sure of himself and then others he comes off so….boring. If a main male character wants a second chance and really wants to get her back, give the story a little more razzle-dazzle. It was so hard to just read about their romance; it was cringy and very lackluster.

Overall, if you like this type of dry romance with a tad of magic, this is the book for you. If not, you can read something else from your TBR list.

Don’t forget that happiness is in the little things you do to make this world a better place. Be kind to yourself and be kind to others… and as always, look out for yourself and one another.

–C