Halloween Book Review: Hexed by Julia Tuffs
Genre: Contemporary - Paranormal
Age: Young Adult
Format: ebook
Jessie Jones is used to moving around, thanks to her mother’s high-profile job. But after a health scare, her mother decides it’s time to return to her roots, and moves with her two daughters to the Isle of Wight and back to her hometown. Once there, Jessie is determined to keep her head down, keep quiet, and draw no attention to herself. Unfortunately, the development of witchy powers – coinciding with her period – puts a stop to that, and Jessie finds herself in the middle of storm, metaphorically and literally, as she deals with new friends, possible frenemies, and a culture of sexism at the school that results in boys ‘rating’ girls and bullying those they see as ‘frigid’.
This is one of those YA books I think is absolutely perfect for the target audience; Jessie reads as a teenager struggling with very teenage issues, while dealing with things beyond her control. Even when she tries to do what she thinks is the ‘right thing’, and follows the advice from adults, it doesn’t always work out, and she often has to find her own way forward. The relationship between her and her sister is strained, largely because Jessie can’t understand why, when they have spent so long trying to ‘just be normal’, her sister embraces an influencer lifestyle. There’s also the general growing apart that comes with age, but like a lot of younger siblings, Jessie feels hurt by this and left behind.
If you are reading this as an adult, there are moments where it feels like the answer is “just have a conversation”, but I really think it added to Jessie’s character that she avoids this, largely due to her not understanding the decisions made by the adults (such as her mother) and being annoyed and angry at them. She really is just trying her best to survive, and that’s made worse by the emergence of her powers as well as the difficulties she’s facing in school.
There’s a heavy ‘feminist’ message to this that as an adult reader maybe felt a touch overhanded, but honestly, it works so well for the target audience, and this is the type of book I would have absolutely loved as a teen. It’s a huge shame these issues are rearing up again with the prevalence of certain online personalities and the messages that are filtering through to the younger generations, but I think books liked Hexed can really emphasise that this isn’t something girls have to experience alone, and give them tools to help deal with it, as well as giving boys the ability to see how harmful these things really are.
Overall, this was a really fun and enjoyable read with a very positive message at its core, and is absolutely perfect for teen readers who like their books with a dash of the paranormal.
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter: @elleturpitt
Bluesky: @elleturpitt.bsky.social
I received this ebook from Hachette Children's Group via NetGalley for review consideration.
