Book Review - The Hex Girls: A Rogue Thorn by Lily Meade

Besides being a Scooby fan, I am an avid book lover. Between a Hex Girls book and one of the cast members of Young Sheldon releasing a book next week, this week and next marked some pretty exciting releases for me!

I've been looking forward to this book for months, so I started reading it right away on release day. It only took me a few days to finish the book, and now that I have, I wanted to share my review on the blog! Since I'm assuming many fans haven't checked out the book yet, I'm going to make this a spoiler-free review.

I really enjoyed this book! I found Lily's writing to be very good, and I thought it stayed quite true to the tone of the franchise. For those wondering if this stays exactly in line with the tone of Witch's Ghost, I would argue no, but it also didn't need to be. This book is very much it's own thing, but it's still a great addition to the Scooby franchise.

Starting with the characters, I really liked how the Hex Girls were written here. Nobody felt like they were out-of-character. Interestingly, the six canon appearances in films/episodes haven't really told us much about Luna or Dusk's interests. I liked that Lily took a similar approach that I and other fanfiction writers have, in developing on the little bits that are shown throughout their appearances. Luna is shown to be a bit shy, but very kind and thoughtful. Dusk is characterized as having a bit more of an edge, but she also does have a sensitive side that she shows to those whom she trusts. She is also said to have sisters, which was cool because I also had similar lore in mind for her character when I wrote my Hex Girls fanfic.

I was wondering whether this would be a purely Hex Girls fanfic with just a small amount of focus on the gang. My hope was that it would be a good mix of the Hex Girls and the gang, and I'm so happy that's the direction this went. While the book is from Thorn's perspective, I thought Lily struck the perfect balance between giving the girls a good amount of focus, and also balancing it where the gang felt like central characters to the story. 

I really liked her characterizations of Velma, Fred and Daphne. Velma is the witty, smart girl with a sensitive side just as she's portrayed in the Mook era. The canon of Velma being Latina in SCOOB! is also used here, which I thought was really interesting. It isn't focused on hardly at all, but it's referenced in one line where Velma mentions her abuela.

To me, Fred's characterization reminds me of how he was in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. He is a bit socially awkward, but still quite endearing. He's also trap-obsessed, to the point where many stores have banned him from buying things because he makes everything into traps. I thought it was interesting that Fred's dad was the sheriff in this book. It reminded me a lot of his relationship with Mayor Jones, since his dad doesn't seem to want him solving mysteries in the later half of the book. It was also amusing to me that Fred's reason for wearing an ascot was to pay homage to the town founders lol.

Daphne is portrayed as a rich girl who some people see as stuck-up, but as the book goes on, it's clear she has a soft and gentle side. Her characterization reminds me a bit of Where Are You, but she also has the maturity that she had in the Mook era films.

Like in the Daphne & Velma book series, Scooby does not talk. He is still expressive through his mannerisms though, which I liked. I thought this book did as good of a job as the Daphne & Velma books with him. On the other hand, Shaggy is the one character I thought could have been written a bit better. He isn't out of character, but he's mostly reserved and doesn't really talk much. Many of his lines felt like they could have been said by any character to me, and he could have been developed in more detail than he was.

There are several different plot threads in this book, but all are serviced quite well. The book starts off with Thorn, Luna and Dusk moving to Coolsville. She is characterized as having magical powers here, but is afraid of them, because of a traumatic accident caused by her in Oakhaven. Because of this, the girls' reputations in Oakhaven have been ruined, so they are trying to get a fresh start. The book explores the girls adjusting to a new high school, and grappling with the feelings of not fitting in due to being goths.

Thorn has kept in touch with Velma after the events of the Witch's Ghost, and transfers to the same school as the gang. The girls, particularly Thorn, seem to find a kindred spirit with the gang, because they are also social outcasts due to other kids finding their mystery-solving hobby to be odd.

Thorn soon finds herself wrapped up in another mystery. While volunteering at the school's community garden, a phantom mist called "The Harvest Host" appears and attacks the students. Because the Harvest Host blames Thorn for its actions, Thorn is implicated in yet another crime. The gang, along with Luna and Dusk, vow to help Thorn clear her name. 

I really liked this plot and mystery! I was glad that the girls felt like members of the gang with an equal stake in the mystery, rather than feeling like side characters. The Harvest Host was an excellent villain, and the book kept me wondering until the end whether it was real or not. The mystery was overall really well-written and fits well with the girls being eco-goths.

One of the biggest strengths of this book is how well the mystery and subplots are bridged together. I know some fans were concerned about the romance overshadowing the mystery, but it wasn't that way at all. Overall, I thought Thorn and Velma's relationship was sweet. This feels very much like a coming-of-age story to me, and I thought their relationship was cute and innocent like the typical types of romance stories in that genre. I do wish that the book would have delved more into why Thorn specifically stayed in touch with Velma after the events of Witch's Ghost. The beginning of the book mentions that they became fast friends after the gang's time in Oakhaven, but it's not explored much deeper than that. It isn't a big issue, but I would have liked to have seen the plot explore the reason Thorn and Velma hit it off so well. I was messaging a friend in the fandom about this last night, and he brought up a great idea. In Witch's Ghost, there's a moment where Velma shows Thorn she believes in her when she's trying to cast the spell to put Sarah back in the journal. The book could have explored that Velma believing in Thorn at one of the scariest moments of her life made Thorn admire her, or something along those lines. I feel that would have made their relationship even stronger, since it would have established their relationship from a key moment in the film.

The Daphne & Velma books had a lot of references to past Scooby-Doo media, and I was happy to see that this book did too! The book mentions the Daily Babbler from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, the Coolsonian from Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and the Poppenbacher Farm from "Farmed and Dangerous." There's also cute little tongue-in-cheek references like the "Where Are You? friend finder app," and one of the teachers being named Ms. Bergman. In addition, I really liked how the brief fight that the girls have sort of feels like it channels a similar tone to "The Vampire Strikes Back."

I thought the book had just the right amount of references, where it was kept at a fun amount and nothing felt obligatory. The only reference I was kinda "meh" on is at the end (not a spoiler, don't worry) where a mystery involving a "living suit of armor at the museum" was mentioned. It's a nice reference to the first episode, but I feel like so many Scooby origin stories have ended by tying back into "What a Night for a Knight" that the reference just feels tired at this point. It's similar to how I feel about the constant cameos of Where Are You villains we had in the DTVs for a while.

Having done the same in my fics, I really liked that she included references to goth bands throughout the story. Thorn's favorite bands are said to be Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and Bauhaus. One of my favorite songs from The Cure, "Friday I'm in Love," was specifically mentioned here. In my fanfic, I had the girls feature covers "A Forest" from The Cure and "Fear (Of the Unknown)" on their album. I would definitely recommend checking out all of those songs (and "Kiss Them for Me") if you're into pop-leaning alternative music, as they remind me a lot of the Hex Girls' vibe.

Another thing I was really happy about is that this book finally gives Dusk and Luna names that are technically canon! Luna is named Kimberly Hale and Dusk is Jane Brooks, which are transposed versions of the Hex Girls' voice actresses' names. It's also revealed that Thorn's mom passed when she was little, which was ironically the same canon I'd established in my fic. 

I also thought it was interesting that Crystal Cove is a suburb of Coolsville. There is an off-handed comment made that the gang will likely move from Coolsville to Crystal Cove when they're older, which I thought was a cool little nod to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. One plot point that I found odd is that Mr. McKnight dressing up as the witch's ghost was reported in the newspapers as a crime. I thought this was a bit strange for a number of reasons, especially given a publicity stunt for tourism isn't against the law. Oddly, Mayor Corey also doesn't seem to have been implicated in the crime despite him also being involved. Does this mean he shifted all the blame to Mr. McKnight, and used his power as the mayor to get himself completely off the hook? If so, perhaps the "Mayor Corey political attack ad" I put in one of my fics was more necessary than I realized lol.

In seriousness, I guess this highlights the other issue I had with this book. It felt like a few plot points, like Velma staying in touch with Thorn and Mr. McKnight's crime, were underdeveloped. There was another odd plot point I haven't talked about yet along this line, where Shaggy keeps getting in trouble for sneaking Scooby into school, and hiding him in closets and such. It wasn't a big issue, but it came off as a bit odd and there was no real context provided as to why he was doing this. Maybe it's just intended to underscore that Shaggy loves his dog, but that and the other two aforementioned points were odd to me, and left some questions that went unanswered.

At its core, this is a coming of age story. I really liked how Lily worked themes of growing up into the book, in a way that felt at home with the franchise's typical vibe. Thorn being afraid of her powers seems to be a metaphor for how one's teenage years are often a time where people find their self-confidence. Amongst my favorite lines in this vein were "I didn't realize how many people could be hurt in the quest to pretend life is always perfect" and "If I'm always running from the darkness of my past, I'll never have time to enjoy the light." Stuff like this made the book feel like a really sweet coming-of-age story, and I really liked how the book explored the girls experiencing typical teenage realizations in a non-cringey way.

Minor criticisms aside, overall this was a cute book that makes an excellent addition to the Scooby franchise. Lily's writing is really strong, and I loved some of her witticisms like the girls calling their "Hex Girl" song "our namesake song," or Thorn spunkily referring to an annoying policeman as "Officer Pain in the Ass" lol. The book's tone stays true to the general vibe of the franchise, and the writing doesn't feel too lofty or intimidating for young adult readers. Her writing has some really nice poetic description sprinkled throughout, with "Hex Girl" being referred to as "a love spell cast with instruments" being one of my favorite bits of description in the book.

Does this book live up to the iconicness of Witch's Ghost? I'd argue no, but I don't think it needed to be. This story is very much its own thing, different from what's been explored with The Hex Girls in the Scooby franchise before, and that's what made this book so fun for me. It was cool to see an official story explore the girls in more depth than we'd ever seen before. The book definitely channels the story structure of Witch's Ghost, but in a topical way that feels like its paying homage to the film, rather than trying to live up to it. You can tell Lily is a passionate fan of Scooby, and she did a great job creating a unique story that feels right at home with other media in the franchise.

​With the Scooby films and series taking a break right now, it would be amazing if we could continue to get young adult Scooby novels. I think it would be really pretty neat if we had one to look forward to every year. This and the Daphne & Velma novels have been great, and I would love to see more Scooby content like this.