Vivi Jones in The Ex Hex: Character Analysis

Overview

Vivienne "Vivi" Jones is the protagonist of The Ex Hex and the source of its central conflict. A witch and history professor in Graves Glen, Georgia, she enters the story heartbroken after a three-month relationship with Rhys Penhallow ends badly—she learns he concealed that his father was arranging his betrothal in Wales. In a drunken ritual with her cousin Gwyn, she improvises a curse on Rhys that unexpectedly takes hold, unleashing magical chaos across the town. Over the course of the novel, Vivi moves from guilt-ridden accidental curse-caster to a witch who reclaims her family's buried magical legacy and, ultimately, chooses a love that can accommodate both her roots and his.

Plot Role

Vivi is the engine of the novel's conflict. The prologue's drunken curse is the inciting incident: the candle flame flares, windows slam shut, and the flame extinguishes—details the two women dismiss as a "magical power surge" but which the reader understands as the beginning of real trouble. When Rhys returns to Graves Glen nine years later for the town's founding anniversary, the curse's effects become visible: his magic malfunctions (a blown tire inflates to twice its size before popping), the town's ley lines grow corrupted, and a ghost begins haunting the library. Vivi's role shifts from accidental instigator to reluctant fixer. She partners with Rhys to research the curse, and when she learns from the ghost Piper McBride that her ancestor Aelwyd Jones's stolen magic is bound up in the curse, Vivi becomes the key to undoing it. Her decision to channel the ley lines with Gwyn and Elaine—"The Jones Witches are taking this back"—is the novel's climax.

Motivations and Traits

Vivi's actions are driven by several interlocking motivations. The most immediate is guilt. After the curse's effects surface, she repeatedly blames herself: "Her curse had done that," she thinks, reflecting on the library ghost's frightened face. This guilt pushes her to help Rhys break the curse even though she'd rather avoid him.

A second motivation is her loyalty to family. She attends her aunt Elaine's dinners, works alongside Gwyn at the family shop Something Wicked, and participates in the tarot reading Gwyn sets up. This loyalty deepens into something more significant when she learns about Aelwyd Jones—her ancestor whose name was erased by the Penhallows. Vivi's final ritual isn't just about saving Rhys; it's about restoring her family's place in the town's history.

Her traits show through actions. She is academically responsible: in chapter 3, she catches a student's cheating essay that is literally shrieking and bleeding red ink, confirms the cheating with a spell, and flags it. She is also self-aware about her own feelings, even when she'd rather not be. In chapter 23, she admits to Rhys that "the feeling was very mutual" about their past attraction, and later reflects that she wishes she didn't like him so much—"But that wasn't true. And she knew it." Her persistence is demonstrated in chapter 33, when the ritual at Aelwyd's grave fails and everyone else is ready to give up; Vivi refuses, rethinks the problem, and lands on the ley-line solution.

Chronological Arc

Vivi's arc spans roughly nine years, though the novel's present action takes place over a few weeks around Halloween.

The prologue (nine years before the main action): Vivi is heartbroken and drunk, learning that Rhys's father was arranging his betrothal. She and Gwyn improvise a curse. The ritual's dramatic effects—flaring candle, slamming windows—are dismissed, but the reader sees the candle briefly reignite as they leave.

Chapters 3–4: In the present, Vivi is established as a working professor. She catches a cheating student, attends a family dinner, and learns a Penhallow is being sent for Founder's Day. In a tarot reading with Gwyn, The Fool (depicting Rhys) and The Magician appear, confirming Rhys will come. Vivi insists it's "no big deal," noting she's dated others since him.

Chapters 5–14: Vivi accidentally nearly runs Rhys over when her brakes lock up—an early sign of the curse's reach. She reluctantly partners with him to research the curse, calling him her "research assistant" at the library. Her internal resistance to him erodes as they work together.

Chapters 23–25: Vivi and Rhys acknowledge their mutual feelings. She reflects that what she fell in love with that first summer was "the version of herself she was when she was with him." She tells herself "It's different this time," trying to keep emotional distance.

Chapter 29: Vivi lights the Eurydice Candle a second time to summon Piper McBride. Piper reveals the curse wasn't only Vivi's—Aelwyd Jones's power flows through it because Vivi is her blood. Vivi breaks the salt circle to protect Rhys and receives Piper's memories, learning Piper died trying to contact Aelwyd.

Chapter 33: Vivi attempts to call Aelwyd's spirit at her grave. It doesn't work, but Vivi refuses to quit. She realizes the ley lines were laid with Aelwyd's magic as well as the Penhallows', and leads Gwyn and Elaine in a ritual to purify them. It succeeds.

Chapter 34: With the town saved, Vivi and Rhys share a final night. She says goodbye, accepting that their lives are separate—her magic ties her to Graves Glen, his life is in Wales. He leaves "for the second time, out of her life."

Chapter 35: In January, Vivi discovers Rhys has moved to Graves Glen, taken a teaching position at the college named after his family, and declares his love. Vivi reciprocates and proposes they split time between Wales and Graves Glen. The novel ends with them choosing a future together.

Relationships

Rhys Penhallow: The central relationship. Vivi's feelings for Rhys are complicated by history: she gave him "her whole heart" at nineteen, and he left. Her initial hostility masks lingering attraction. The curse forces them into proximity, and their partnership—researching the curse, facing the ghost, working to save the town—rebuilds trust. By chapter 23, Rhys tells her "I am mad about you, Vivienne Jones. Again. Or maybe I should say still." Vivi's growth is visible in how she handles the relationship's end and its revival: she accepts the goodbye in chapter 34 with grace, and in chapter 35 she proposes a solution—both places, both lives—that the younger Vivi couldn't have imagined.

Gwyn: Vivi's cousin and co-conspirator. Gwyn proposes the curse in the prologue and remains a constant support. Their banter is affectionate and teasing. Gwyn's tarot reading in chapter 4 sets up the novel's symbolic framework (The Fool, The Star, The Magician).

Aunt Elaine: The family matriarch. Elaine provides wisdom and grounding. Her line at the end of the ritual—"promise me you will never, ever mix vodka with witchcraft again"—is both comic and a nod to the prologue's recklessness.

Aelwyd Jones: Though dead for centuries, Aelwyd is arguably Vivi's most important relationship. Learning about her ancestor—a powerful witch whose name was erased by Gryffud Penhallow—transforms Vivi's understanding of her own magic. Piper McBride tells Vivi that Aelwyd "gave you power because you're her blood." Vivi's final ritual is framed as reclaiming Aelwyd's legacy.

Key Decisions and Consequences

1. Participating in the drunken curse (prologue): The decision that drives the plot. Its consequence is nine years of magical chaos, culminating in corrupted ley lines and a threat to the town.

2. Agreeing to help Rhys break the curse: Vivi chooses cooperation over avoidance. This decision leads to the library ghost encounter, the revelation about Aelwyd, and ultimately the successful ritual.

3. Breaking the salt circle to protect Rhys from Piper (chapter 29): A protective instinct that puts Vivi in danger but also gives her crucial information—Piper's memories of trying to contact Aelwyd.

4. Refusing to give up after the grave ritual fails (chapter 33): Vivi's persistence leads to the ley-line solution. This is her most consequential decision, saving both Rhys and the town.

5. Saying goodbye to Rhys (chapter 34): Vivi chooses her home and her magic over following him. This decision creates the space for Rhys to make his own choice—to move to her.

6. Proposing they split time between Wales and Graves Glen (chapter 35): Vivi's final decision rejects the either-or framing. She chooses both.

Themes and Symbols

Vivi embodies several of the novel's central themes. Her arc is fundamentally about self-discovery and reclaiming power: she begins as a woman defined by a past hurt and ends as a witch who channels her ancestor's legacy. The unintended consequences of magic theme is rooted in her drunken curse—a joke that becomes a catastrophe. Her relationship with Aelwyd Jones connects her to family legacy and ancestral responsibility, as she learns that the town's magic was built on her family's stolen power. The rekindled love and second chances theme plays out in her relationship with Rhys, which survives a nine-year gap and a curse. Finally, her choice to split time between Wales and Graves Glen speaks to tradition vs. modernity—she honors her roots without being trapped by them.

The tarot cards from Gwyn's reading in chapter 4 function as symbols for Vivi's journey. The Fool (depicting Rhys) represents the leap of faith she must take. The Star represents hope and steady light. In chapter 35, Vivi explicitly connects them: "The Fool and The Star, just like Gwyn's cards had shown. Leaping off cliffs and shining steadily, opposites who couldn't live without each other." For more on how the story resolves, see the ending explained.

Study Questions

1. Why did Vivi curse Rhys in the first place?

Vivi cursed Rhys while drunk and heartbroken. She had just learned that Rhys concealed his father's arrangement of his betrothal in Wales, ending their three-month relationship. Gwyn proposed the curse, and the two improvised a mock ritual around a salt circle, making playful wishes. They dismissed the dramatic effects as a "magical power surge" and never intended real harm.

2. How does Vivi's understanding of the curse change over the novel?

Initially, Vivi believes the curse is entirely her doing—a drunken mistake with embarrassing consequences. Piper McBride's revelation changes this: the magic wasn't only Vivi's. Aelwyd Jones, Vivi's ancestor, lent her power through the blood curse because Vivi is her descendant. Vivi's understanding shifts from personal guilt to ancestral responsibility.

3. What role does Vivi's family play in her development?

Her family is both her support system and her inheritance. Gwyn and Elaine stand with her through the curse's fallout and join her in the final ritual. Learning about Aelwyd Jones transforms Vivi's sense of her own magic—she discovers her family's power was stolen and erased, and she reclaims it.

4. Why does Vivi resist her feelings for Rhys for so long?

Vivi resists because she was hurt before. She gave Rhys her whole heart at nineteen and he left. She tells herself she's over him, dates other people, and insists his visit is "no big deal." Even when feelings resurface, she tries to frame the relationship as "just about sex" to make it easier to watch him leave again.

5. How does Vivi's relationship with her own magic evolve?

Vivi begins as someone who uses magic casually—catching a cheating student, giving bath salts to a colleague—and who dismisses the curse ritual as harmless. By the end, she has channeled a three-hundred-year-old spirit, purified corrupted ley lines, and claimed her family's legacy. Her magic transforms from a background skill to a source of identity and power.

For more discussion of Vivi's choices and their fallout, see the questions and answers page or return to the book overview.