Kim Harrison

Well, who knew demons and curses could be a good thing? No doubt the fans of this series did, since this is book 12 in the series, and judging by the number of stars it's rated at, I'd say the fans were pleased with this one. I didn't realize this was part of a series when I downloaded the audio version from Overload, but it didn't take long to figure out, as the beginning seemed to be filling me in on how things work in this paranormal fantasy world of demons, elves, pixies, vampires, werewolves, zombies etc., but there was so much that I didn't feel like this was a first introduction. I'm thinking this book would have held my interest better had I started at the beginning, and I'm still pondering whether I will.… (more)

3.5 A rough-ish complicated start to a new series. First I hate Ashley. There was a lot of world building, a lot of character development, and a lot of explaining on the magical system. I had a bit of trouble getting the magical theory in felt complex to me and i'm not sure I got it all by the end. To be fair the magic was developing along with the story so that might all resolved it's self in the next book. First books are usually difficult to digest in a fantasy series for me, it's all so new. The MC's character was not consistent she'd act strong independent then say something so childish, or act so reckless, like a teenager. Another point that really felt off was the relationship with her ______ it didn't feel legit/believable even in the story, almost cartoonish. OH my Gawd the military- COMIC BOOK ! She didn't question these people showing up when she should have, she didn't really question anyone like any normal person would she just lalalalala ok you're here, lalalalala
Wait there was a part that was pure wrong. A character died, a character that didn't have any reason to be in the scene that made any sense. The whole time I'm thinking come on really do something with____ how are you going to get away safely ? Come on characters THINK !
I really am shocked Kim Harrison's female characters are usually much brighter than this girl. I didn't love this first book, didn't care for the comic book feel when the book was aiming for it.
What did I like ? I liked the set up, I liked the world, the possibilities, the future of the series. Yes I'll be reading more, at least one more.… (more)

I'm a fan of her Hollows series, and I was looking forward to a new chain of stories. This story line, however, seems less polished than the previous series, and it drew me in far less. A large part of that is the characters. Petra is less engaging than Rachel; the love interests have less glamour and spark; the partners-in-crime are far more just backdrop than Ivy, Jenks, et al. are. Everyone's just a little flat, and I hope that they flesh out into more 3D in the coming volumes (because I will continue to see where this goes, at least for a bit).

On the plus side, the concept of magic in this series is imaginative. It's not gone into in any great detail or depth, but this is the first volume in the series, so there's time for that. There's certainly a fair amount of potentially interesting story there when coupled with the let's-go-hunt-bad-guys theme that seems to be the overarching direction.

So, in summary, fair and good enough that I'll continue, but not as good as The Hollows.… (more)