Book Review: Ever After by Kim Harrison

Title: Ever After (The Hollows #11)
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: 1/22/2013
ISBN: 0062228153




Are you a wizard, Kim Harrison? Seriously, you can tell me if you can, because what you create here in the Hollows books is just pure magic. This has to be one of the better books in the series and one that will have fans eagerly anticipating the final two books in the series.

The ever after, the demonic realm that parallels the human world, is shrinking. If it disappears completely, so does all magic. It's up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to avert catastrophe and keep life from changing... for the worse.

While saving the world is important, it isn't Rachel's only motivation. There's also the small fact that she caused the ley line to rip in the first place, setting off a chain reaction of unfortunate events. That little mistake has made her life forfeit unless she can fix it. It's also made her more than a few enemies, including the most powerful demon in the ever after—a terrifying entity who eats souls and now has an insatiable appetite for her. He's already kidnapped her friend and goddaughter to lure her out, and if Rachel doesn't give herself up soon, they'll die.

But Rachel has more than a few impressive and frightening skills of her own, and she isn't going to hand over her soul and her life without one hell of a fight. She's also got a surprise: elven tycoon Trent Kalamack. With this unlikely ally beside her—a prospect both thrilling and unnerving—she's going to return to the ever after, kick some demon butt, rescue her loved ones... and prevent an apocalypse before it's too late. Or, at least that's the plan...

I freaking loved this book. LOVED IT. There's so much here to like, after all. We're shown more of the history behind elves, demons, and the Ever After, with some rather big revelations as to how everything tied together and why the Ever After looks the way it does. We've known that the elves weren't the sweet innocent cookie makers that Keebler would have us believe, and this book cements it. Also rather interesting is a look into how Al and Ceri interacted with each other during her time as his familiar. This aspect is touched upon lightly in the book, but it's important for how much it implies about their past, the past interactions of demons and elves, and what this might mean for the future.

Most of the book focuses directly on the action surrounding Rachel. This might sound like a "no duh" sort of thing until you realize how much happens in her periphery. Major stuff goes down in the sidelines, a big change from previous volumes. It used to be that when something bad happened to her friends, Rachel was usually right there with them rather than hearing about it afterwards. This really shows the distance that's growing between her, Jenks, and Ivy. They're there for moral support and to help with what they can, but most of what Rachel is going through in this book are things that neither of them can really deal with. Previous books had her predominantly relying on them, this book has her learning how to trust herself and others more. She still has to rely on others to some extent, but doing so means that she has to let go of old fears and prejudices, which in turn means that she has to become more honest with herself. That is probably one of the hardest things she's done so far because if there's anything Rach is good at, it's at denying what she's really feeling.

The ending of this book is pretty exciting, especially if you're a Rachel/Trent shipper. No, there's no firm pairing off in this book of Rachel with anyone. There's movement towards her potentially ending up with someone in the final book, but I think that Harrison will leave us guessing at the ultimate pairing until the final book. I think that everyone expects it to be a Trent/Rachel pairing, but then again Harrison has also given us some rather good reasons in this book as to why they might never really be able to be together.

In any case, this book is a must read for fans of the series. Definitely one that I'm glad I've read, even if it does mean that it'll be at least another year before the next book is out! (sobs)

5 out of 5 stars


(eARC provided by Harper Voyager)

Book Review: A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

Title: A Perfect Blood (Hollows #10)
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: 02/21/2012
ISBN: 0061957895







It's coming down to the wire now, folks. After this book there's only 2 more books left to the series, with the potential of a bonus book afterwards. I ended up getting this through eBay and I have to say, it was money well spent. Harrison is worth spending money on.

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth — a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons. But it can’t be done without Rachel’s blood.

As a bounty hunter, Rachel has battled vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more. But humanity itself might be her toughest challenge.

Things are heating up in this book and I mean that in multiple ways. First off, the tensions between the Inderlanders and certain factions of humanity are heating up. There's always been a portion of humanity that hated the Inderlanders and wanted them wiped off the face of the earth, so it's no surprise that Harrison would eventually revisit this idea. What's being done in this book is actually pretty chilling, and HAPA (Humans Against Paranormals Association) is a pretty lethal force here. I've never wanted to reach through a book and slug someone as much as I did in this book.

Secondly, things are heating up between Trent and Rachel. I know that none of us forgot the kiss from Pale Demon, and neither has Rachel. Her hormones are kicking in big time, but I'll warn you: there's not a lot of progress on this front in either direction, but then any progress is good progress. I have a feeling that whatever might ultimately come out of this relationship, it'll probably happen in book 12 and not a page sooner. There is some friendship brewing here, which is good since Rach needs someone who can keep up with her and understand where she's coming from. But regardless of whether or not they end up in a relationship, the tension between the two is so palpable that I'm beginning to think that they'll have to end up in bed together just to relieve it and get it over with. However, there's also the introduction of another potential interest in this book, although I'm not sure what chances he'll have against the Rachel/Trent combo. (Then again, I'm a fangirl of Rachel and Trent, so I tend to think this way about any other guy that comes into her life.)

There's a definite feel of loose ends beginning to get tied up and it's a good feeling. Harrison might have had a bit of a slump mid-series, but this is the Hollows that I fell in love with early on in the series and couldn't get enough of. It's good enough to make me want to re-read the series and is a worthy successor to Pale Demon. Oh, and the minor characters in this book rock. Hard. We finally see Rachel get her pack tattoo (a mild spoiler, but one we all knew was coming) and her tattoo artist is interesting enough to get a spinoff book of her own. (A tattoo artist that works on Inderlanders and humans? There's some material for you right there!)

And before anyone asks, yes Al is in this book. And of course he's awesome. Al is always awesome, even when you want to punt kick him across the room. His interactions with Rachel- and especially his last actions of the book- make me wonder where Harrison is going to go with his character next. There's a lot of potential here for him to be bad in the future, all with incredibly interesting results. I honestly can't wait for the next book to come out so I can see what'll happen next.

If you loved the last book, you'll really love this one. It's a fun ride and I had a blast reading this book.

5 out of 5 stars

Want to read it so bad: Blood Work,The Hollows Graphic Novel

I'd discovered a week or so ago that there was going to be a graphic novel prequel to Kim Harrison's awesome Hollows series, but recently I discovered some pictures that are going to be in the book itself.




The artwork looks amazing so far & what is interesting is that the book is going to be told from Ivy's point of view rather than Rachel's. If you want to see more of the book, you can see all of these pictures on Harrison's own website!

The book is due out on July 12, 2011 & from the website it looks like we can expect more to come!

Book Review: Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

Title: Pale Demon (The Hollows #9)
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 02/22/2011
ISBN: 0061138065







If you’ve been on the fence about the Hollows series, this book will bring you back to the series. I can’t say anything without spoiling the book for you, but rest assured- this book was awesome. This has to be one of the best books in the series so far. It doesn’t beat out the first book as my favorite Hollows read, but it’s up there.

This book finds Rachel trying to find a way to the witch convention in San Francisco, but when no flight will carry her, she has to make her way West with the last person she thought she’d travel with: Trent Kalamack. He too has a reason for heading to the West Coast, but he’s not spilling the details. Since the only other option is to not travel & be put to death or go to the ever after with Al (which is almost as bad), Rachel’s left with no other options. Stuck on what has the potential to be the worst road trip ever, Rachel & crew (oh yes, Ivy & Jenks are there too) discover that anything that can go wrong, will. Especially when you have to deal with assassins, secrets, & a soul eating demon that can not only walk during the day, but also can come & go as he pleases.

Where to begin? For starters, you’ll love that even though not everything is resolved in this book, Harrison does her best to address many of the concerns & questions that fans have been having over the series. I won’t state which ones get the most attention, but I opine (as Pierce would put it) that the many people will be satisfied in one way or another.

Also wonderful is the maturing of Rachel. She’s still the type of person who is capable of insane feats of magic, but this Rachel is one who no longer sees things (as she puts it) in the “black and white” views as she did at the beginning of the series. This shows in many of her actions in this book & the decisions she makes during the course of her adventures in this book.
This is an awesome book & one that anyone following along with the Hollows series NEEDS to read. Not breeze through in the store or library, but read. This was just sheer awesomeness & I really feel like I can’t say enough good things about it. I loved this book.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)