Reviewed by: Rabid ReadsThe Hollows is another one of the first Urban Fantasy series I ever read. The bug had gotten me, but I was still new enough to not really know what was available. I think I was just pursuing every lead Amazon gave me, and that was back in the 3-for-4 paperbacks days, so I was in the habit of ordering the first four books in any newly discovered series.Which was a good plan, b/c by the time I finished Dead Witch Walking, I was well and truly hooked, and if I had days to wait before I could start the next book, I might have cried.Rachel Morgan (a witch) lives in one of my favorite UF worlds---the creatures-out-of-the-closet world.The first time I encountered this kind of world, I didn't know what to do with it---it was too foreign a concept for me to unquestioningly swallow. However, upon closer acquaintance, I realized how much simpler things were if the humans knew there really were things that went bump in the night: the hate groups could just be the standard bastard collection of racists and bigots instead of super, secret society types, and the creatures' actions weren't limited to what they could do without being, horror-of-horrors, discovered.Provided there was a reasonable explanation for why the creatures were out in the open, I soon preferred this set-up almost across the board.Unfortunately, that's where my main issue with The Hollows began . . .In Rachel's world, a disease piggybacking off a genetically modified tomato decimated the human population---the creatures, or Inderlanders, were mostly immune to the disease so that when the dust settled, for the first time perhaps ever, the humans and the creatures were, numbers-wise, largely equal.The Inderlanders took advantage of the situation and came out of the closet. If Harrison had left it at that, I probably would have been okay.But she didn't.Nope, she had the silly humans outlaw SCIENCE, b/c they were AFRAID. Afraid of SCIENCE. Afraid of TOMATOES. Just pathetically, ridiculously AFRAID."Outlaw science? What does that even mean?" you ask.Well it means that the masses are dying of previously treatable illnesses, b/c silly humans destroyed the knowledge and shut down (burned down) anything resembling a research facility.So yeah . . . that was a problem.More realistically, the silly humans also tried to deprive any Inderlanders of their jobs, especially if said job was some form of government employment. Newly deprived of gainful employment, the Inderlanders blew their noses at the humans, and started their own government agencies.So there.Rachel works for one such agency, only she's been getting really crappy assignments (or runs) for awhile now, and she's just about ready to quit.Except no one quits I.S. (Inderlander Security), the creature version of law enforcement, before their contract is finished . . .At least no one quits . . . Dun dun duuunnnnn . . . and survives.But Rachel thinks she's found the out she's been looking for when she captures her latest target, a tax-evading Leprechaun, who offers her 3 wishes in exchange for her freedom.It seems like the perfect solution.And it is. Until Ivy Tamwood, another I.S. Runner, former training partner, AND living vampire (can't forget that part), and Jenks, pixy back-up extraordinaire, decide they want in on the action. Ivy even proposes they put out a shingle together and start their own private runner service.What could possibly go wrong?Well, for one, Boss Man at I.S. is seriously pissed about Ivy buying out her contract (living vamps are loaded), so even though he admits to giving Rachel crap runs for the last two years in an effort to get her to quit, he decides to take his anger over Ivy leaving out on Rachel by using Ivy's generous payout to fund the hits he keeps putting on Rachel's life.If that wasn't awkward (HA! Awkward!) enough, Ivy seems to have a bit of a crush on Rachel.And that's problem #2.Roommate situations already have the capacity for awkwardness, but when one of the roommates has "secret" feelings for the other . . . awkward in the extreme. And it has nothing to do with Ivy and Rachel both being female, so calm yourself. It'd be just as awkward if Ivy was a guy. No one wants to be dodging come-ons in their own home. Especially if the source of the come-ons is a vampire who wants to eat you . . . *snorts* . . . that's not what I meant, and you know it.*shakes head at gutter-minded people*BUT, on the whole this book was S-T-E-L-L-A-R. The characters are well-developed from the start, and if you ignore the ban on medical research, the world-building is fantastic too. Rachel is pretty kickass, and has limitless growth-potential, and the dash of romance is ridiculously cute. Action-packed, Dead Witch Walking will grab your interest and hold on to it . . . indefinitely. Don't let that scare you off though. The last book in the series comes out in September, and after that there's no reason you shouldn't be able to return to a productive life. (Disclaimer: Rabid Reads can in no way be held responsible for addictions to really excellent books or the shambles your life may potentially turn into due to your inability to do anything but read.)My other reviews for this series: The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows #2) Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows #3) A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows #4) For a Few Demons More (The Hollows #5) The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows #6) White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows #7) Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows #8) Pale Demon (The Hollows #9) The Undead Pool (The Hollows #12) Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond
I picked up Dead Witch Walking in the wake of finishing Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris. Having perused both Wikipedia and Goodreads for a general synopsis of the story, I felt confident that I was going to love the series and that it would also soothe the ache of not getting another Sookie Stackhouse novel until May of this year. This was a bad idea for two reasons: 1.) Gauging the content of one set of novels, however similar, against another (especially since it was the first in a series - sometimes it takes time for author's to get their sea-legs with a new character or world), makes it impossible to do an objective reading and 2.) I was, naturally, completely disappointed.I didn't violently hate Rachel Morgan as much as I've hated other female protagonists. Don't get me wrong. Rachel definitely had her annoying moments, namely whenever she grabbed on to someone and growled 'cookie' at them. I know that Kim Harrison was probably just try to emphasize Rachel's bad-assness or whatever, but I thought it was really annoying and stupid. If I met someone that did this in real life, I'd probably punch them in the temple. Something about Rachel that confused me was her inexplicable fear of Ivy. I get it, she's never lived with a vampire before, but as an IS runner, I have to assume that she had been in contact with all manner of dangerous creatures beforehand, which made the whole fear of Ivy thing really weird. Ivy was okay, too. I think I probably like her more than Rachel. The clear star of this whole book is Jenks, though. Jenks and Mrs. Jenks, and Jax, too. I want four hundred thousand words on the Jenks family in which they fight a fairy war and they decorate their tree stump with scrap yarn and cleaned lids of aluminum cans for mirrors!Anyway, I think Rachel was kind of stupid. She would get injured, go out and get injured some more and go out and get injured some more. I get what she was trying to accomplish, so I don't know that I'd put her in the 'dumb heroine' category just yet, but she was really sort of moronic in places.I didn't mind the lack of love interest so much. I can forgive a lot with a good plot. Unfortunately, lacked that, so it would have been nice to have some guy in the picture to make this book a lot less boring.The world-building was okay. It took me a long time to get through this novel and I think it was because in places, Kim's writing was a little weird. And, for whatever reason, it bored me for about seventy-five percent of the book. I liked the witchy/spell-casting parts. I liked the general concept of a world in tatters because of a virus spread by genetically-engineered tomatoes since it's at least marginally plausible (seriously, kids, they're already selling genetically engineered fish at your local grocery store).The biggest problem that I had with the book was the triggery content. The mink scene made me physically ill. I rescue abused animals. The dog that was formerly in my user photo was an abused dog, too. I got him from the kill-shelter on the day he was supposed to be euthanized. He had two broken legs and he was absolutely petrified of all people. He's great now. He's more than great, actually, considering he gets steak every Saturday night and we make him his own cheeseburgers whenever it's red meat day in our house. The point is, I can't stomach animal abuse, even in fiction. I'll stop watching films if animal abuse is even implied. This scene where Trent keeps Rachel locked in a cage and allows Jonathan to essentially poke, prod, and beat at this mink - even though she wasn't really a mink - disturbed me to the point of tears. Even more disturbing was the graphic violence described in the rat-fights; animal fighting is a particularly triggery thing for me since I just got two rescues that were used in dog fights. I just thought it was really unnecessary to the plot when Trent could have easily locked Rachel up as a human and tortured her. It was sick.The second triggery thing was the shape-shifting demon, asking Rachel if she was afraid of rape. Enough said. I think it was disturbing and I think the book would have been better without it and the gratuitous violence against animals.I'm giving this a two. Had it not been for those specific scenes, I'd give it a three and I'd be mildly interested to see what happens next in the series. That said, I sincerely doubt I'll be reading the next book in the series or anything else Kim Harrison has written.
What do You think about Dead Witch Walking (2004)?
"Everything was going too well. Something had to be wrong." Dead Witch Walking is the first installment of The Hollows series by Kim Harrison. It is an excellent opening book of the series: it is intriguing, with action, mystery, and humor in an appropriate balance.The main character, Rachel Morgan, a witch, works as a runner at “Inderland Security”, but now quits her job to start her own business partnering with a vampire and a pixy.The story is about her struggle as she tries to get rid of the blood price put on her head by her ex-boss, and gain her independence. She is talented but inexperienced. She is brave, sometimes too audacious. She makes mistakes, but never gives up. Making a spell is easy. It's trusting you did it right that's hard.Ivy, her partner and roommate is a “living vampire”. She is beautiful, elegant, scary, extremely dangerous even to her friends, and mysterious. I wish I could say her weaknesses were my strengths, but Ivy didn't have any weaknesses other than the tendency to plan the joy out of everything.Jenks is Rachel’s pixy aid and partner. His sauciness, camaraderie, and his family give an extra charm to the story. Four inches of blond bothersome annoyance and quick temper.The negative characters are likeable and repulsive at the same time. The world-building is simply explained, logical, and interesting. It has so much potential. Our history is that of humanity's. We didn't just drop out of the sky in '66; we emigrated in through Ellis Island. We fought in the Civil War, World War One, and World War Two-some of us in all three. We suffered in the Depression, and we waited like everyone else to find out who shot JR.The story is full of thrilling action, magic, and enough questions left open that make me want to read the further books of the adventures of Rachel Morgan. Originally posted on my blog on November 7, 2012. My favorite quotes.
—Exina
On a scale of 1 to done I'm: Me trying to get a grasp on this book: Me every time Rachel opened her mouth: . . . so yeah, I could go on but I think you get the point. There was so much potential it hurt. But by the end I was doing some heavy skimming and only went on because I was close to finishing anyways. I just really couldn't get into this one :( This book just wasn't for me, sadly.
—Destini Mia~ ♕ Sassy Lassie
By now most people know that the Bottle-Nose Dolphin is pretty much one of the biggest assholes in the animal kingdom. You know, for randomly hunting down and stalking and killing porpoises, sharks and baby dolphins for no other reason than the pure joy of murdering them in cold blood and so that then can then go off and rape other dolphins.However, the African Bat Bug could easily surpass the dolphin as one of nature's biggest bastards. Male Bat Bugs seem to have decided one day to pass over th
—Kat Kennedy
