#22 White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison
This review has pretty big spoilers for previous books in The Hollows/Rachel Morgan series, so I’m putting it under a cut. There are no real
spoilers for White Witch, Black Curse.
Rachel Morgan is determined to figure out who murdered her vampire boyfriend Kisten. As she struggles to recover her lost memories of his death, she finds herself sidetracked by a FIB investigation involving a banshee. Rachel knows there’s no way that she can take down a full blown banshee, but finds it difficult to stay away. Add in a literal ghost from her past, romantic feelings towards “just a friend,” and Rachel’s new reputation as a “black witch,” and our heroine has plenty of drama to deal with this time around.
White Witch, Black Curse is the seventh novel from Kim Harrison’s bestselling series, The Hollows, and it has a lot of the elements that has kept me coming back book after book. It’s an exciting read, filled with great world building, fascinating characters, and plenty of humor, suspense, and magic. I think it actually improves on some of the elements from previous novels. While reading The Outlaw Demon Wails, I often found myself frustrated with Rachel’s argumentative nature. This was less of an issue this time around. In fact, I often felt myself feeling really sorry for Rachel as she never can seem to catch a break. There are also a few very touching scenes, including one where Rachel ends up in the children's ward of a hospital.
One of The Hollows biggest strengths and weaknesses can be found in its plethora of characters and plot lines. The world here is very complex. Every character has a purpose, and a past, and every action has consequences that will undoubtedly come back to bite Rachel in the ass. At the same time, I’m beginning to wonder if Harrison has the ability to juggle all of these plot lines successfully. Storylines that feel the most important in the development of the characters are pushed to the background (such as Rachel’s apprenticeship over the demon Al and, to a lesser extent, Kisten’s murder); while admittedly interesting yet less important storylines are pushed to the forefront. Relationship drama I thought was resolved last book is brought up again. We also have the entrance of a (sort of) new character, and the exit of an old character, both which seem unusually abrupt and awkward for Harrison.
These flaws are troubling, but Harrison still manages to tell exciting story with a few twists along the way. The only reason I’m being so nitpicky here is because I’m a little worried about what this may mean for future books, as new characters and plotlines will inevitably be introduced. I’m still plenty interested in Rachel’s story and am looking forward to picking up the next book, Black Magic Sanction, once it becomes available on paperbackswap.
Rating: four stars
Length: 504 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Similar Books: For more fun works of urban fantasy that take place in American cities, check out Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files ( my reviews), and Vicki Pettersson’s Signs of the Zodiac (see my review for The Taste of Night).
Other books I've read by this author: Dead Witch Walking, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way but Dead, A Fistful of Charms, For a Few Demons More, and The Outlaw Demon Wails. I’ve also read the novella “Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil” from Dates from Hell, and “Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper” from Prom Nights from Hell. I've also read all of her AMAZING fantasy books she writes under the name Dawn Cook.
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