Book Review: White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison

My rating: @@@

White Witch, Black Curse is the latest release out in the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison.  I just finished it over the weekend. 

If you’re already into the series, you’ll want to read it – like me – to see what happens next to some of your favourite characters.  Let me save you some of the suspense.  Rachel’s actions get her into further trouble. 

Best: Kisten’s murderer is revealed and that part of Rachel’s history is wrapped up.  It’s an emotional moment.  Worst: Rachel continues to do things which isolate her from the community around her and get her involved in things she probably shouldn’t get involved with.

Kim Harrison always spins a good tale.  I wasn’t bored.  But neither was I compelled to pick up the book and read it through in one sitting.  Maybe it was the book and maybe it was my headspace last week, but I suspect it was the book more than anything else.  IMO, Ms. Harrison is starting to lose the energy of the story line – something that often happens after the third or fourth book in a series.  Ivy is less compelling.  Jenks is dealing with the worsening health of his partner Matalina.  Rachel faces some mild sibling disapproval issues and the reality of her mother finally moving on – both emotionally and physically – after many years of mourning.  Al pops up and is entertaining.  There’s a banshee sub-plot that creates some tension.  And once again, Rachel makes some weird and vague emotional decisions when it comes to her love life – such as it is.

I’m really not sure where Harrison can or will go from here with these characters.  As far as I can tell, the next book will involve Rachel getting involved with a former ghost/witch/runner (sigh) and Jenks will probably have to lay the mother of his offspring to rest.  Ivy will do what Ivy does.  Maybe there will be more fun with Trent who was relatively absent from this book.  

I’m glad I read it because I’m already invested in these characters.  And it was well written.  It just didn’t grab me the way the earlier books in this series did.  Jenks’ insights rang a little hollow, and the consistent evidence of Rachel’s bad choices when it comes to her non-business relationships just kept being reinforced in a far too obvious way.

Sure, I’ll pick up the next book.  But maybe I’ll wait a bit longer after it comes out to get it … and maybe, just maybe, I’ll wait for the paperback edition.

Recently Read ...

For A Few Demons More, by Kim Harrison

Haven't posted in quite a while! It's not like I stopped reading ... although maybe I've been reading a bit less ...

The most recent book I read was For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. It's the fifth book in her Rachel Morgan collection, currently one of my favourite series. I as wasn't crazy about the fourth book -- A Fistful of Charms -- but this latest work more than makes up for it.

We're talking magic, we're talking decisions, we're talking poignant. The characters are evolving. I'm a little concerned about Matalina, since clearly the author doesn't have a problem with removing key characters as needed. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan? I'm guessing "yes" on that one ... LOL ...)

The main characters in this installment are the core trio - Rachel, Ivy and Jenks. Look for appearances by Glen (Edden's son), Trent Kalamak, Kisten, Piscary, Skinner and of course Rachel's alpha and insurance agent, the werewolf David Hue. And did I mention the demons? Oops.

If you're already into the series, I think you'll find this book satisfyingly bittersweet. If you haven't started the series yet, I recommend going to the library or bookstore and picking up the first one -- Dead Witch Walking.

To check out the author's site, click here.

Every Which Way But Dead, by Kim Harrison

Review originally published on Chapters.ca here.

Favourite book in the series!
Reviewer:Bibi from Toronto
Date:06/06/2006 9:16:01 PM

I love this series. But this particular book, for some reason, is the one I pick up and re-read whenever I'm between gripping novels.

Good action, emotional layers, and it fleshes out the relationships between the characters -- in more ways than one! ;-)

It does not work as a stand-alone; you have to have read Dead Witch Walking and The Good, The Bad and The Undead to know what's going on. Frankly, every so often I go on a binge and read all three again. The main character, Rachel, kicks butt. She can take care of herself even as she allows herself to lean on those around her.

In this book, her powers expand even further and she deals with the ramifications of this. Trent becomes a more sympathetic character as we get to know him better, as does Quen ... and Kisten. If you enjoy entertainment like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series (before the last few releases), Kelley Armstrong and Charlaine Harris ... you'll want to check out this book -- and the ones that came before it.