Kitty Rocks the House

While this instalment of the Kitty Norville series didn't really rock my house, it was an entertaining read.

I think that part of the problem is that Kitty as a character and as a person, works best on personal, small scale things. She's only the save the world type if the world can be saved by her being brave enough to do the right thing about the problem in front of her with the help of people that she trusts to stand with her. This is actually what I like about Kitty but it makes it difficult to maintain momentum when the series story arc is being propelled by "The Long Game" which will result in a war with a megalomanic group of vampires. I just can't see Kitty as the leader of the opposing army. Then again, neither can Kitty, which show more is part of why I continue to enjoy these books.

The things I liked most in "Kitty Rocks The House" were that her talk show featured strongly and she finally paid attention to leading her pack.

I love the way Carrie Vaughn writes and Marguerite Gavin narrates, Kitty's "The Midnight Hour" talk show. It's a splendid mix of humour, compassion, and snark, tackling themes from the truly scary to the mindbogglingly stupid. If I could get "The Midnight Hour" on my radio, I'd listen every week.

Kitty became the alpha of her pack in the fourth book of the series, "Kitty And The Silver Bullet". In the six books in between, it seems to me that Kitty's paid very little attention to her pack and has seldom seemed comfortable in her role as alpha. Even if she did achieve her position by challenging and killing the previous alpha pair, Kitty is a talker, not a fighter and she has struggled to reconcile this with a role that is typically achieved and maintained through physical dominance.

In "Kitty Rocks The House" Kitty is made to confront her leadership responsibilities and decide on the kind of alpha she wants to be. I enjoyed that the problem is first highlighted when one of Kitty's pack calls in anonymously to "The Midnight Hour" because its the only way that he can get her attention. Kitty is hoisted with her own petard when she describes the caller's benignly indifferent alphas as "...the kind of parents who buy the beer for their children's parties - cool but not responsible..." and only then realises who she is talking to. Later in the book, Kitty's leadership is challenged by a werewolf pair that are stronger than Kitty and her mate and Kitty has to decide how to respond: run? fight? talk?

I really enjoy watching Kitty work her way through these problems; trying to do better and trying to keep the emphasis on Were rather Wolf. Kitty may stumble from time to time but that just shows her to be human and gives value to her successes.

I was much less engaged in the next segment of "The Long Game" plot, even though it included a vampire priest working for the Vatican and the emergence of a new kind of enemy. The ideas are good but they are not at the heart of the books or, perhaps, not at the heart of what I enjoy about the books. show less

One thing I really like about this series is that actions have consequences. It has been hinted in previous books that Kitty's constant travel and being the de facto poster child for all things supernatural may not be exactly conducive to pack unity. That becomes abundantly clear in this book, which sticks close to home, which is a refreshing change after the last two books.

This book refocuses Kitty on her pack and family responsibilities, and she realizes she can't neglect them while she's off running around investigating the Long Game and Roman. This refocusing is a constant theme in the book, from Ben and Kitty looking to purchase a house, to her sister's need for a relationship with her, to the much more obviously plotted new member show more of the pack who doesn't sit quite right with Kitty and Ben.

Things happened that furthered the overarching plot in a fairly significant way in this book. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens next. show less

Kitty’s having a hard time — Rick is distracted, a newbie is challenging her authority, her pack is clamoring for her attention, Cormac is killing the good guys, and her sister is having a mid-life crisis.

I don’t always pay attention to some of the more literary devices that may be used in my entertainment fiction; but, I felt that Kitty Rocks the House has such a strong theme, it’s hard to miss. It is, however, a little hard to define.

Kitty is experiencing how both her sister and one of her pack mates, Trey, is suffering because Kitty is spending her time pursuing the things she feels are important — namely her show and the war against Roman–rather than her familial or pack obligations. In turn, Kitty suffers because Rick, show more Master Vampire of Denver, chooses to pursue something he feels is important–namely the validation of his continued belief in God in spite of being a vampire — while ignoring some of his responsibilities. So, perhaps the theme is either being true to yourself, or something about responsibility. Do you pursue what you believe is right in spite of the damage it may cause others?

This is what Cormac and Detective Hardin so when they poke at Father Columban’s wards. Because they are curious — and think they are doing the right thing — they get a (supposedly good) vampire killed and cause Rick to leave Denver, leaving Kitty alone to deal with the city and the Long Game. I’m really surprised Kitty doesn’t get more upset about this, or even try to explain to Cormac and Hardin what they are doing. She just stands by and watches the chaos unfold. I don’t really understand her lack of reaction in that particular scene. I want to yell at both of them, to be honest.

The pack has argued with Kitty before about taking care of them, their pack, over trying to take care of the world’s problems, of Roman or the vampires. I think this is a good argument and one many people with responsibilities have to face. Someone has to tackle the big problems, stand up in the big fights; but, often it’s done at a cost, usually to the people around you and your responsibilities to them. Which do you choose? show less

Kitty is the werewolf pack master of Denver. She and the vampire master of the city are two of the few people who stand in the way of Roman, whose Long Game to destroy humanity is gaining momentum. Even as Kitty and Rick try to make new allies, others challenge their power bases: a new werewolf is setting himself up to challenge Kitty, while a vampire Catholic priest tries to lure Rick away from Denver. I really liked how the alpha fight was resolved --Darren came at Kitty like the only thing that mattered was who was more physically powerful, but she talked her way into support from the whole pack before the physical confrontation even started. They never even had a fight, because she made it clear that he would have nothing to lead if show more he won. I think this is the first time I've seen a werewolf pack anywhere in urban fantasy/paranormal romance that had an alpha who wasn't particularly powerful, but did have vision and human warmth. It's a cool way of looking at what is always written in a very hierarchical, primitive structure. I was less enthused by the rest of the plot. It felt slapdash, and it didn't move the overall story forward at all. This series feels stalled, and I understand: resolving the Long Game plot is a huge undertaking, and it should involve alliance building and investigation before the big climax...but c'mon, let's get to it! show less

Another good entry in the Kitty Noville Series - It is definitely better than the last! Finally, Kitty is back in Denver, unfortunately, with all the time spent on non-pack business (such as conferences in London, Vampire Politics, and Other non-pack business), it has left her pack vulnerable to outside influence.

When a strange werewolf shows up, asking to join her pack, Kitty needs to consolidate her power within the pack. In vampire politics, a Roman Catholic Vampire Priest Shows up, asking questions. Add to this Cormac and his Witch in Residence, Kitty has a lot on her plate.

I really liked this book - its a return to the first few books, back to a plot that doesn't include world ending politics. There is much discussion of the long show more game, but for the most part, it doesn't add much to the book.

Kitty Is a great character - she is realistic and reminds me of many of my friends. The rest of the characters are equally realistic. And I love the way were wolves are written in this story. show less

This continues to be a go-to read for those times when I just need comfort. Sure, it's about maintaining pack-leader status as the Denver Alpha werewolf, but I REALLY DON'T CARE. Protecting what's yours and revisiting old (and interesting) characters is a treat if they're very interesting.

You know, like Catholic Vampires who believe. Little details like that usually spark my interest. :)

Let's dethrone the queen, shall we? Nope. She has all the might of right on her side. Family, doing the right thing and protecting the innocent? Nothing can beat that, right?

Again. This is a comfort read and I'm quite happy to take comfort where I get it. :)

Then again, that cliffhanger is awesome. I want to see the series go in this direction. So fun!

Kitty is settled in Denver for the first time in a long time, and there’s a lot of things she has to address. Not least of which is a challenge for leadership of her pack which she has been neglecting with her various battles against Roman. She has to re-build those bonds to see off the challenger.

And then a vampire in town comes looking for Rick – and they sequester themselves behind magical shields, leaving Kitty to soldier on managing Denver, her family, her pack and the fight against Roman alone.


I’m tempted to say this book is a filler – and in many ways it is. There’s little advancement of the meta plot despite a revelation at the end. There’s little coherent central plot to be advanced. There’s a series of random show more stuff happening, a lot of it isn’t resolved. We see Kitty with her family, we see a couple of her radio shows that aren’t really linked to anything, including a long, vaguely interesting debate between 2 academics and an equally long ramble about a crystal skull.

It doesn’t really go anywhere, it doesn’t really develop anything, it doesn’t bring much in the way of new information, it doesn’t advance Kitty’s life at all. Really, we finish this book no further along than when we started it.

On that score I’d slap 2 fangs on this book, file it under “meh” and move on.

And I’m still tempted to do that – it wasn’t fascinating or immense fun. It was fun and vaguely amusing, but certainly not more than that.

But, when looked at in the context of the entire series, it makes a bit more sense. Kitty has been letting things slide in the last few books. Not her battle against Roman, but her more at home issues. Her pack, her family, the city of Denver – she hasn’t been around, In fact, in the last 2 books (putting aside the short stories) she hasn’t even been in the city – she’s been in London and San Francisco. She has let things slide and she’s supposed to be an alpha werewolf, she’s supposed to have a job and she’s supposed to have a family including a mother who is just recovering from cancer and a sister stressed out about the whole thing.

There needed to be some patching that, there needed to be some consequences to that. Kitty has responsibilities and home that she has been neglecting – at very least we needed to see her touch base

So we needed to see her sister angry at her – and no, it wasn’t resolved, but should it be? This isn’t an easy thing to fix so quickly and easily.

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