On This Page
Description
The author of the bestselling Dead Witch Walking makes her hardcover debut with this spellbinding new supernatural adventure featuring the highly original Rachel Morgan.Things are going well for Rachel Morgan, witch, independent runner, and one-third of the runner service Vampiric Charms. She's got a business, friends, even a semi-regular—and always-sexy—boyfriend. So what if Kisten is a vampire? So's her roommate Ivy....
But an unexpected call for help sends her out of Cincinnati on a show more desperate trip to rescue the son of her business partner Jenks. It's fun at first, even with dealing with a human-sized Jenks (you cannot believe how much trouble a 6-foot pixy can cause, especially when he looks like a supermodel...), but the road trip quickly turns dangerous when confronting an old love becomes a fight for survival.
For seeing Nick Sparagmos again is the least of Rachel's problems—the ancient, mystical statue he has stolen holds the key to sinister, wild magic that can change humans into Weres. And for the first time in milennia, the Were packs are banding together to overthrow human and Inderlander alike. The fight that follows will shake Rachel's very soul...and she will never be the same.
. show less
Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
housewench Both of these books in their respective series drag their protagonists from the comfort of home, away where they've little support. Both heroines must deal with werewolves in ways that make them rethink themselves, and who they are, before they can return safely home.
42
Member Reviews
This series drives me effing crazy... but I keep coming back. This installment sees some forward motion with some of the more interesting character development/relationships (read Rachel and Ivy) but the pace is so slow and repetitive at times it becomes frustrating. Other than that I love the kind of campy humor (I had some lol moments that were surprising and unexpected) and will prob read the next one despite wanting to throw the book (my phone) across the room every other page.
Not my favourite of the series so far but still a lot of fun. I was SO GLAD we got some more Jenks in this one. He's easily one of my favourites. We actually got a nice variety of characters in this one and the character development was great. We got to learn so much about everyone and that made me really happy.
Plot-wise I found the middle dragged on a bit but the beginning and ending had lots of action to make up for it. This plot just seemed a bit tamed compared to the other books where Rachel travelled into the Ever After and called up demons. It was far from a bad book, it just didn't quite live up to the others. My expectations might have been too high going into this one but I'm still looking forward to the next in the series!
Plot-wise I found the middle dragged on a bit but the beginning and ending had lots of action to make up for it. This plot just seemed a bit tamed compared to the other books where Rachel travelled into the Ever After and called up demons. It was far from a bad book, it just didn't quite live up to the others. My expectations might have been too high going into this one but I'm still looking forward to the next in the series!
The Hollows series started off solidly, with the main character, Rachel, seeming like the kind of tough, feisty, smart character that I'd like to follow. By the end of this book I wanted to punch her in the face because she had become so amazingly stupid that I couldn't even understand what motivated any of her actions. It was as if every time there was some sort of conflict, the dumbest possible idea would pop into her head and she would insist that was the action that HAD to be taken without considering any other options or putting any thought into the matter.In all fairness, she has acted stupid before- (spoiler if you haven't read #2) breaking into Trent's office, getting caught, then trying the exact same thing again, getting show more caught, then trying the exact same thing again. Because if at first you don't succeed, keep doing the same thing over and over again.
However, this time, her stupidity knows no bounds. What would you do if your ex had been kidnapped by hundreds of psycho werewolves? Knowing that last time you were attacked by just ONE werewolf, the only reason you didn't get killed was because you had a chance to shoot it with your gun that contains about 5 shots of spells, of course the rational response would be to go over the island yourself and rescue him, with one mere pixy and said gun capable of putting a few of the wolves to sleep for backup. Great plan Rachel!
I can't even begin to reflect upon the plan at the end, her romantic choices, her living arrangements and her complete ignorance of magic despite being a witch, for fear that my head will explode from the non-sense of it all! show less
Kim Harrison always produces reliable escapist literature, so that didn't let me down. I had a few complaints with this book, the most central being that Harrison is playing the lesbian erotica card, even while denying she is denying her main character's potential bisexuality. Rachel is SO sure that she is exclusively straight, but, reading her reactions to Ivy, I am not. Here's the thing, I know Harrison wants me to be unsure. I get it, wavering sexuality is exciting. This is maybe true for the first few books, but by now I am sort of fed up with it. Also, I have a little bit of an issue with the "forbidden" nature of Rachel's relationship with Ivy. The hesitancy is entirely due to gender, not at all to having sex with a vampire, as show more Rachel has no qualms (well, comparatively) with Kisten. So, I am wondering, is Harrison just having a hard time making the jump to lesbian erotic scenes because she thinks her audience can't handle it? Is she hesitating because she doesn't want to compromise the old-school sexuality of her main character? Or, maybe worse, is she exploiting the sexual pull of lesbianism without following through and showing us a healthy, working lesbian relationship (which isn't nearly as sexy as some vaguely lesbian scenes and may, in fact, be disgusting to some readers, even those who lap up Rachel's brief interactions with Ivy, accepting them because of their transience)? In other words, is she devaluing a relationship between Ivy and Rachel by refusing to develop it as she did Rachel's heterosexual relationship with Kisten? Harrison has built some pretty deep contradictions into Rachel's sexuality, and I am not sure that she is prepared to write about their natural conclusions. show less
First, Ms. Harrison and / or EOS needs to get a better proofreader. There were several grammatical mistakes which slowed the flow of reading. Also disconcerting, in what I thought was a big mistake but isn’t, was the difference between Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw) and Mackinaw City. As the characters moved between the two, the subtle difference was lost on me. I’ll put that down to ignorance on my part.
Harrison characters continue to evolve in rich and complex ways. Rachel encounters her own pattern of emotionally destructive relationships when she confronts her ex-boyfriend. She also adds Were alpha to her roster of titles. She continues to learn new and interesting things about her powers and her friendships with Ivy and show more Jenks become deeper and more complex. Nothing’s easy in Rachel’s life but she handles them, if not with grace and aplomb, very well all the while admitting she often has no idea what she’s gotten herself into. Harrison’s Rachel Morgan is an all too human witch and that’s a bit part of her appeal. I enjoyed this one as much as the previous books in the series, although I teared up unexpectedly at several points on the story. show less
Harrison characters continue to evolve in rich and complex ways. Rachel encounters her own pattern of emotionally destructive relationships when she confronts her ex-boyfriend. She also adds Were alpha to her roster of titles. She continues to learn new and interesting things about her powers and her friendships with Ivy and show more Jenks become deeper and more complex. Nothing’s easy in Rachel’s life but she handles them, if not with grace and aplomb, very well all the while admitting she often has no idea what she’s gotten herself into. Harrison’s Rachel Morgan is an all too human witch and that’s a bit part of her appeal. I enjoyed this one as much as the previous books in the series, although I teared up unexpectedly at several points on the story. show less
Rachel has found her way into more trouble - okay, trouble found her this time. Rachel returns to defend herself and her decision to help a Were friend after joining his 'pack.' She quickly learned that no good deed goes unpunished (even if it was for selfish purposes too - he,he). Her relationship with Kistin continues and seems to find a tentative calm - for the time being. Though, I missed Kistin for much of this book. Rachel also finds herself discovering that the black and white of using demon magic isn't always to perfect and that there are definitely shades of gray that she has found herself slipping into. She also discovers an ugly truth about Nick - one that cuts her to the quick. Even though he has done some bad things - I show more still felt bad for him.
One character that I missed dearly was Trent. That was probably why I have this book only 4 stars rather than 5. I enjoyed the tension between those two even though I'm enjoying the Rachel and Kistin's relationship and all the tension that goes along with it.
The other thing that bothered me about this book was the constant harping that Jenk's would soon die. It is a sad thought, but it seems like the author is trying to prep us for the inevitable a little too much. I have a sad feeling that it will take a little away from the event whenever it does happen.
Over all, I enjoyed this book - so much going on, but not so much that it seemed to desensitize me like the last book seemed to do. What's the deal with the constant need for coffee? show less
One character that I missed dearly was Trent. That was probably why I have this book only 4 stars rather than 5. I enjoyed the tension between those two even though I'm enjoying the Rachel and Kistin's relationship and all the tension that goes along with it.
The other thing that bothered me about this book was the constant harping that Jenk's would soon die. It is a sad thought, but it seems like the author is trying to prep us for the inevitable a little too much. I have a sad feeling that it will take a little away from the event whenever it does happen.
Over all, I enjoyed this book - so much going on, but not so much that it seemed to desensitize me like the last book seemed to do. What's the deal with the constant need for coffee? show less
I've really enjoyed the development of the relationship between Rachel (a straight witch) and Ivy (a lesbian-leaning bisexual vampire). I've never encountered a story before that attempts to delve into the complexities of friendship between women when one is straight and the other isn't. Ivy is in love with Rachel, but Rachel doesn't simply dismiss her but instead tries to find a way to make love work... without sex. Add in the complications of Ivy's living vampire status and the story gets satisfyingly complex!
I've enjoyed all the books in this series, but so far this was my favorite.
I've enjoyed all the books in this series, but so far this was my favorite.
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Best Urban Fantasy
634 works; 79 members
Bloody Good Vampire Books
394 works; 28 members
Best Heroine in Combatant First
62 works; 1 member
Best BRUTAL of Urban Fantasy
244 works; 1 member
Saiyuki Reload Best Summer Reads
159 works; 2 members
Books Read in 2020
4,379 works; 124 members
Paranormal investigators and space detectives
274 works; 9 members
Author Information
72+ Works 54,560 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Dead Witch Walking, The Good the Bad and the Undead, Every Which Way but Dead, A Fistful of Charms, and Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison
The Hallows Books 1-12, plus short stories: This Witch for Hire, Dead Witches Tell no Tales, For a Few Demons More, Outlaw Demon Walls, White Witch-Black Curse, Black Magic Sanction, Pale Demon, Perfect Blood, Into Woods, Ever After, Undead Pool by Kim Harrison
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Fistful of Charms
- Original title
- A Fistful of Charms
- Original publication date
- 2006-06-27
- People/Characters
- Rachel Morgan (a witch); Jenks (Rachel's pixy partner); Ivy Tamwood (Rachel's living vampire partner); Trenton Aloysius Kalamack (elf); Jax (pixy, Jax's oldest son); Kisten Felps (living vampire) (show all 29); Marshal (witch, owner of Marshal's Mackinaw Wrecks); David Hue (insurance adjuster, were); Nicholas Sparagmos 'Nick' (magic-using human); Brett (were); Ceridwen Merriam Dulciate 'Ceri' (elf); Josephina (pixy, Jenks' little daughter); Rex (a homeless female orange kitten); Aretha (a pregnant wolf); Matalina (pixy, Mrs. Jenks); Walter Vincent (were, alpha of Brett's pack); Pam Vincent (were, Mrs. Walter); Debbie (Marshal's assistant); Karen (were who wants to be David Hue's alpha); Randy (were); Becky (human, waitress at the Squirrel's End bar); Terri (human, grocery store employee); DeLavine (one of Chicago's higher master vampires); Peter (DeLavine's scion); Audrey (Peter's woman); Jin and Jen (the first of Jenks' sea monkeys to hatch); Dr. Lynch (high-blood living vampire); Ralph (living vamp, I.S. officer); Jhan (pixy, Jenks' child)
- Important places
- Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; The Hollows, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Mackinac Island, Michigan, USA
- Dedication
- To the man who invariably says, "Really? Okay," instead of, "You want to do what?"
- First words
- The solid thud of David's car door shutting echoed off the stone face of the eight-story building we had parked beside.
- Quotations
- 'I was a sucker for a smart man, especially when the brains came packaged in a body that was carefully maintained' Rachel
'One person can't hold anything, but two can have the world' Jenks
I glanced at the men behind him, then extended my hand again. 'Rachel Morgan,' I said more confidently than I felt. 'And this is Jenks, my partner.' This was weird, civilized. Yes, I've come to rob you, sir. / How delight... (show all)ful; won't you have some tea before you do? - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I hit the off button mid-protest. Tossing the phone to Ivy, I smiled.
- Publisher's editor
- Gill, Diana
- Blurbers*
- Gabaldon, Diana
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 4,382
- Popularity
- 3,433
- Reviews
- 93
- Rating
- (4.09)
- Languages
- 8 — Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 33
- ASINs
- 12