Kitty Goes to Washington

“Kitty Goes To Washington” rolls straight on from “Kitty And The Midnight Hour” but with a change in pace and tone. Kitty seems a little more certain of herself than she did in the first book. She has left her home and her pack and taken her radio show, “The Midnight Hour” on the road across America. She is starting to build a life for herself in the human and the supernatural world.

The plot revolves around what happens to Kitty when the Christian Fundamentalist, supernaturals-are-an-offence-againt-God Senator that we met in the last book, summons her to testify at a Senate Committee which is allegedly investigating state-sponsored research into the super-natural.

Of course, all is not what it seems. The Senator has an evil show more plan and Kitty is at its centre. This plot premise could have produced a political thriller with Kitty cast as the heroine, saving the world with her awesome werewolf powers. Thankfully, Carrie Vaughan avoids this and continues to present Kitty as a young woman, recovering from a trauma but becoming reconciled with who and what she is and is gaining confidence from the popularity of her show. Kitty goes to Washington with no political or social agenda and does not see herself as leading anything.

She quickly discovers that this I’m-just-a-talkshow-host stance is not credible in Washington, where everyone expects something of her. This shows the nature of Washington but it also makes Kitty reflect on what role she should play and what it means to be a supernatural.

In Washington, Kitty finds a club that offers a haven for shape-shifters, allowing association without the restrictions of a Pack and promoting good music, good food and good company. Although the freedom and the pleasures this affords, especially in the form a Brazilian were-panther who becomes Kitty’s lover for a while, initially appeals to Kitty, as the book progresses she finds that she cannot adopt the passive, don’t-get-involved, live-for-moment way of life. Her loyalties, sense of duty and belief in doing what she can to make things better, pull her in a different direction.

While at the club, she meets with, solitary, taciturn, old werewolf that everyone believes is an ex-Nazi. When he finally shares his bleak story with her, Kitty is pushed further along the road of thinking that being a werewolf does not obviate the need for choosing how you will live but perhaps makes the choice more pressing.

One of the things I liked most in the book was the new vampire that Kitty meets. It was refreshing, almost startling, to meet a vampire who is not a narcissist but rather has a desire to protect and nurture. Kitty’s relationship with the vampire, testing limits, earning respect, building a mutual loyalty and obligation, speaks to many of the things that Kitty needs that the shapeshifter club does not provide.

“Kitty Goes To Washington” continues with a number of the characters from the previous book: we discover the true nature of the mysterious cult-leader who claims to be able to “cure” supernaturals, we meet Kitty’s “Deep Throat” research scientist and understand what he wants from Kitty, we see how far the Senator is willing to go for his cause and we see Kitty starting to build a network of friends and supporters.

Although more thoughtful than the first book, “Kitty Goes To Washington” has a least three strong action scenes that have major plot consequences. The political aspects of the book a credible and all the more threatening for that. Like politics in real-life, the day-to-day can seem a little anti-climatic but the issues are real and the stakes are high.

As with the first book, I enjoyed Kitty’s talkshow. It opens up the book, adds some humour, but also shows how these shows can take on a life of their own when they provide a space for the voiceless to be heard.

By the end of this book, it is clear, even to Kitty, that she cannot be just a talkshow host any more. She is a symbol, an ambassador, a target and may become a leader. show less

While I enjoyed the first book in this series, Kitty Goes to Washington is decidedly better. She’s out on her own, dealing with the trauma of what happened to her in her pack, and just trying to figure herself out. However, she’s asked to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of supernaturals, which will potentially affect how everyone views them. Will laws be passed against them, will they be hunted after this? It’s a huge concern, so she decides to involve herself in it and do something about it. Meanwhile, supernatural evangelical dude bro (I forget his name, sorry) who’s able to “cure” supernaturals also makes an appearance, and Kitty finds that the shifter community isn’t as structured as she thought.

I really loved show more how all of this came together. Some stuff left hanging from the first book is resolved, and we’re given a much deeper look into the supernatural community, now that Kitty is away from Pack restraints and can explore on her own. I liked being able to learn more about vampires and that more types of supernaturals and non-human beings were vaguely introduced. I’m excited to see that come into play in later books. I also genuinely enjoyed reading Kitty’s transition from dependent pack member to mostly independent young woman figuring out her place in the world.

Adding in politics is a nice bonus, because we can’t get away from that in real life, so it felt realistic to have this debated on the Senate floor. I especially appreciated the racist/prejudiced Senator who’s out to prove something against supernaturals. That was sadly too realistic. There are a couple more plot lines that involve other supernaturals, and I was happy to see them all nicely woven together into something that made sense.

There’s some romance, but it doesn’t take over the plot. It was just enough of a taste for me to make this book seem reasonable, especially with everything else going on.

Overall, Kitty is a likeable character, it’s easy to read her do just about anything. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and am excited to see this world and Kitty’s character develop in future books.

Also posted on Purple People Readers show less

Kitty Goes to Washington
3.5 Stars

As the title implies, Werewolf radio talkshow host, Kitty Norville, travels to the capitol to testify before a Senate committee on the existence of supernatural beings. While there, she becomes involved in the various agendas and machinations of a variety of dangerous groups - vampires, lycanthropes, and politicians.

Despite its potential, this follow-up novel falls short of expectations. The first half of the book is slow with a great deal of exposition, and the second half fails to capitalize on the small amount of tension that does build up.

Kitty's characterization is problematic. Not only does her poor decision-making play into the dumb blond stereotype, but she is too much of a damsel in distress in show more need of rescue. The woman is a freaking werewolf for crying out loud, yet instead of shifting and tearing into a weaker vampire, she whines about her situation and is rescued by a human with a stake?!

In terms of the plot, there are several threads that ultimately come together, but each is rather anti-climactic and is resolved either too easily or by an almost deus-ex machina element.

Despite these issues, Kitty is a very appealing heroine and the secondary cast is interesting enough to continue with the series. Moreover, Marguerite Gavin's narration of the audiobook is excellent. I could listen to her read the phonebook and enjoy it. show less

I'm feeling better about Kitty's adventures all the time, although the creepy shit the government pulls gives me the holy heebie jeebies and feels all too real. I hope she continues to kick butt and gather people around her. I am deeply amused by Kitty's complete embrace of tourist opportunities, and strangely, I really like her lawyer.

The Kitty Norville series is right up there with Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris and maybe even my beloved Jim Butcher for great urban fantasy. The genre is flooded, and a lot of what I've tried out in the last year has been so-so or just bad. The radio show adds a nice element to the plot lines, and the fact that our heroine is often brave in spite of herself is refreshing. She often feels fear, cries when horrible things happen, wants to run away, but doesn't, and none of it comes across as being whiny. The first in the series was good enough that I eventually picked up the second, but this second one has me hooked. I'll read them until Carrie Vaughn stops writing them.

After a vicious attack, Kitty Norville woke up to find that she'd become a werewolf. But with enhanced speed, senses, and strength came supernatural pack dynamics that twisted all too easily into abuse. For years she cowered, but the advice she gave others on her radio show finally helped her stand up for herself.

Now she's traveling the country, doing her radio show and seeing the sights. It's a good life--one that a Senate subpeona disrupts. She's summoned to give evidence on supernatural creatures to a committee that's half fact-finding mission, half witch-hunt.

I really liked this. This is what I think of when I think urban fantasy, where the emphasis is on the paranormal, not romance, and the world feels like a believable place. No show more one's over-powered, or has shining hair down to the ground, or has rippling muscles. The language is matter-of-fact but not without a few unique voice to the main character. The main character herself is competant but slightly overwhelmed; I was sure she'd survive, but doubted she'd do so without taking damage. There are no miracles here, even if there is magic. show less

I liked this so much better than the first book. The first book was super-triggery for me, with Kitty's submissive nature and the sex-dominance-control thing going on in her pack. This book was Kitty learning how to be Kitty and I kind of like her when she's on her own. This book is enough for me to look forward to picking up book 3 and reading it.

Kitty's in DC to testify before a Senate committee. Her lawyer, Ben, is there with her, and Ben turns out to be kind of a cool guy, definitely the rock Kitty needs. I worried for a while that Kitty was forming her own super team with all the people she was picking up--the reporter who knows magic, the psychic channeler--but it seems only one of those might reappear in a good way.

Vampires show more become a little more, well, human, after meeting the Mistress of the City whose human servants are all her descendents. She cares for them and does not live surrounded by other vampires, preferring not to bring over anyone who doesn't fully understand the life. I liked her. She and Kitty have a little bit of a touching scene about jewelry which for Kitty and maybe the vampire was more about having a little bit of what passes for normalcy in their lives.

I also liked the club of weres Kitty discovers through her were-jaguar sex partner. All sorts of weres hang out there, not just wolves, and they say that DC's international flavor is the reason for this. There are no packs there, but the club seems to be some sort of were embassy, so to speak. Kitty feels at home there and she needs that.

Now for the disappointing part. Elijah Smith, the faith healer from the first book, is back in this one. He's working with Senator Duke and testifying before the committee. He's just as terrifying and mysterious as ever. And then a page later we find out what he is, a page after that he's conquered and gone. Um, what? Waste of a character. He could have been a book of his own.

The big thing of this book is what I'm going to call Kitty's first TV appearance. I'm not sure why that was a good thing to do at this point in the series or even what purpose it serves. I'm hoping that comes clear in the next book. show less