Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows 8) by Kim Harrison

Hi!

       I told you i was going to review more of this series this month ^^  simply because when started it's really hard to stop this series and also in a few day the paperback of Ever after will be released with Bonus!! so i had to give you this little reminder^^.

Black Magic Sanction is an a great addtion to the Hollows series but  before starting it you should keep a tissues box near you, you will need it.

Happy reading

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publication: 2010

ISBN:  0007321961

Genre: urban fantasy
Violence: strong
Language: normal
sex: strong
Public: 18+

Source: bought
 

Short description from goodreads :

In New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison's most complex and nuanced adventure yet, bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan fights a deadly battle - mind, body, and soul.

Black Magic Sanction

Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter - and lived to tell the tale. But she's never faced off against her own kind...until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment - at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.


It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.

My opinion:

          After the Hollows book 7 I couldn’t wait and I had to read more but this story is simply heartbreaking… the emotion rang deep and really not crying at the scene with Jenks is impossible at least for me…Kim Harrison found the right words and explained the situation so well that we were suffering as much as the character is no more.

The action is fast paced in this one but you are grateful for it because tension is high and you are on edge so turning the page one after the other in rapid succession was the best things… this time we see Rachel again the coven and..; against is not enough because they are not shunning her they want either to kill her or to make a sterile zombie of her….so neither solution are good. However, this time we see Rachel takes the commands with Pierce, Nick and even Al.  This time she isn’t afraid of taking some smut for what she is feeling right and she is accepting who she is, because the who is more important that “ what”. She fight for her beliefs refusing to kill when it’s not necessary, showing compassion and even finding a why to contact Trent  without violence.

 I really loved to see this evolution because it’s not a complete change either, she still has doubts, she still can be naïve, but at the same time she can put a foot down now. The way she answer the coven, how she make a deal with Al … all of that show some maturity.

I also loved Trent here, how he still act like a jerk, still can be strange but he does respect her and he interact with her in a more peaceful manner^^ ( oki if you read the book after this review you will smile thinking I said this but really they are not insulting each other they come to a form of compromise at least technically speaking). Ivy is still the same and not really interesting this time but Jenks.. really it’s heartbreaking this time like I said, he is so courageous, so funny but so deeply in love…

This time I was mostly furious against Nick… oh he did cross the line before but now it’s the “ pompom”… why Al doesn’t take care of him I wonder… it isn’t worth more! If you loved him before now you will detest him and if you already disliked him before not it will turn to hate…; him being a rat was too damn kind! Jax temporally got some bonus point but he lost them again ( yes no one is as good as Jenks)

If you love the Hollow series this is the book for you, it will keep you immersed until the end and jumping on book 9 as soon as the last page is turned. Fantastic urban fantasy universe, Kim Harrison keeps the quality and the story at a very high level! A Must read!

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

Second reminder: if you check here you could win a vampire book in Brenda's event so perhaps add one you are missing in this series^^ 

Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel (The Hollows 5.5) by Kim Harrison in the anthology «Holidays are Hell»

Hello to all,

           Christmas is approaching fast and  the exams even faster but i will pursue my discovery of stories for my holiday romance and holiday books challenge. Today, i 'm sharing with you a novella from a series i love "The Hollows" written by Kim Harrison; this novella is part of the anthology " holidays are Hell" but if you are a fan  of the series and want to read it in order then this is book 5.5 ( no worries if this is your first discovery of the series though^^)

i loved this story a lot and  it explain a bit why Rachel is hesitant with her vampire friend Ivy... her first experience with vampire was quite explosive after all and we get to understand her "first" love as well.

Happy reading!

Publisher: Harper

Publication: 2007

ISBN:  0061239097

Genre: urban fantasy, holiday romance, paranormal romance
Violence: mild
Language: normal
sex: none
Public: 18+

Source: bought

Short description from goodreads

 Kim Harrison introduces us to a younger Rachel Morgan- an undergraduate witch-in training-who naively resurrects a spirit and sparks a terrifying showdown with a deadly undead adversary.

My opinion:

          This short story could be read as a stand alone without problem but it’s a must have for the fan of the Hollows series, I will try to avoid spoilers but I will give you my opinion on this novella as part of the story too.

It’s funny to see the past of some characters; in the Hollows series, we have glimpses of Rachel‘s past but they are just allusions, small details here and there. Here we get to see how Rachel was before entering the IS (the agency she is leaving in book 1), we see how passionate she was already but also how frail she was and we can judge how she improved. She was already really stubborn and brilliant though.

It’s the story how she met Pierce, the same ghost who reappears later when she doesn’t expect him. Pierce was a witch went the paranormal creature were still undercover, he was a kind of investigator, policeman for the paranormal world. At that time, he was working on the case of a vampire who captured young children, he wanted to save a little girl but the vampire in question turned the situation to his advantage by revealing Pierce’s real nature to put the blame on him. The young man was killed and put in unrest state in the purgatory since he was buried in an unsanctified ground. While trying to make her father’s ghost appears, Rachel accidentally manages to get Pierce and in corporal form even.

At that time, on all the news a picture of a little girl is shown , she has been kidnapped, Pierce sees immediately the links between this case and the one on which he died, it’s the same vampire and his opportunity to redeem his soul. When the authorities doesn’t believe them, it’s up to him and Rachel to save the little girl by confronting the old Vampire…a test for Rachel too to see if it’s really what she wants to become.

I enjoyed to see that the story fitted perfectly what was said in the series, there is not a real link so it could be read as a stand alone but for a fan it’s a real bonus and it’s also a bit funny to see Rachel without Jenks and Ivy and how she could already put herself in danger so easily. Kim Harrison gave us a real treat with this short story written with a fantastic style as always.

To recommend to all fans of the Hollow series and to the others too and if you like this jump on the series it’s even better^^

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge

Book read for the 2012 TBR reading

To join in, copy and paste these rules and the above banner into your Fanged Mania post and add your link to this week’s Fanged Mania post at Elisabeth Wheatley’s Blog. Fanged Mania is a Friday meme counting down to the release of Fanged Princess and displaying all things vampire and awesome. Fanged Mania posts can be a review of a vampire book, a quote from the latest Vampire Diaries episode, a showcase of a cool vampire book’s cover, or whatever you like so long as it is vampire related. Don’t forget, participants will be entered in the drawing to win a fanged-abulous prize pack!