Erin N. (runningoutof-ink) reviewed on 8/29/2012

I could not get into this book. At all. I had a lot of trouble getting interested in the characters. Even with bad writing, if the characters are interesting, I can usually get on board. But these characters lacked depth. Rachel Morgan, the main character, spends the first couple of chapters complaining about her job and deciding to quit it. Along the way she manages to convince a vampire, Ivy, and a pixie, Jenks, to join her in leaving the Federal agency they are contracted withall for a wish from a leprechaun? Whose powers seem pretty limited in the first place. I couldnt feel Rachels frustration with her job; sure, she complained about it enough, but there was no real feeling described here. Ivys motivations were a complete mystery, chalked up to her faux-vampire mystique in Rachels eyes.

Their expressed emotions were shallow and immediate. One second Rachel was annoyed, the next angry, and the next scared, and all emotions were expressed through some kind of exclamation or poorly described facial feature. Kim Harrisons descriptions of the vampire characters seemed to want to express sexual desire on Rachels part, for her ex-boss Denon and for Ivy, her new partner in crime. But her descriptions didnt really commit to anything. If were seeing things from Rachels perspective, and shes terrified of Denon, then why is he being shown in such a sexual way? Is Harrison trying to keep his character open to sex with Rachel or something? Seems unlikely if Rachels character has any consistency at all.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed by this book. The plot was terribly fashioned, the characters shallow and uninteresting. The most interesting part was the world Harrison developed. It seemed to me that she put the most work into creating this dystopian future where fairies, vampires, and weres existed on an equal level with humans after a virus devastated the human population. If only the characters were as interesting as the world. Rachel is a witch, a product of this new environmentit could have been very interesting to see how the world had shaped her. Instead we got a character of shallow wants and needs, and very few complex thoughts.

Read more reviews at my blog, emnienhuis.com!

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