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fembuck's pretty much covered the Rachel/Ivy fuckwittery that goes on in this book. So I'm going to talk about the plot of 'White Witch, Black Curse'. And what do I think?
I will state up front, I like 'The Hollows' series.. for the most part. They're fun, well-written series, with an interesting universe and great characters. I wouldn't have read six books in about a month if they weren't. But, I swear to God, is Kim Harrison getting paid by the fucking WORD!?! Because GOD DAMN there is NO REASON for this meandering, sub-plots that go nowhere and mean nothing, padded with fucking filler HOT-ASS MESS!!
Who Killed Kisten?
It was the biggest question left hanging at the end of Book 5, a central theme in Book 6 and the main plot for 'White Witch, Black Curse'. Is the killer revealed through Rachel's 'mad detective skillz'? No. Are we given clues about the killer's identity because Ivy's turned Cincinnati upside down and shaking it like a snow globe? No. We find out who kills Kisten because, I shit you not, RACHEL BUMPS HER HEAD!!!
Who is the killer, you might ask? A character we've met over the past six books? An enemy, a friend, a former lover, someone who when their name is revealed it's soo shocking you drop the book in your hands with an OH SNAP! and I KNOW YOU DI-INT reaction? Um.. no. Because guess what? THE KILLER IS SOMEONE WHO'S NEVER BEEN INTRODUCED!!! Yep, that's right. It was some dude Ivy burned years ago and has been sitting in jail sight unseen. Oh, but Denon is his shadow, who gets killed trying to feed his master. Actually, DENON being Kisten's killer would have made more fucking sense than the nonsense that came out.
And then, to add insult to fucking injury, Rachel, Ivy and Edden find Kisten's killer's body (and Denon's), and when Ivy is about to tear Ash's corpse to pieces, Edden steps in and gives her an 'it's not worth it speech'. But then, Rachel gets in on the action and uses black magic to burn Ash's corpse and seal his tomb forever. Now, why does Rachel get rage against Kisten's killer when Ivy does not? Why is Rachel's love, and need for vengence, for a man she knew for less than a year *greater* than Ivy's love for someone she's known ALMOST ALL HER LIFE!?!
And how does Kisten's killer die? Does Rachel get her revenge and stake him with a two-by-four? Does Ivy rip his heart out with her bare hands? Does Jenks actually get to stab somebody with his two-inch sword? Ha! Surely you jest because the above would have made sense and been actually gratifiying. Nope. Kisten's killer is killed by Kisten himself! Yep. His love for Rachel is so true, so real that even as a soulless undead vamp, he remembers their love and protects her ONE LAST TIME!! Say it with me folks..
The Lamest SubPlot That Ever Lamed - Pierce
Hey, did you know Rachel has a ghost in her church? Did you know that ghost has been there for almost a year? Oh and that ghost is a person from her past that Rachel has a DEEP AND MEANINGFUL CONNECTION with? A person that, after 6 books, appr. 2850 paperback pages and 1,000,000 words WE'VE NEVER HEARD ABOUT BEFORE!?!
I'm not against introducing new characters late in a series. I believe an author has to bring in new characters to keep a series from going stale/static. I'm against Harrison laying on Pierce's characterization with a fucking trowel. Finding out Rachel's inspiration/motivation for joining the I.S. is a good thing, finding out 7 books later? Eh, I can live with it. Finding out that it's because of a ghost who - was the previous owner of her late father's watch, her first 'good kiss', a witch, involved somehow with Al and, oh yeah, a lifetime member of the 'Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards', meaning Rachel now has an immediate 'inside connection' to reversing her shunning because, God forbid, Rachel actually have to suffer for *one* fucking minute the consequences of her own bone-headed actions.
And don't get me started on the Marshall fuckwittery. Like, I'm glad he's gone. But it would have been nice if it had been Rachel who ended the relationship. Because then, you know, she might have actually *grown* as a person.
I mentioned this over in fembuck's journal, but the longer this series goes the bigger a fucking Mary Sue Rachel becomes. The problem is, Harrison writes Rachel into these interesting, dramatic corners then proceeds to give Rachel the EASIEST OF FUCKING WAYS to get out of them, ways that makes Rachel's constant angst and whining completely superficial!! Honestly, I know Eos/HarperCollins have found a cashcow in this series but someone, ANYONE, should have said 'no, this one ain't good.. back to the drawing board with you'! Imo, 'Witch Witch, Black Curse' is the worst in the series.
To leave this on a semi-good note, one of my favorite parts of the book was the argument between Rachel and Robbie after Rachel finds out her mother is leaving with Robbie for the West Coast. While Robbie's not the asshole we'd been led to believe, the argument the two have is raw and brutal in the way only siblings can be with each other. And gives probably one of the best glimpses into why Rachel is the way she is - she chooses men for fucked-up dysfunctional relationships because her father died when she was 12 and the only other positive male rolemodel in her life abandoned her a year later.
The scene where Rachel wakes up in the hospital, and the scenes with the sick kids, were also some of my favorite in the entire series. While she's matured physically, in many ways, she's still that sick little girl, screaming and raging alone, pushing the envelope so she can see Death and give him the middle finger. Thing is, she's no longer a little girl and she's no longer the only person getting hurt. Rachel's alone by 'choice' when she grown up to believe it's who she is.
Oh, yeah, random question -
Has it ever been mentioned before that Ivy has a sister? Because I was all 'Erica who in the what now?'. Admittedly, I preferred the introduction of Erica, who breezed in quickly, then breezed out, over the anvilicious and force-fed introduction of Pierce the fucking Ghost!
And do Ivy's parents actually have names? After all my bitching, I'm writing Hollows fic and need something more than Mrs. Tamwood or the old battle-axe!
fembuck's pretty much covered the Rachel/Ivy fuckwittery that goes on in this book. So I'm going to talk about the plot of 'White Witch, Black Curse'. And what do I think?I will state up front, I like 'The Hollows' series.. for the most part. They're fun, well-written series, with an interesting universe and great characters. I wouldn't have read six books in about a month if they weren't. But, I swear to God, is Kim Harrison getting paid by the fucking WORD!?! Because GOD DAMN there is NO REASON for this meandering, sub-plots that go nowhere and mean nothing, padded with fucking filler HOT-ASS MESS!!
Who Killed Kisten?
It was the biggest question left hanging at the end of Book 5, a central theme in Book 6 and the main plot for 'White Witch, Black Curse'. Is the killer revealed through Rachel's 'mad detective skillz'? No. Are we given clues about the killer's identity because Ivy's turned Cincinnati upside down and shaking it like a snow globe? No. We find out who kills Kisten because, I shit you not, RACHEL BUMPS HER HEAD!!!
Who is the killer, you might ask? A character we've met over the past six books? An enemy, a friend, a former lover, someone who when their name is revealed it's soo shocking you drop the book in your hands with an OH SNAP! and I KNOW YOU DI-INT reaction? Um.. no. Because guess what? THE KILLER IS SOMEONE WHO'S NEVER BEEN INTRODUCED!!! Yep, that's right. It was some dude Ivy burned years ago and has been sitting in jail sight unseen. Oh, but Denon is his shadow, who gets killed trying to feed his master. Actually, DENON being Kisten's killer would have made more fucking sense than the nonsense that came out.
And then, to add insult to fucking injury, Rachel, Ivy and Edden find Kisten's killer's body (and Denon's), and when Ivy is about to tear Ash's corpse to pieces, Edden steps in and gives her an 'it's not worth it speech'. But then, Rachel gets in on the action and uses black magic to burn Ash's corpse and seal his tomb forever. Now, why does Rachel get rage against Kisten's killer when Ivy does not? Why is Rachel's love, and need for vengence, for a man she knew for less than a year *greater* than Ivy's love for someone she's known ALMOST ALL HER LIFE!?!
And how does Kisten's killer die? Does Rachel get her revenge and stake him with a two-by-four? Does Ivy rip his heart out with her bare hands? Does Jenks actually get to stab somebody with his two-inch sword? Ha! Surely you jest because the above would have made sense and been actually gratifiying. Nope. Kisten's killer is killed by Kisten himself! Yep. His love for Rachel is so true, so real that even as a soulless undead vamp, he remembers their love and protects her ONE LAST TIME!! Say it with me folks..
The Lamest SubPlot That Ever Lamed - Pierce
Hey, did you know Rachel has a ghost in her church? Did you know that ghost has been there for almost a year? Oh and that ghost is a person from her past that Rachel has a DEEP AND MEANINGFUL CONNECTION with? A person that, after 6 books, appr. 2850 paperback pages and 1,000,000 words WE'VE NEVER HEARD ABOUT BEFORE!?!
I'm not against introducing new characters late in a series. I believe an author has to bring in new characters to keep a series from going stale/static. I'm against Harrison laying on Pierce's characterization with a fucking trowel. Finding out Rachel's inspiration/motivation for joining the I.S. is a good thing, finding out 7 books later? Eh, I can live with it. Finding out that it's because of a ghost who - was the previous owner of her late father's watch, her first 'good kiss', a witch, involved somehow with Al and, oh yeah, a lifetime member of the 'Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards', meaning Rachel now has an immediate 'inside connection' to reversing her shunning because, God forbid, Rachel actually have to suffer for *one* fucking minute the consequences of her own bone-headed actions.
And don't get me started on the Marshall fuckwittery. Like, I'm glad he's gone. But it would have been nice if it had been Rachel who ended the relationship. Because then, you know, she might have actually *grown* as a person.
I mentioned this over in fembuck's journal, but the longer this series goes the bigger a fucking Mary Sue Rachel becomes. The problem is, Harrison writes Rachel into these interesting, dramatic corners then proceeds to give Rachel the EASIEST OF FUCKING WAYS to get out of them, ways that makes Rachel's constant angst and whining completely superficial!! Honestly, I know Eos/HarperCollins have found a cashcow in this series but someone, ANYONE, should have said 'no, this one ain't good.. back to the drawing board with you'! Imo, 'Witch Witch, Black Curse' is the worst in the series.
To leave this on a semi-good note, one of my favorite parts of the book was the argument between Rachel and Robbie after Rachel finds out her mother is leaving with Robbie for the West Coast. While Robbie's not the asshole we'd been led to believe, the argument the two have is raw and brutal in the way only siblings can be with each other. And gives probably one of the best glimpses into why Rachel is the way she is - she chooses men for fucked-up dysfunctional relationships because her father died when she was 12 and the only other positive male rolemodel in her life abandoned her a year later.
The scene where Rachel wakes up in the hospital, and the scenes with the sick kids, were also some of my favorite in the entire series. While she's matured physically, in many ways, she's still that sick little girl, screaming and raging alone, pushing the envelope so she can see Death and give him the middle finger. Thing is, she's no longer a little girl and she's no longer the only person getting hurt. Rachel's alone by 'choice' when she grown up to believe it's who she is.
Oh, yeah, random question -
Has it ever been mentioned before that Ivy has a sister? Because I was all 'Erica who in the what now?'. Admittedly, I preferred the introduction of Erica, who breezed in quickly, then breezed out, over the anvilicious and force-fed introduction of Pierce the fucking Ghost!
And do Ivy's parents actually have names? After all my bitching, I'm writing Hollows fic and need something more than Mrs. Tamwood or the old battle-axe!