ria_carina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
hgranger's review against another edition
2.0
1 star for an ok plot. 1 star for Jenks. No stars for a protagonist who is ridiculous. She turned me off with her freckles charm at the beginning of the book - apparently she wears it all the time so her freckles never show. Really?? What a heroine. Maybe if she wasn't so worried about her freckles, she wouldn't have spent the entire book getting trapped, beaten, trapped again, attacked, beaten and scared. She is not able to hold her own at all. Her fear of Ivy is so stupid in its relentless repetition -- and there is absolutely no chemistry with Nick, the instalove. (He's so mysterious. And dark. Oooh.) perhaps she should be a little more afraid of him than of ivy...
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
4.0
Action-packed, strong female protagonist, cool pixies, scary vamps and one character nobody knows what is - great read!
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
Dead Witch Walking has been on my kindle for a very long time! I went to check, and I actually bought it in September 2010, so yeah, Rachel Morgan and her friends have been very patient waiting for me to really notice them. Lately, three of my very good blogging friends have been talking about The Hollows series and telling me how good it is, so I decided I should at least start reading Dead Witch Walking and see if I agreed with them or not.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
Dead Witch Walking has been on my kindle for a very long time! I went to check, and I actually bought it in September 2010, so yeah, Rachel Morgan and her friends have been very patient waiting for me to really notice them. Lately, three of my very good blogging friends have been talking about The Hollows series and telling me how good it is, so I decided I should at least start reading Dead Witch Walking and see if I agreed with them or not.
laurenjodi's review against another edition
3.0
Dead Witch Walking
3.5 Stars
Good premise and solid world building but the first half drags and the main character has several TSTL moments.
Narration: listened to this after Some Girls Bite and Marguerite Gavin's narration probably benefits from the inevitable comparison. Cynthia Holloway is borderline monotonous and she fails to differentiate between the characters. In contrast, Gavin has a variety of voices with their own tone and inflection (Jenks is particularly well done although Ivy's voice is a little too deep and masculine).
The gritty world of the Hollows is very compelling with the variety of supernatural creatures and an alternate human history. The interactions between humans and supernaturals, the animosity between the Pixies and the Fairies, and the ominous threat posed by the vampires are all quite original. The idea that human ingenuity almost resulted in the annihilation of their race with genetically altered food is very apropos given the current trend toward messing with genetics and DNA - a dire warning, perhaps?
Rachel fails to come across as a particularly intelligent or successful witch nor is she a fearless, kick-ass heroine. She is extremely stubborn (not always in a good way) and consistently makes ill-informed choices that lead her into sticky situations from which she needs to be rescued. Moreover, her constant panic around Ivy is irritating and does not evoke respect or faith in her maturity.
Jenks, the loquacious pixie, is the highlight of the book. His sarcastic one liners and witty comebacks had me laughing out loud at inopportune moments. Trent is another intriguing character with an ambiguous morality that has you questioning notions of right and wrong, good and evil.
Overall, not the best beginning to a series but it has potential and there are numerous unanswered questions that I am eager to learn more about.
3.5 Stars
Good premise and solid world building but the first half drags and the main character has several TSTL moments.
Narration: listened to this after Some Girls Bite and Marguerite Gavin's narration probably benefits from the inevitable comparison. Cynthia Holloway is borderline monotonous and she fails to differentiate between the characters. In contrast, Gavin has a variety of voices with their own tone and inflection (Jenks is particularly well done although Ivy's voice is a little too deep and masculine).
The gritty world of the Hollows is very compelling with the variety of supernatural creatures and an alternate human history. The interactions between humans and supernaturals, the animosity between the Pixies and the Fairies, and the ominous threat posed by the vampires are all quite original. The idea that human ingenuity almost resulted in the annihilation of their race with genetically altered food is very apropos given the current trend toward messing with genetics and DNA - a dire warning, perhaps?
Rachel fails to come across as a particularly intelligent or successful witch nor is she a fearless, kick-ass heroine. She is extremely stubborn (not always in a good way) and consistently makes ill-informed choices that lead her into sticky situations from which she needs to be rescued. Moreover, her constant panic around Ivy is irritating and does not evoke respect or faith in her maturity.
Jenks, the loquacious pixie, is the highlight of the book. His sarcastic one liners and witty comebacks had me laughing out loud at inopportune moments. Trent is another intriguing character with an ambiguous morality that has you questioning notions of right and wrong, good and evil.
Overall, not the best beginning to a series but it has potential and there are numerous unanswered questions that I am eager to learn more about.
lynseyisreading's review against another edition
3.0
Slow starter
This is the first book in The Hollows series. I had been pre-warned by several different people that it was a slow-starter, but that the series gets better and better. Well, they weren't kidding! If it wasn't for my faith that it would, in fact, get better, I may not have got through the first 100 pages. It was such a slow start. The writing style doesn't flow, I kept stumbling back and forth and having to re-read bits. There is an inordinate amount of info-dumps—Harrison clearly has a very distinct world full of weird creatures and a society fully aware of supernaturals, and she wants to tell you about the whole thing all at once—and yet at other times she will mention something matter-of-factly, that you have absolutely no clue what she's talking about at all.
However, it did get better. I feel like perhaps this book is the mountain which you have to climb to get to the good stuff. You have to pay the reading piper for the privilege by slogging your way through about eight incredibly tedious chapters. (In fact, there was an escape-type scene about 8 chapters in, and I couldn't help thinking she should have started the book there, and just referenced everything that happened before that in retrospect, Sort of a "it all started when I quit my job" thing). Also, I don't feel like I know much about leading lady Rachel yet. She was kind of busy in this book running for her life, granted, but I couldn't really tell you much about her.
Anyway, onto what I did like, which can almost be summed up in a word: Jenks! I love him. He's a 4-inch tall pixy and he just completely rescued this book for me. His dialogue is hilarious and I just can't wait to see more of him.
We met a villain (I think) whose motives I'm not really sure on at the moment, so I want to find out more on him. There's a potential love interest character as well, but he leaves me a bit cold to be honest. Rachel's vampire room-mate is also up to something, so I want to know more about that. And the guy that lives over the road... yeah, something fishy about him, too, I reckon.
So it seems quite a few little seeds of intrigue have been carefully planted despite my reservations, which will make me pick up the next one. Let's hope it starts a heck of a lot faster than this one did!
(Edit: Two years later... This review is now hilarious to me considering this is now one of my all-time favourite series (I'm at book 11 now). So I guess I can safely confirm it does get better! I stand by my review, however, because that's how I felt at the time).
This is the first book in The Hollows series. I had been pre-warned by several different people that it was a slow-starter, but that the series gets better and better. Well, they weren't kidding! If it wasn't for my faith that it would, in fact, get better, I may not have got through the first 100 pages. It was such a slow start. The writing style doesn't flow, I kept stumbling back and forth and having to re-read bits. There is an inordinate amount of info-dumps—Harrison clearly has a very distinct world full of weird creatures and a society fully aware of supernaturals, and she wants to tell you about the whole thing all at once—and yet at other times she will mention something matter-of-factly, that you have absolutely no clue what she's talking about at all.
However, it did get better. I feel like perhaps this book is the mountain which you have to climb to get to the good stuff. You have to pay the reading piper for the privilege by slogging your way through about eight incredibly tedious chapters. (In fact, there was an escape-type scene about 8 chapters in, and I couldn't help thinking she should have started the book there, and just referenced everything that happened before that in retrospect, Sort of a "it all started when I quit my job" thing). Also, I don't feel like I know much about leading lady Rachel yet. She was kind of busy in this book running for her life, granted, but I couldn't really tell you much about her.
Anyway, onto what I did like, which can almost be summed up in a word: Jenks! I love him. He's a 4-inch tall pixy and he just completely rescued this book for me. His dialogue is hilarious and I just can't wait to see more of him.
We met a villain (I think) whose motives I'm not really sure on at the moment, so I want to find out more on him. There's a potential love interest character as well, but he leaves me a bit cold to be honest. Rachel's vampire room-mate is also up to something, so I want to know more about that. And the guy that lives over the road... yeah, something fishy about him, too, I reckon.
So it seems quite a few little seeds of intrigue have been carefully planted despite my reservations, which will make me pick up the next one. Let's hope it starts a heck of a lot faster than this one did!
(Edit: Two years later... This review is now hilarious to me considering this is now one of my all-time favourite series (I'm at book 11 now). So I guess I can safely confirm it does get better! I stand by my review, however, because that's how I felt at the time).
anotherhel's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I don't give changes, Percy. I take opportunities.
It's a great... crime, one case a book, type of story. It's not romance. It has some fantasy elements to it, with all the urban fantasy creatures and all... but it's not fantasy. I wouldn't call it that. I'd say it's genre is crime, but in a urban fantasy world.
Oh yeah the world building in this book is soo good. I loved that all the creatures I like to read about was in it. Werewolves, vampires, pixies, faeries, daemons, witches, ghosts... you name it, it's probably in it. And I loved the descriptions of the characters, places... everything. It's very easy for me to get bored and jump those little details, but in this book I caught myself waiting for those little details.
The main characters are interesting enough. My favorite was Ivy. A vampire that is described as a powerful lioness. I love her. Rachel was meeh, interesting enough. sometimes I thought she had a taste for getting in danger or something. And Jenks is the best.
Like a lioness in her den, satiated from the kill. Well, i thought, she is a vampire. What did I expect her to look like?
But crime is not really my genre. I thought this was fantasy... maybe the usual romance urban fantasy type of book, but there was no romance. Well, there was some tension between Ivy and Rachel but that was it. Disappointing.
I don't know if I'll read the rest of the series. I read some spoilers and apparently it gets really interesting, but meh. Crime in a tv show? Yes please. Crime in a book... meeeeeeeeh
I don't give changes, Percy. I take opportunities.
It's a great... crime, one case a book, type of story. It's not romance. It has some fantasy elements to it, with all the urban fantasy creatures and all... but it's not fantasy. I wouldn't call it that. I'd say it's genre is crime, but in a urban fantasy world.
Oh yeah the world building in this book is soo good. I loved that all the creatures I like to read about was in it. Werewolves, vampires, pixies, faeries, daemons, witches, ghosts... you name it, it's probably in it. And I loved the descriptions of the characters, places... everything. It's very easy for me to get bored and jump those little details, but in this book I caught myself waiting for those little details.
The main characters are interesting enough. My favorite was Ivy. A vampire that is described as a powerful lioness. I love her. Rachel was meeh, interesting enough. sometimes I thought she had a taste for getting in danger or something. And Jenks is the best.
Like a lioness in her den, satiated from the kill. Well, i thought, she is a vampire. What did I expect her to look like?
But crime is not really my genre. I thought this was fantasy... maybe the usual romance urban fantasy type of book, but there was no romance. Well, there was some tension between Ivy and Rachel but that was it. Disappointing.
I don't know if I'll read the rest of the series. I read some spoilers and apparently it gets really interesting, but meh. Crime in a tv show? Yes please. Crime in a book... meeeeeeeeh
geo_ix's review against another edition
2.0
So on my first try of this I made it about 25% before I backed out. I ended up getting an audio version and listening to that and even THAT was a strain. This book felt SO long and dragged so much for me, that a good majority, probably 80% of the book, I was bored and didn't like it, it did however at the end get a bit more entertaining and I didn't completely hate it but honestly for me even a 2 star rating is feeling a bit high. These kinds of books just aren't for me it seems, I will have to stick to a more romance based UF from now on I think and not just read something because it's popular.
saoki's review against another edition
2.0
This is not a bad book. It is, however, obviously the first in a series and as such it spends too much time explaining parts of the setting that aren't part of the story and avoids important information about the main characters' personality that everyone else seems to know.
All in all, it's a good breezy read and makes you want to read the next, but it's not really a good book.
All in all, it's a good breezy read and makes you want to read the next, but it's not really a good book.
bookwormneedsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
peritract's review against another edition
3.0
It took me a long time to get round to reading Dead Witch Walking. The book gets a lot of praise, but it was first mentioned to me as “urban fantasy about killer tomatoes,” and that description did nothing for me. It sounded like comic fantasy, and the list of authors who can manage to do that well is extremely short.
Dead Witch Walking is not comic fantasy, and killer tomatoes don’t really feature. Instead, a weaponised virus used tomatoes as a carrier, eventually wiping out a significant proportion of the human population. In the aftermath of this tragedy, vampires/witches/et cetera revealed themselves to humanity. The book takes place long after this, in a post-masquerade world where monsters are feared but accepted as part of reality.
Rachel Morgan is tired of dealing with bad assignments and unreasonable orders. For years, she’s been an employee of Inderland Security, tasked with solving supernatural problems – rogue vampires, black magic, that sort of thing. Now she’s ready to strike out on her own.
Life outside the I.S. isn’t easy though. With only a pixie and a vampire as backup, Rachel has to find steady work and stay alive, all the while dealing with demons, drug lords, and an agency that really doesn’t like people breaking their contracts.
I think the main thing that impressed me about Dead Witch Walking was how well the exposition was handled. There’s an awful lot of world-building and set-up to get through in order for the plot to make sense, and the opening of the book really doesn’t drag at all. The book has an original and complex setting – a twist and an evolution on standard urban fantasy ideas – yet within a few chapters you have a good handle on what’s happening and why it’s important.
There’s a strong plot, with a lot of twists and threads. I felt that, given the amount of background required in the book, that a simpler plot might have worked a little better. Towards the end of the book, there’s almost too much going on. Dead Witch Walking is the first book in a series, and a slower introduction – perhaps with one of the subplots shifted into prominence and the main plot pushed back into a second volume – might have worked well.
Unlike a lot of urban fantasy with a female protagonist, this book is not simply a fantasy veneer over a romance plot. There is a romance between the protagonist and a side-character, but it’s not the focus at all. In fact, throughout the book, I was hoping for a difference romance. The love interest is fine, I guess, but the character who Rachel really has chemistry with is Ivy, her vampire colleague/housemate.
The characterisation of those two and the detail of their relationship is done really well, and while there are hints at a confusing and complex romance, those plot threads just fade away. I’m not saying that the romance has to happen, but the relationship between the two of them is something that deserves more focus and exploration, whether it goes in that direction or not.
Overall, Dead Witch Walking is a strong start to a series. It’s a book that does a lot of work setting up its world, but manages to create interesting characters with compelling problems. It’s definitely worth reading, and I’ll look out for the sequels.
Dead Witch Walking is not comic fantasy, and killer tomatoes don’t really feature. Instead, a weaponised virus used tomatoes as a carrier, eventually wiping out a significant proportion of the human population. In the aftermath of this tragedy, vampires/witches/et cetera revealed themselves to humanity. The book takes place long after this, in a post-masquerade world where monsters are feared but accepted as part of reality.
Rachel Morgan is tired of dealing with bad assignments and unreasonable orders. For years, she’s been an employee of Inderland Security, tasked with solving supernatural problems – rogue vampires, black magic, that sort of thing. Now she’s ready to strike out on her own.
Life outside the I.S. isn’t easy though. With only a pixie and a vampire as backup, Rachel has to find steady work and stay alive, all the while dealing with demons, drug lords, and an agency that really doesn’t like people breaking their contracts.
I think the main thing that impressed me about Dead Witch Walking was how well the exposition was handled. There’s an awful lot of world-building and set-up to get through in order for the plot to make sense, and the opening of the book really doesn’t drag at all. The book has an original and complex setting – a twist and an evolution on standard urban fantasy ideas – yet within a few chapters you have a good handle on what’s happening and why it’s important.
There’s a strong plot, with a lot of twists and threads. I felt that, given the amount of background required in the book, that a simpler plot might have worked a little better. Towards the end of the book, there’s almost too much going on. Dead Witch Walking is the first book in a series, and a slower introduction – perhaps with one of the subplots shifted into prominence and the main plot pushed back into a second volume – might have worked well.
Unlike a lot of urban fantasy with a female protagonist, this book is not simply a fantasy veneer over a romance plot. There is a romance between the protagonist and a side-character, but it’s not the focus at all. In fact, throughout the book, I was hoping for a difference romance. The love interest is fine, I guess, but the character who Rachel really has chemistry with is Ivy, her vampire colleague/housemate.
The characterisation of those two and the detail of their relationship is done really well, and while there are hints at a confusing and complex romance, those plot threads just fade away. I’m not saying that the romance has to happen, but the relationship between the two of them is something that deserves more focus and exploration, whether it goes in that direction or not.
Overall, Dead Witch Walking is a strong start to a series. It’s a book that does a lot of work setting up its world, but manages to create interesting characters with compelling problems. It’s definitely worth reading, and I’ll look out for the sequels.