Reviews

Dead Witch Walking, by Kim Harrison

ivytamwood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

tkat's review against another edition

5.0

Sassy, smart, beautiful, and dangerously flawed, Kim Harrison's character Rachael Morgan is wonderfully rounded and at time amusingly absent minded. Living in a church with a vampire for a roomate, a violent and territorial pixy clan in her backyard overlooking the graveyard, an Alpha to her own werewolf pack, demon deals, black charms, and a vampire lover, Rachael Morgan is one interesting witch.

Set in modern times where a mutated genetics virus almost wiped out the human population, Racheal lives in a world still struggling to accept at times that witches, vamps, weres and the like actually exist while her and her crew go about their day to day business where curses, black magic, demons and death threats have become routine.

The Rachael Morgan saga, beginning with Dead Witch Walking, is an excellent choice for a new series that will keep you interested but wont bog you down. I really enjoy this series and plan to keep up with it as long as Rachael and Kim are willing.

wyemu's review against another edition

3.0

As I've said before I really appreciate the urban fantasy genre because of the way it manipulates the world we already know. Harrison has done just that; taking our world and changing it so that, on a basic level it's the same, but it's also not quite the world we recognise. In Harrison's Cincinnati the streets are as much ruled by witches, vampires and werewolves as they are by humans. 'The Hollows' is almost a supernatural version of the ghetto where humans are nervous of putting a foot wrong for fear of being bitten or be-spelled. As the first in the series it does well, laying down key characters and relations as well as setting out the 'rules' of how the world works. Impressive.

berls's review against another edition

4.0

My Initial Reaction...

I read Dead Witch Walking about a year ago and devoured it. Now that Kim Harrison is doing a read-along I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to reread the series and review the books as I go. The second time around I liked this book even more than the first time and it's definitely still a favorite series.

The Narration...

Marguerite Gavin is a pretty good narrator. I'm listening to another series with her right now and enjoying her narration much more than I did in Dead Witch Walking. I think this is one of those situations where, when you read a book the first time, you have certain voices in your head and anything else just sounds off. Despite that, I got comfortable with her style and think she did a decent job embodying the characters.

The Characters...

I love Rachel and seeing her in these early days after seeing where she'll go made this first book so much more interesting. Even so early on she's tough and capable. She's funny and what I love most is that she's genuinely good. She doesn't want to hurt anyone - the idea of killing an animal, even to save her own life, pisses her off. And unlike much of the magical community she treats supposed "lessers" like Pixies and Fairies like people too. But life isn't being kind to her and she's ready for a change. So she quits her job as a Runner for the IS (Interlander Security) and, because she happens to take Ivy (their best runner) along for the ride, from the second she leaves she's under a death threat. Seeing her deal with the death threat reveals a lot about the strength she has inside and you can see lots of potential ready to burst out.

The second time around I also realized that all the characters, from even this really early point, are wonderfully developed. Ivy, a living-vampire and Rachel's new partner/roommate, is fighting with her nature and her destiny. She wants to be someone different and you can see it tearing her up. Jenks, their pixy partner, is marvelous (and will become a favorite character for me). He's hilarious, but so much more than comic relief; he's braver and more essential to Rachel's survival than you'd think anyone a few inches tall could possibly be. Then there's Trent, Nick, Kinglsey... I could go on and on. Every supporting character is full of depth and fun to read.

The Story...

Dead Witch Walking centers around Rachel, Ivy, and Jenks decision to leave the IS and the disastrous consequences for Rachel. Ivy was able to buy her way out of her contract. Jenks didn't have a contract. The IS wanted to get rid of Rachel, but they hadn't planned on her taking their best runner, Ivy, with her. And they expect her to pay - with her life. No matter how good Rachel is - and she's good - or how great Ivy and Jenks are at keeping her safe - and they're great - eventually one of the IS's contract killers will get lucky. So Rachel knows she has to find a way to get the contract paid off. And when she learns that Trent Kalamak, sexy councilman and wealthy businessman, may be involved in running drugs on the side she decides that tagging him will be her ticket out. Too bad he's not easier prey - catching him will be more than Rachel bargained for and she just might not make it out alive.

I remember getting hung up on the story development the first time I read Dead Witch Walking and, even though I followed it better this time because I knew where I was headed, I stick by my earlier judgments. The first quarter of the Dead Witch Walking really drags and is awkward in a lot of places. It's easy to get confused and it really seems that the story should have started when Rachel quit her job and filled in a lot of the earlier (and slow moving) details as Rachel's race to save her life moved along, but at least once you get to that part you know you're to the good stuff!

Concluding Sentiments...

Ultimately, Dead Witch Walking suffers from what I call "first book syndrome" - there's so much world to develop that the story suffers a bit. Having read further I know that it's worth sticking with it through that first bit, because Harrison is laying the groundwork for what will be a fantastic world. And once you get passed the first 25% it's a nonstop race to the end!

jrsarahjones's review against another edition

4.0

This book is like Stephanie Plum meets True Blood! I really liked it. There are twelve books in this serious and I will read some more.

amaustin's review against another edition

3.0

Better than I initially thought. There were some blah moments, but it was interesting enough that I didn't predict everything from a mile away.

cocoawolf29's review against another edition

3.0

It was an interesting read with okay characters. I enjoyed the read well enough to finish the book and find it interesting and decently suspense, but there were many parts that were predictable or felt too forced or convenient. That is a common theme when I read mystery/detective novels, so that isn't unique to this book, but this seemed to have more than normal.

While I enjoyed it well enough, I will probably not continue reading the series. I was not invested enough in the characters to continue, and even with a good deal of cliffhangers and mysteries left unsolved by the end, I don't feel invested enough in the stories or the characters to continue.

bolynne's review against another edition

5.0

Listening to this audio book was incredibly entertaining with instantly likeable characters and some classy but sexy writing. I'm usually not a fan of romancey type writing, but I think I'll enjoy the rest of the series whoever Rachel ends up with (though honestly I'm more interested in Ivy ❤

beth06's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

celise_winter's review against another edition

3.0

I think it was probably good. I don't know what about I didn't like, I just felt unmotivated in my reading.