laurenjodi's review against another edition
4.0
Kitty Goes to Washington
3.5 Stars
As the title implies, Werewolf radio talkshow host, Kitty Norville, travels to the capitol to testify before a Senate committee on the existence of supernatural beings. While there, she becomes involved in the various agendas and machinations of a variety of dangerous groups - vampires, lycanthropes, and politicians.
Despite its potential, this follow-up novel falls short of expectations. The first half of the book is slow with a great deal of exposition, and the second half fails to capitalize on the small amount of tension that does build up.
Kitty's characterization is problematic. Not only does her poor decision-making play into the dumb blond stereotype, but she is too much of a damsel in distress in need of rescue. The woman is a freaking werewolf for crying out loud, yet
In terms of the plot, there are several threads that ultimately come together, but each is rather anti-climactic and is resolved either too easily or by an almost deus-ex machina element.
Despite these issues, Kitty is a very appealing heroine and the secondary cast is interesting enough to continue with the series. Moreover, Marguerite Gavin's narration of the audiobook is excellent. I could listen to her read the phonebook and enjoy it.
3.5 Stars
As the title implies, Werewolf radio talkshow host, Kitty Norville, travels to the capitol to testify before a Senate committee on the existence of supernatural beings. While there, she becomes involved in the various agendas and machinations of a variety of dangerous groups - vampires, lycanthropes, and politicians.
Despite its potential, this follow-up novel falls short of expectations. The first half of the book is slow with a great deal of exposition, and the second half fails to capitalize on the small amount of tension that does build up.
Kitty's characterization is problematic. Not only does her poor decision-making play into the dumb blond stereotype, but she is too much of a damsel in distress in need of rescue. The woman is a freaking werewolf for crying out loud, yet
Spoiler
instead of shifting and tearing into a weaker vampire, she whines about her situation and is rescued by a human with a stake?!In terms of the plot, there are several threads that ultimately come together, but each is rather anti-climactic and is resolved either too easily or by an almost deus-ex machina element.
Despite these issues, Kitty is a very appealing heroine and the secondary cast is interesting enough to continue with the series. Moreover, Marguerite Gavin's narration of the audiobook is excellent. I could listen to her read the phonebook and enjoy it.
lynseyisreading's review
4.0
Another fun romp in the woods with Kitty. These books are so easy to read; like little delicious snack-sized morsels. I am totally lapping them up.
In this one there was a lot less of the squicky submissive nature of Kitty's wolf in evidence, thank Heavens. Don't get me wrong, it's not gone completely; four years of molding and shaping yourself one way can't be eradicated overnight, but we at least see her making a conscious effort not to back down at every threat. Even if she has to manually override her wolf's natural instinct sometimes. I really am enjoying watching this progress.
I feel like I got to know Kitty a lot more this time and I like her a lot as a protagonist. She is actually quite endearing in the way that she's not all bravado and snark. It's certainly a refreshing change for me. She hasn't had the ideal start at this new life as a supernatural being, and in this book, being subpoenaed to come to a hearing in Washington opens her eyes to a new possible way to live as a lone wolf as she stumbles across more of her kind and sees how different it could be. She's not really decided where she's going to settle yet after being forced to leave Denver, and is living a sort of nomadic lifestyle at the moment. It worried me at first that there would be none of the characters I'd recognize from book one in it with her being on her own in a new city, but I needn't have worried. The hearing soon requires her to once again employ the services of her lawyer, Ben. And we even get an appearance from a certain biker-boot wearing bounty hunter :)
“How can you stand it? The way they look at us?” He said, “I know that I could rip out their guts, and I choose not to.”
It's hard to explain exactly why these books are so engrossing to read because they aren't even all that action-packed or mystery-filled compared to others I've read. Kitty more or less falls into situations rather than goes looking for them like other heroines, but whatever it is, it works for me. I guess I just like Kitty...and that's all there is to it.
4 Stars! ★★★★
In this one there was a lot less of the squicky submissive nature of Kitty's wolf in evidence, thank Heavens. Don't get me wrong, it's not gone completely; four years of molding and shaping yourself one way can't be eradicated overnight, but we at least see her making a conscious effort not to back down at every threat. Even if she has to manually override her wolf's natural instinct sometimes. I really am enjoying watching this progress.
I feel like I got to know Kitty a lot more this time and I like her a lot as a protagonist. She is actually quite endearing in the way that she's not all bravado and snark. It's certainly a refreshing change for me. She hasn't had the ideal start at this new life as a supernatural being, and in this book, being subpoenaed to come to a hearing in Washington opens her eyes to a new possible way to live as a lone wolf as she stumbles across more of her kind and sees how different it could be. She's not really decided where she's going to settle yet after being forced to leave Denver, and is living a sort of nomadic lifestyle at the moment. It worried me at first that there would be none of the characters I'd recognize from book one in it with her being on her own in a new city, but I needn't have worried. The hearing soon requires her to once again employ the services of her lawyer, Ben. And we even get an appearance from a certain biker-boot wearing bounty hunter :)
“How can you stand it? The way they look at us?” He said, “I know that I could rip out their guts, and I choose not to.”
It's hard to explain exactly why these books are so engrossing to read because they aren't even all that action-packed or mystery-filled compared to others I've read. Kitty more or less falls into situations rather than goes looking for them like other heroines, but whatever it is, it works for me. I guess I just like Kitty...and that's all there is to it.
4 Stars! ★★★★
reasonpassion's review
4.0
This series just keeps getting better. The evolving of Kitty's character is nothing short of realistic fun while still keeping the sass and wit that made her lovable to begin with. The slow expansion of the world provides a great backdrop to what essentially is Kitty's continued working through of "hey I can be an adult now." Quite happy to know there are more to read.
vikcs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lolasreviews's review
4.0
I really enjoyed the first book in this series and the second book is just as good. We learn more about Kitty and the world she lives in, meet new characters and experience new adventures. And this book on the one hand is just a typical urban fantasy, on the other hand it also is a very original story.
This story focusses mainly on the daily life of werewolves and other supernaturals and many topics are talked about during Kitty's show. I like the focus on the radio, and I think this is also one of the more original points of the story. The story is predictable at times, very surprising at other times and overal very enjoyable. If you are in the mood for a good urban fantasy book I would certainly recommend the series.
The characters is a point where I am a bit conflicted about. I really like the main character Kitty and I think she is a believeable character, she does cower sometimes, but she is also brave and strong. I also like many of the other characters, but there are just too many characters. The are so mnay character in this series and sometimes I just forgot who was who and which part they played. Also some characters only seemed to play a small part and where i expected emotions, there sometimes where non and at other places there was enough emotion to make it realistic. I am not going to say more, because I am afraid to spoil anything then.
The world is much like your typical urban fantasy world with supernatural creatures. Only this series focusses more on the discovery of normal people that supernaturals exist and how they react to this. What use can supernaturals have, is this a disease, can it be cured, what are the implications for medicine etc. This sort of questions aks this series and I think this is very believeable and highly possible that if supernaturals exist people would react like this. Although I suspect that more people would be afraid or freak out than is depicted in this book.
We learn more about Kitty's world in this book, but I am sure there will be much more to learn in later books. There are storylines that span more books, some are introduced in this book and it is hinted at more to come in the next book. While other storylines are started and resolved in this book and even a few which where started in the first book that are resolves in this one.
To conclude: a very enjoyable book, I can't wait to read the next book. I like the original twist of this series, while it also feels like a typical urban fantasy book (and I think this is a good thing, because I was in the mood for some urban fantasy). If you like urban fantasy, I would certainly recommend picking up this series.
This story focusses mainly on the daily life of werewolves and other supernaturals and many topics are talked about during Kitty's show. I like the focus on the radio, and I think this is also one of the more original points of the story. The story is predictable at times, very surprising at other times and overal very enjoyable. If you are in the mood for a good urban fantasy book I would certainly recommend the series.
The characters is a point where I am a bit conflicted about. I really like the main character Kitty and I think she is a believeable character, she does cower sometimes, but she is also brave and strong. I also like many of the other characters, but there are just too many characters. The are so mnay character in this series and sometimes I just forgot who was who and which part they played. Also some characters only seemed to play a small part and where i expected emotions, there sometimes where non and at other places there was enough emotion to make it realistic. I am not going to say more, because I am afraid to spoil anything then.
The world is much like your typical urban fantasy world with supernatural creatures. Only this series focusses more on the discovery of normal people that supernaturals exist and how they react to this. What use can supernaturals have, is this a disease, can it be cured, what are the implications for medicine etc. This sort of questions aks this series and I think this is very believeable and highly possible that if supernaturals exist people would react like this. Although I suspect that more people would be afraid or freak out than is depicted in this book.
We learn more about Kitty's world in this book, but I am sure there will be much more to learn in later books. There are storylines that span more books, some are introduced in this book and it is hinted at more to come in the next book. While other storylines are started and resolved in this book and even a few which where started in the first book that are resolves in this one.
To conclude: a very enjoyable book, I can't wait to read the next book. I like the original twist of this series, while it also feels like a typical urban fantasy book (and I think this is a good thing, because I was in the mood for some urban fantasy). If you like urban fantasy, I would certainly recommend picking up this series.
cajeck's review
5.0
As with the first book in the Kitty Norville series, this is my third time reading Kitty Goes to Washington. That said, I am very familiar with this series, and my thoughts on this book are glowingly positive--even more than the first time, and I'll list the reasons below.
In this book, Kitty Norville has fled from her home in Colorado and has taken her radio talk show on the road. She lives her life now as a werewolf without a pack, and she's coping, but unhappy. Then she gets a surprising summons to speak at a congressional hearing regarding the Center of Paranatural Biology, or some such thing. She goes for it, of course (free publicity!) but as you might imagine, things go awry when she meets an arrogant vampire underling named Leo, and a bible-thumping senator, Joseph Duke.
My original rating for this book had been four stars, but I decided to change this to five because I really, just immensely loved reading this book. I was at the edge of my seat, turning pages like a madman. And the ending! What a great climactic ending! After three times around the track, that says a lot about a story. Carrie Vaughn, like any prolific writer, has her "good" stories and her...well...not so good stories. Dare I say crappy stories? Well this second installment in the long running Kitty series is definitely one of the better ones. Certainly better than the first book!
I even remember complaining about the Church of the Pure Faith story arc, which I mentioned in my first review. It finds its conclusion in Kitty Goes to Washington, and the first time I read the books, I thought its ending had been...anti-climactic? But I thought the fallout from Elijah Smith's demise was fairly interesting, and it also served as a way of introducing Jeffrey Miles, TV personality and psychic. Jeffrey is a recurring character in the series. It also helped to deepen the character of Roger Stockton, the exploitative weird news journalist. Once I took these things into account, I looked on the Church of the Pure Faith story arc more favorably. It still isn't one of my favorite Kitty adventures, but it certainly isn't the worst.
That's really the only complaint that I have for this book, and as you can see, it's not really a complaint. Kitty Goes to Washington has a fairly tight plot. The action was fast paced. The mysteries were intriguing. I have stated that the Kitty Norville series has this side to it that I likened to nerds at D&D night, that side where the story goes down weird "what-if" avenues and paints a broad and colorful view of how the supernatural might exist in our world. In this book, I think the best example of that is displayed in Fritz, an old German werewolf with a sad and violent past. This is really important for people to realize about the Kitty Norville series: it tips its hat to old fantasy pulp magazines, wherein strange and speculative stories were published. Why else would Carrie Vaughn use the tongue-in-cheek title convention of "Kitty and the..." I sort of chuckle when I see people whine about Kitty's ironic name, and the funny book titles. They're missing the joke, and it's a shame!
But that leads to my next point: this series is not for everyone. It revels in its pulp fiction qualities and giggles at the ironic situations it presents. It's self-aware humor. Kitty's narrative voice is witty and humorous, and she isn't shy to point out the stereotypes that populate her world. She can get whiny at times, and she really, really loves to run her mouth. Her idealist beliefs might frustrate some readers too. Another thing that might turn people off is its lack of smut. As paranormal fiction goes, there isn't as much romance as you might expect in the Kitty Norville series. I'd still classify this series as PNR, because I think the target audience is still the same, but I'd do so with the caveat that not all the Kitty books are smut-laced adventures so much as just...adventures with some occasional sexiness. This book is just such a case. Kitty Goes to Washington has a very sexy love interest in Luis, the were-jaguar, but he isn't really a central character in the book (even if he is a recurring character in the series.)
The climax to this installment is leaps and bounds better than the last, so that's another good point for it. Once I got to the end, I couldn't stop reading. It feels satisfying, it feels significant. If you were frustrated by the downer ending of Kitty and the Midnight Hour you'll be happy to know that Kitty Goes to Washington has a much more kick ass conclusion.
I'm actually surprised by how much I liked this book a third time around. Despite enjoying re-reading the first book, I was afraid this one would be stale, or perhaps just not be as awesome as I remembered it. Thankfully, this was not the case. How reassuring to know I had such great taste as a teenager!
In this book, Kitty Norville has fled from her home in Colorado and has taken her radio talk show on the road. She lives her life now as a werewolf without a pack, and she's coping, but unhappy. Then she gets a surprising summons to speak at a congressional hearing regarding the Center of Paranatural Biology, or some such thing. She goes for it, of course (free publicity!) but as you might imagine, things go awry when she meets an arrogant vampire underling named Leo, and a bible-thumping senator, Joseph Duke.
My original rating for this book had been four stars, but I decided to change this to five because I really, just immensely loved reading this book. I was at the edge of my seat, turning pages like a madman. And the ending! What a great climactic ending! After three times around the track, that says a lot about a story. Carrie Vaughn, like any prolific writer, has her "good" stories and her...well...not so good stories. Dare I say crappy stories? Well this second installment in the long running Kitty series is definitely one of the better ones. Certainly better than the first book!
I even remember complaining about the Church of the Pure Faith story arc, which I mentioned in my first review. It finds its conclusion in Kitty Goes to Washington, and the first time I read the books, I thought its ending had been...anti-climactic? But I thought the fallout from Elijah Smith's demise was fairly interesting, and it also served as a way of introducing Jeffrey Miles, TV personality and psychic. Jeffrey is a recurring character in the series. It also helped to deepen the character of Roger Stockton, the exploitative weird news journalist. Once I took these things into account, I looked on the Church of the Pure Faith story arc more favorably. It still isn't one of my favorite Kitty adventures, but it certainly isn't the worst.
That's really the only complaint that I have for this book, and as you can see, it's not really a complaint. Kitty Goes to Washington has a fairly tight plot. The action was fast paced. The mysteries were intriguing. I have stated that the Kitty Norville series has this side to it that I likened to nerds at D&D night, that side where the story goes down weird "what-if" avenues and paints a broad and colorful view of how the supernatural might exist in our world. In this book, I think the best example of that is displayed in Fritz, an old German werewolf with a sad and violent past. This is really important for people to realize about the Kitty Norville series: it tips its hat to old fantasy pulp magazines, wherein strange and speculative stories were published. Why else would Carrie Vaughn use the tongue-in-cheek title convention of "Kitty and the..." I sort of chuckle when I see people whine about Kitty's ironic name, and the funny book titles. They're missing the joke, and it's a shame!
But that leads to my next point: this series is not for everyone. It revels in its pulp fiction qualities and giggles at the ironic situations it presents. It's self-aware humor. Kitty's narrative voice is witty and humorous, and she isn't shy to point out the stereotypes that populate her world. She can get whiny at times, and she really, really loves to run her mouth. Her idealist beliefs might frustrate some readers too. Another thing that might turn people off is its lack of smut. As paranormal fiction goes, there isn't as much romance as you might expect in the Kitty Norville series. I'd still classify this series as PNR, because I think the target audience is still the same, but I'd do so with the caveat that not all the Kitty books are smut-laced adventures so much as just...adventures with some occasional sexiness. This book is just such a case. Kitty Goes to Washington has a very sexy love interest in Luis, the were-jaguar, but he isn't really a central character in the book (even if he is a recurring character in the series.)
The climax to this installment is leaps and bounds better than the last, so that's another good point for it. Once I got to the end, I couldn't stop reading. It feels satisfying, it feels significant. If you were frustrated by the downer ending of Kitty and the Midnight Hour you'll be happy to know that Kitty Goes to Washington has a much more kick ass conclusion.
I'm actually surprised by how much I liked this book a third time around. Despite enjoying re-reading the first book, I was afraid this one would be stale, or perhaps just not be as awesome as I remembered it. Thankfully, this was not the case. How reassuring to know I had such great taste as a teenager!
darbyart's review
4.0
Kitty a DJ and werewolf has been summoned to Washington DC to testify before a Senate committee on paranormal biology. Right away Alette - the city's Master vampire takes Kitty into her home as guest and to protect her from harn that might come to her while in the city. Kitty also meets a South American were-jaguar and other were-animals without packs. A charater from the first book the religious fanatic claiming to cure vampires and were animals is called to testify too. So she takes that chance to check more out about him. And of course this leads to trouble for Kitty but it isn't the only trouble she finds in Washington DC.
This book was again a quick, easy read. But I do have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. I hope the third is better.
This book was again a quick, easy read. But I do have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. I hope the third is better.
smeenk_ak's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
starknits13's review
3.0
So Kitty goes to Washington, meets some interesting were's and a vampire. Crazy times abound.