REVIEW: A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

A Conjuring of Light is an action-packed conclusion to the Shades of Magic trilogy. Unlikely heroes come to light, while some previously favorite characters started to become a little bit annoying... for me at least. While I adored the first two books in the trilogy, this one took a little bit longer to really gain its wings, which is why I rated it slightly lower than the first two. At 600+ pages, I felt the author could've dispatched with a little of the brooding and some other superfluous stuff and left us with a juicer book that keeps the action going non-stop.

Suffice to say, if you enjoyed the first two books in the series as much as I did, you'll definitely want to read this one since A Gathering of Shadows ended on a cliffhanger. And I'm sure you'll be just as happy with the ending as I was. I just wish the journey was a little less arduous.

If you're interested in this trilogy, do check out my reviews for the first two books here:
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab


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REVIEW: Ever After (The Hollows #11) by Kim Harrison

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Wow! While this one started off a little slower than the last few novels, it quickly picked up speed and became a fast-paced read I had a hard time putting down.

The demon's world of Ever After is shrinking—slowly at first but then rather quickly—as a genetically modified day-walking demon set on revenge is attempting to do everything in his power to bring Rachel down—and have her take the blame for his trying to bring an end to the demon world.

Despite all the demon's calling for her blood, Rachel is doing everything she can to stop the demise and force the blame where it should rightly be—on Ku-Sox's shoulders. But with the time limit fast approaching, the genetically modified demon will do anything to stop her—even if it means taking out everyone who stands in his way!


Also included at the end of the book was the short story, Trouble on Reserve:
A quick little short story of Rachel and Trent on a job that should actually come AFTER Ever After—not before—as evidenced by the girls being with Ellasbeth, plus the mention of a half-drunk confession. So while the copyright date on this short story appears to be a year earlier than Ever After (2012 vs 2013), Ms. Harrison obviously rewrote parts so that it clearly fit AFTER, and thus more precisely as a short story at the end of that novel.

That said, this particular story seemed to come to an abrupt end with no resolution... who knows, maybe it'll all be brought to light in The Undead Pool—the next full-length novel in the series.

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REVIEW: The Hollows Insider (The Hollows #9.5) by Kim Harrison

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

LOVED IT!!! ❤❤❤

Devin Crossman is a reporter/blogger for The Hollows Gazette who's got an axe to grind with one Rachel Morgan. After one of her spells goes awry on the bus while trying to catch an escaping Were, Mr. Crossman ends up losing all his hair! Hey, it eventually grows back so no harm, no foul, right? But he won't let it die and is determined to bring Rachel down, using all the resources at his disposal to dig up all the dirt he can find on Rachel, Trent, and anyone else in her life!

The book is laid out in a dossier format—with file folders, post-its, and taped in cards and pages—really fun to read! And while it isn't really a story in the true sense of the word, a story is indeed being told through its pages. We discover some little known facts about Rachel and the gang, get some reminders about some of the important points in her life, and even get a map of the Hollows and downtown Cincinnati. We've also got several interoffice notes and memos between Trent and Quen, and Trent and Jonathan, obviously dug up somehow by the reporter, and through this, we also come to understand how or why certain events that took place in the book happened.

I'm really glad I grabbed the print version of this book—hardcover actually—as I'm not sure it would be readable on the Kindle... maybe on a Fire where you could read it in full color and have full-size pages, but don't even think of trying to read it on an e-ink device like the Paperwhite or Voyage... the latter being what I own. But I totally loved it and plan to hang onto it as a keepsake for one of my favorite series of all time!

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REVIEW: A Perfect Blood (The Hollows #10) by Kim Harrison

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

A powerful underground hate group that targets Inderlanders has resurfaced, and you can bet Rachel's on their radar! But they've changed the rules, and now magic is their weapon instead of their enemy. While Rachel has successfully faced off against all manner of Inderland species—vampire, werewolf, banshee, and more—this group of supernatural-hating humans, with their never-ending supply of resources and funding, is proving to be quite tough to handle!

After the events of the previous book, and Trent's elven quest, Rachel and Trent have finally moved past their adversarial relationship and are beginning to trust one another... possibly even become friends, if you can believe it! w00t w00t! And if you read the version of this book with the bonus chapter, you'll even get to read a separate chapter 19 from Trent's POV. It's quite enlightening to say the least.

This was one of my favorites in the series thus far... although I feel like I've been saying that for the last couple of books at least. But seriously, as this series begins to draw to a close (or will it?) things are getting really juicy!


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REVIEW: Pale Demon (The Hollows #9) by Kim Harrison

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

What do you get when a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy go on a cross-country road trip? One rip-roaring hell of a ride, that's for sure! But as a new day-walking demon is unleashed, can Rachel learn to embrace her demon side in order to save those she loves?

While battling some new and usual villains, this particular installment in the series focuses a lot on Rachel's relationships, including the heretofore strained relationship she's always had with Trent... and I totally loved where all this was going! So hard to put this down!

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