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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Liked this one. A lot less angst then the previous ones.
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
fast-paced
Another book in a unique series. I didn't want to put it down.
Kitty and the Silver Bullet
Book Four in the Kitty Norville series
By Carrie Vaughn
The fourth outing for Kitty Norville is probably my least favorite of the first four books – my ranking would be book 3, 1, 2, then 4. I still love really every book as soon as it comes out but I think book four marks the point that I enjoy reading them but then instantly forget the story once I’m done. I’m re-reading them all to retroactively write these reviews and the long rambling reviews are more to remind myself of the story than to inform potential readers. My advice to anyone who hasn’t read Kitty Norville is to go ahead and do it because the series is well worth the investment.
There is some routine, Kitty as a radio personality stuff. She scores a big interview with a vampire stage actress. Of course with vampires things are never as they seem. Mercedes starts playing games involving Kitty and her old pack alphas Carl and Meg. Kitty is only in Denver to be with her sick mom, having promised to leave and never come back she had hoped to avoid her old pack life.
No such luck of course. Kitty finds herself smack dab in the middle of a vampire territorial dispute – something no werewolf wants to be part of. Carrie Vague does a good job of showing vampires as utterly powerful and political in a way that makes humans and werewolves utterly beneath them. She does it a way though that makes them seem human as well. Humans at their worst with centuries of experience and power.
Kitty tries to stay out of it but between a girl who wants to leave Carl’s pack and the police who see the vampire territory war as akin to a gang war, Kitty keeps being dragged into things against her will. Unable to avoid confrontation, she gets Cormac’s advice. It is obvious really. She has to stop running and fight Carl and Meg to free her pack and establish Denver as her own. In a move that would have been unthinkable in book 1, Kitty does just that.
The war between Arturo, current vampire master of Denver, and his rival Rick for the position play into things of course. As does Mercedes in a game that Kitty doesn’t really understand.
Kitty starts the war with Carl and Meg by recruiting some of the pack to her side. It turns out to be simpler than she thought – she should have realized since Carl was such a terrible pack leader that it wouldn’t be difficult. Murdering one’s pack members instead of protecting them just doesn’t foster the kind of loyalty Carl might think.
Kitty gets her first real taste of vampire politics and hears the first mention of the ‘long game’ which plays out in later books. Rick AKA Ricardo, Arturo, and Mercedes Cook all have differing agendas but they all are playing a part in the long game. Rick takes the city with some complicated interactions as both Kitty and the human cop at her side are mere bystanders. That’s another theme that plays out over and over in the upcoming books – Kitty as the observer in a political power game that is way over her head. Carrie Vaughn is consistent in her portrayal of the vampires as being of immense power who can’t really be fought by humans or even werewolves.
When the final show down comes between Kitty and Ben against Carl and Meg, out heroine shows nerves of steel forged from her bonds with Ben. There is no doubt she would have run forever on her own but forming a pack with Ben gave her something to fight for. In the end it is Carl’s own behavior and cruelty that is his undoing. Spoiler: The pack tears him apart.
Book Four in the Kitty Norville series
By Carrie Vaughn
The fourth outing for Kitty Norville is probably my least favorite of the first four books – my ranking would be book 3, 1, 2, then 4. I still love really every book as soon as it comes out but I think book four marks the point that I enjoy reading them but then instantly forget the story once I’m done. I’m re-reading them all to retroactively write these reviews and the long rambling reviews are more to remind myself of the story than to inform potential readers. My advice to anyone who hasn’t read Kitty Norville is to go ahead and do it because the series is well worth the investment.
Spoiler
Carrie Vaughn seems intent on throwing every human problem imaginable at Kitty in this book. First she experiences a miscarriage before even finding out she was pregnant. It is a one two gut punch because the newS is accompanied by the devastating revelation that werewolves can’t remain pregnant through the shift. As if that weren’t enough, immediately on the heels of that news, Kitty finds out her mother has cancer.There is some routine, Kitty as a radio personality stuff. She scores a big interview with a vampire stage actress. Of course with vampires things are never as they seem. Mercedes starts playing games involving Kitty and her old pack alphas Carl and Meg. Kitty is only in Denver to be with her sick mom, having promised to leave and never come back she had hoped to avoid her old pack life.
No such luck of course. Kitty finds herself smack dab in the middle of a vampire territorial dispute – something no werewolf wants to be part of. Carrie Vague does a good job of showing vampires as utterly powerful and political in a way that makes humans and werewolves utterly beneath them. She does it a way though that makes them seem human as well. Humans at their worst with centuries of experience and power.
Kitty tries to stay out of it but between a girl who wants to leave Carl’s pack and the police who see the vampire territory war as akin to a gang war, Kitty keeps being dragged into things against her will. Unable to avoid confrontation, she gets Cormac’s advice. It is obvious really. She has to stop running and fight Carl and Meg to free her pack and establish Denver as her own. In a move that would have been unthinkable in book 1, Kitty does just that.
The war between Arturo, current vampire master of Denver, and his rival Rick for the position play into things of course. As does Mercedes in a game that Kitty doesn’t really understand.
Kitty starts the war with Carl and Meg by recruiting some of the pack to her side. It turns out to be simpler than she thought – she should have realized since Carl was such a terrible pack leader that it wouldn’t be difficult. Murdering one’s pack members instead of protecting them just doesn’t foster the kind of loyalty Carl might think.
Kitty gets her first real taste of vampire politics and hears the first mention of the ‘long game’ which plays out in later books. Rick AKA Ricardo, Arturo, and Mercedes Cook all have differing agendas but they all are playing a part in the long game. Rick takes the city with some complicated interactions as both Kitty and the human cop at her side are mere bystanders. That’s another theme that plays out over and over in the upcoming books – Kitty as the observer in a political power game that is way over her head. Carrie Vaughn is consistent in her portrayal of the vampires as being of immense power who can’t really be fought by humans or even werewolves.
When the final show down comes between Kitty and Ben against Carl and Meg, out heroine shows nerves of steel forged from her bonds with Ben. There is no doubt she would have run forever on her own but forming a pack with Ben gave her something to fight for. In the end it is Carl’s own behavior and cruelty that is his undoing. Spoiler: The pack tears him apart.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot: Abused werewolf comes back to her old alphas territory and gets sucked back into pack politics once she realizes that just because she managed to get away doesn't mean everyone did.
1. Okay so. Werewolf stories in general make me really wary. There are a lot of immutable and inflexible heirarchies in play in werewolf stories, and Wolf packs are to some degree narratively "justified" emotional abuse. Kitty Norville is my favourite werewolf series because of all the ones I've read, it recognizes this as a fact and clearly draws the line between animalistic behavior and that becoming an excuse to control actual people.
2. So you know, the themes in this book are very much to my taste, and it's also an interesting take on how a less physically powerful challenger can defeat the reigning power structure with forethought and allies.
3. I also really love the supporting characters in the Kitty Norville books? I like the protagonists just fine but they don't ignite in me the same level of frevor that Det. Jessi Hardin does. (LOOK I badly wanted a whole Special Investigations series starring Karrin Murphy and I know I'm not going to get that but Det. Hardin reminds me so much of her? Her exasperated determination is both hilarious and inspiring. I love you, Detective Hardin.) I am also very fond of Rick. And vampire politics in general because it's so needlessly complicated and you just have to appreciate that.
1. Okay so. Werewolf stories in general make me really wary. There are a lot of immutable and inflexible heirarchies in play in werewolf stories, and Wolf packs are to some degree narratively "justified" emotional abuse. Kitty Norville is my favourite werewolf series because of all the ones I've read, it recognizes this as a fact and clearly draws the line between animalistic behavior and that becoming an excuse to control actual people.
2. So you know, the themes in this book are very much to my taste, and it's also an interesting take on how a less physically powerful challenger can defeat the reigning power structure with forethought and allies.
3. I also really love the supporting characters in the Kitty Norville books? I like the protagonists just fine but they don't ignite in me the same level of frevor that Det. Jessi Hardin does. (LOOK I badly wanted a whole Special Investigations series starring Karrin Murphy and I know I'm not going to get that but Det. Hardin reminds me so much of her? Her exasperated determination is both hilarious and inspiring. I love you, Detective Hardin.) I am also very fond of Rick. And vampire politics in general because it's so needlessly complicated and you just have to appreciate that.
Another fun one!!! I will admit, I am continually surprised by the way the romance in this series is going.... I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop in say 2-7 years???!?!?! But I'm super glad that Kitty had to face her old demons from book 1.
While this book is enjoyable, it raises concerns for where the future of the series will go.
I finished listening to Kitty and the Silver Bullet this morning and it was just as great as the rest of the books in the series.