A review by lezreadalot
Fire & Water by Alexis Hall

4.0

Here likes Kate Kane. Something creepy with mirrors. Beloved daughter. Sorely missed.

 
3.5 stars. I have feelings! A lot of them are mixed, but I'm still very much in love with this series. Kate is still one of my favourite protagonists. I still love the mix of noir and camp. The plot is interesting, combining a lot of classic paranormal tropes and characters, but with really unique twists and turns. I'm never bored while reading these books. It's not one of those stories where I feel compelled to theorise or try to figure out the plot or what's coming next; I'm just along for the ride and enjoying myself. The humour and the banter just hits perfectly right, and I'm still endlessly entertained by Kate's little parade of love interests and exes and the various parts that they play. 

I didn't really want to talk about spoilery stuff, but after that ending I have to. So, spoilers below.

Spoiler

I was so freaking sad that Kate couldn't count on Julian when it really mattered! I do understand Julian being ultimately selfish and pessimistic, having outlived all of her lovers and deciding that she can't love any of them above herself, but still, it was such a bummer. I really thought she would have at least done SOMETHING to save Kate. Also, this is the second time in this series that a big rescue mission to save one person has resulted in the deaths of other unrelated people, and that's just something I don't like in any media. It's just such a downer, especially when none of the characters really... acknowledge it? Eve's mercenaries just died en masse and there were like, two sentences about it. Kate's not exactly a knight in shining armour, and she admits to being selfish and callous but it just feels weird that she would have such a huuuge moral dilemma about killing a nasty, demonstrably evil old lady, and then shrug off the deaths of people who came to save her. And on that note, I'm glad we got some confirmation that Corin is using some sort of magic to give her an edge, because it's also weird that Kate keeps being so nice to the woman who murdered her partner.

Anyway, as sad as I am about the break up, I have to admit, this does up the chances of Kate fucking Tara, which I'm shallowly very excited for. Tara is haughty and proud and a little obnoxious, but I have a thing for werewolves.