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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Kitty and The Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn


Series: Kitty Norville Book 1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Copyright: 2005

Pages: 276

Rating:
Rating 3 1/2 Crowns

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station - and a werewolf in the closet. Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts "The Midnight Hour", a late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged.

After desperate vampires, werewolves, and witches across the country begin calling in to share their woes, her new show is a raging success. But it's Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew...

This book got off to a slow start, probably in part due to the radio show setting and the emphasis on dialogue as Kitty plays amateur psychologist to all the 'supes' that phone in to her talk show. But as the show's success skyrockets, the action picks up along with the pace of the novel.

I didn't like Kitty much at first. She's a pup, a wolf with lowly pack status, at the bottom of the pack hierarchy. Now I think I've read enough in the shifter genre to have a pretty good understanding of pack dynamics and Kitty is beyond submissive, she snivels and cowers and whimpers which I found rather unappealing. Her relationship with pack leader Carl, is gag-worthy. I don't think I've read a novel where I loathed the pack alpha, in truth I found him to be a truly disgusting character. Carl expects Kitty to be completely obedient, in everything, he beats her and then finishes things with sex. Not to mention that Carl has sex with whoever he wants in the pack, whenever he wants - one of the perks of his position ... Ughh!

On the upside, as Kitty's talk show grows in success so does her confidence as a woman and pack member and this personal growth brings about some pretty significant changes. Cormac, the bounty hunter, and one of the characters I liked, turns out to be one of the few people that Kitty trusts. There was certainly some chemistry happening between the two so hopefully we get to see that develop in the next installment.

Kitty grew on me as the novel progressed and as I already have book 2, I'll definitely continue with the series. With the book titled Kitty Goes To Washington, hopefully that means NO CARL.  The radio talk-show setting was refreshingly different for an urban fantasy novel and while there were a few instances that pushed the boundaries of believability, overall I found this an entertaining read.

There are six novels in the series and the seventh, Kitty's House Of Horrors, is due out January 2010.

In March 2010, Carrie's first YA novel, VOICES OF DRAGONS, will be released.

Visit Carrie Vaughn's website and blog Filling the Well to find out more.


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6 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

Oh really, those kinds of scenes, well now I loathe Carl too.

Patti (@TheLoveJunkee) said...

The first book was my least favorite - don't get me wrong...it's still good, and I LOVE this series. But when you see how much she grows from the first book through the rest of the series you really grow to like her.

Sharon said...

I've been wondering aobut this series, thanks for the good review. I'm glad to know I should just sitck it out till it gets better! I alreadyloathe Carl.

Anonymous said...

I've got to agree with Patti, the first book was not an immediately, "I must read this series". Kitty was just to weak and immature for me. Luckily, I won't start a series until I've got 2 or 3 books in it, and it was amazing at the growth and kickassness(is that a word)that Kitty acquires. I am up to book 5 and it just keeps getting better and better. I especially love that Vaughn has thrown several more paranormal beings into the mix. It has really made this series exceptional.

Teddyree said...

B ~ yeah Carl was awful and the scenes made me want to slap Kitty but I liked Kitty a whole lot more by the end of the book.

Patti ~ looks like I had the same reaction as you so it will be good to see how Kitty handles life in book 2. I'm hoping its a series I want to stick with too :-)

Sharon ~ Thanks for popping in, have you got this series already? Let me know what you think if you do get to it! I'm so hoping that Carl isn't in the next book.

Teddyree said...

alterlisa ~ I've got book 2 to go on with so I'm glad you obviously loved the series enough to keep going. I'm now keen to see how it shapes up. Can you give me a little hint if Carl is in the next book LOL