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Review: Pale Demon by Kim Harrison
Filed in Kim Harrison , Review , The HEA Lover Posted on January 29, 2011 @ 12:00 pm
18 comments
Format Read: E-arc from Netgalley
Number of Pages: 432 pages
Release Date: February 22nd 2011
Publisher: Eos
Formats Available: Hardcover, e-Book, Kindle
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Book Depository, Amazon.com
Book Blurb:
Condemned to death for black magic and shunned, Rachel Morgan has three days to somehow get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name. If she fails, the only way she can escape death is to live in the demonic ever after . . . for ever after.
Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for his own mysterious business. But Rachel isn’t the only passanger along for the ride. Can a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car survive for over 2,300 miles? And that’s not counting the assassin on their tail.
A fearsome demon walks the sunlight, freed after centuries of torment to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate prey is Rachel Morgan. While the powerful witch with nerves of steel will do whatever it takes to stay alive, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.
My Thoughts:
WARNING: This is as usual a spoiler-free review for the book. But I make references to previous books in the series, which could be spoilery if you haven’t read them. As usual, I try to be as vague as possible. (I hope it still makes sense lol)
Pale Demon is the 9th book in the Hollows series. This series is very close to my heart. I’ve loved all the books, even the ones which made me cry like a freaking baby (seriously). Pale Demon is now my favorite in this series, it’s fantastic and so good I wish I could marry it. (ok ok, I admit… I wish I could marry Trent). If I’d written this review as soon as I’d finished reading Pale Demon, it would probably had started like that: *squuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
So now that I’ve had time to think upon the book and calm down, here’s my review:
*squuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
All the things I love about this series can be found in Pale Demon…but there’s also so much more! I devoured the book. It really was impossible to put down. Kim Harrison gave a new breath to this series by opening new roads (lots) and ending a few ongoing side-plots (that had been really dragging on for too long) .
It’s no breaking news that I love Trent (hey I even named my E-reader after him). Anyway, Pale Demon gave us a whole new side of Trent. I think I love him even more now, can you believe it? He is a jerk all right, we all know he’s ruthless and he even tortured Rachel in the earlier books. He keeps telling her, he’ll kill her sooner or later, and still I love him. (I really have a thing for jerks it seems).
The story is very different from the other books in the series, it FEELS different. Well first, it’s a roadtrip story, it’s a welcomed change of scenery . Can you imagine Trent and Rachel in the same car for days? Ah! Yes obviously it doesn’t go smoothly. Pale Demon is action-packed, so many things happen, there’s not one boring moment. All my favorite characters are here and most of all AL! Yes AL the demon.
So, okay AL is a demon and he’s very violent and tried to kill Rachel so many times I stopped counting, but I really like him. He’s fun and complex and a little weird. We learn a lot about him and I can’t wait to know what happen next. I was sooooo happy that we get to see a lot more of him and the Ever-After (demon world) . This is the second reason why I loved this book: Kim Harrison gave us a whole new vision of the Ever-After and demons in general. I won’t say more because I don’t want spoil anything but it ROCKS! I love the demons and I’m thrilled that they appeared in this book.
There were some…weird scenes (I don’t know how else to call them) where you could feel that the author was trying to break ties to the past and opening new roads for her characters. I didn’t like it much, but at least we know the story will go forward from now on. (or at least I hope so). I haven’t always loved Rachel, mostly because she made some serious bad decisions in the past (I wanted to slap her silly SO often in the previous books). Well, she’s still making bad decisions but you feel that she’s grown up a bit and she’s more open-minded than before, I really like her in this book.
I won’t say who, but someone gets their HEA in this book. I couldn’t be more happy about that. I finished reading the book with a huge smile on my face and I had to go back and re-read some passages that I loved so much. When I said that the book was different from the previous ones, it’s also because at the end, everything’s possible. It can go one way or another, nothing is set. The ending leaves room for many possibilities and it doesn’t feel like a cliffhanger, it feels like a promise. If you are a fan of the series, you will LOVE this book, I promise. If you haven’t read this series, I advice you start from book 1, if you start with Pale Demon, I’m not sure you will like it much.
Pale Demon is THE book in the series. It’s amazing from start to end. It was worth every minute of my time. I don’t think I could possibly love it more. There are so many fantastic secondary characters, you are bound to love at least one. What more can I say? I loved it. I can’t wait for the next book. MERCI to Kim Harrison for this amazing book. *fangirl mode off*
I give Pale Demon 5 Bookies (if I could i’d give it even more)
***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.
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OMG! You named your eReader Trent! Guess what I named my Kindle? He's a beloved character from the series whose names starts with a K. 🙂
I just finished this one a few days ago. It was friggin glorious. I too love Al too. Aside from Jenks, he's my favorite character. He has brought much mayhem, hilarity and complexity to the story, and I was very happy to spend more time in the Ever-After.
I am very interested to see where the story goes from here! WOWOWOWOWOWOW! 😀
@Smash Attack! *g* Actually my eReader's name is Trent Clayton Barrons. After well, Trent (duh), Clayton Danvers from the Kelley Armstrong books and Barrons from the KMM books. =P It's a mix of all my favorite men *g*
Awwww I see I'm not the only crazy *g* *pets e-reader*
See! Amazing wasn't it? I loved it from start to end. I was so happy we got some serious AL time. It was the perfect mix of Ever-after/real world. I'm really hoping for more Ever-After in the future.*crosses all fingers* *and toes*
*squee* I'm loving where this story is going *g*
Caroline…Trent? Really? You’ve read this whole series and you love Trent? Huh. Wow.
Kim Harrison’s Hollows Series is among my favorite UFs. Even though, as you pointed out, Rachel is not the most loveable character-–she has made some whopping bad decisions—-the series is a strong one, with a creative world and memorable characters. (And I’m not talking about Trent here.) I’m glad to see in your review that Harrison has taken a different view to open up things a bit. I’m more interested now than ever in reading Pale Demon (in spite of Trent’s presence;)thanks for the review.
@LSUReader Oh come ON!!! He has redeeming qualities. NOT. LMAO Believe me I have no idea why I've always loved him, he's been such an ass ever since we met him. *sigh*
Ass is a nice word to describe him. But yeah I've always been a Trent lover. I love that every time he can screw Rachel over, he does! He's stubborn and selfish and narrow-minded and a jerk *g*
I think there are worse characters in this series…like for example Pierce (eek) or Nick !!! (or what Ivy became in the last few books)
Good thing for you that it's not only about Trent in Pale Demon! *g*
Do we at least agree that Jenks is fantastic? 😉
I think this is why the series is so great, it's not only about ONE character. It's one of my favorite UF series too.
Of course, Jenks is wonderful! And Nick and Pierce are both icky. Ivy is troubled.(But she is not worse than Trent, even on a bad day!) I CAN agree with your assessment that Trent is "stubborn and selfish and narrow-minded and a jerk." See–Common Ground!
I gave up on this series several books ago but I know other people who LOVED this book. Maybe I'll give it another try.
And I'm not admittign what I named my ereader. LOL
@LSUReader LOL at least we agree on that Muhahaah. At least in Pale Demon I didn't want to slap Rachel silly all the time (Progress?). lol I can't wait for you to read it and tell me what you think of this book.
@Bea Oh Noooo!! The series started getting amazing in the last 2 books. lol Where did you give up? :/ This is probably one of my all-time favorite series. But I understand that it's not for everyone =P
Oh pleaaaaaaaase, now you have to tell us what you named it!!!! *puppy eyes*
I heard a lot about Kim Harrison, but I have never got to read a book from her. But now reading the review I feel like I have to read it and soon =) I want to read a lot of book recently but nobody has so much freetime to read so much xD
@pattepoilue I think I stopped about 4 or 5 books in, I forget exactly. It just wasn't holding my interest but so many people have raved about this book I may change my mind.
As for my ereader, I'll never tell. 😛
I've heard so many great things about this series. I've shamed I have yet to read it…. 😉
@Chelsea Ah! It's never too late 😉 Only 9 books lol *g*
Oops I missed a few comments !!
@Mikki-Manó I know exactly how you feel. There are so many series i'd love to read and never find the time. I can't even keep up with the series i'm already following!
I really think this series is worth reading. I'm very happy I picked them up. *g* Do tell me if you decide to read it 😉
@Bea Yeah I understand, at some point I was worried about where the series was going. There's one book that actually made me think 'uh oh maybe I should stop'…but then bammmm it was great again lol. *g* Pale Demon is really my favorite
Aah! I'm so excited about reading this book! I've read the first 3 chapters that have been posted so far, I really can't wait to get the whole thing at once.
I love Trent too, I can't wait to see what happens with him & Rachel in a car together… that promises to be a lot of fun. Well, fun to read, anyway.
So good to see that you think the whole book is good, I really want this book! (lol, I said that kind of a lot… never mind.)
~Ailsa
@Ailsa hehe don't worry I understand your excitement! I have waited sooooooo long to read, you'll see it's really worth your time. It's good from start to end. Usually there are dull moments in a book but in Pale Demon, no dull moments! *g*
A piece of advice…take your time reading it because the end will come way too fast. Then it's another year to wait *sob*
*squeeeeeeee* <==just because lol
An actual HEA for someone in the book? How's that possible? Just when I thought I'd finally give this series a pass, somehow it pulls me in again. I'm not a Trent fan either but I am a Jenks fan. So far, neither Ivy nor Rachel had much luck in love (yep, I don't like Nick or Pierce either).
Still, I will have to pick up this one just to read more Jenks hijinks.
@Sheree I KNOW! It was a surprise to see a HEA after so much pain and drama for 8 books but YAY *g*
Jenks is fanta-bulous (yes all that lol) I sometimes swear Jenks style. I love him so much.
Tink's a Disney whore! =P
Don't give up just yet on this series, you might enjoy Pale Demon, I hope you do!
Great review, really well written. Thank you for sharing.
I loved the series, kinda gave up on it for 2 books (and by that I mean I sat at borders and skimmed and it and thought…nah), hated the way the whole Kisten thing was handled.
But when I went to borders to glance at the last book, I got hooked again and actually popped for a hardbound, so it looks like things are looking up, for the series, if not for my wallet.
A roadtrip sounds like FUN!!!!
L.Blanchard
http://www.dangerousromance.com
@Blanchard I'm starting to realize that many people gave up on this series after a few books. I know that it sucks that when you're reading a series there's 1 books that doesn't look good and it ruins it all for the rest of the series (my problem with the DBD books).
I'm glad that this one looks interesting to you. I hope that you jump back on the Hollow wagon *g*