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A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows #4)

by Kim Harrison (Goodreads Author)

4.25 of 5 stars 4.25 · rating details · 23,595 ratings · 699 reviews

The evil night things that prowl Cincinnati despise witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan. Her new reputation for the dark arts is turning human and undead heads alike with the intent to possess, bed, and kill her -- not necessarily in that order.

Now a mortal lover who abandoned Rachel has returned, haunted by his secret past. And there are those who covet what Nick posses...more

Mass Market Paperback, 510 pages

Published July 2006 by HarperTorch (first published June 27th 2006)

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Dec 12, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it 3 of 5 stars

The last couple of lines of this book were the best of this whole series.

I still don't LOVE this series but I'll give the next book a read now just because I want to know what bloody happens. Though it's edging eerily close to an Anita Blake theme here.

I think the reason why I liked this story better was because it was blessedly free of demons. When there's a demon around, you can almost bet that Rachel is twice as dumb as usual. Unfortunately, the title of the next book is A Few Demons More.

Fuc...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Nichole (Dirty H) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, 2009, werewolves

Kim Harrison is a writer with a lot of imagination and a lot of personality. Her world and her characters are very original. Where she stumbles is in her actual writing.
Not only are there tons of typos in this book - spelling errors, grammar errors, etc ("it was a mute point"?! "she had to access the situation"?) - but her actual writing leaves a little something to be desired.
I have struggled with this series, finding it boring at times and hard to follow. I finally came to the conclusion tha...more Kim Harrison is a writer with a lot of imagination and a lot of personality. Her world and her characters are very original. Where she stumbles is in her actual writing.
Not only are there tons of typos in this book - spelling errors, grammar errors, etc ("it was a mute point"?! "she had to access the situation"?) - but her actual writing leaves a little something to be desired.
I have struggled with this series, finding it boring at times and hard to follow. I finally came to the conclusion that the problem is that I don't understand the world that Harrison has created. She is so imaginative and has built a universe really rich in fantasy, but she has failed to make the rules of that universe clear. I do not understand her vampire society, I don't understand her werewolf hierarchy; it's all very confusing. Which makes the interactions and relationships between Rachel and the other characters (particularly Ivy) really hard to understand.

*Potential spoilers ahead* - I will try to keep them very mild so you'll probably be okay, but added a warning just in case.

Basic plot of A Fistful of Charms: Rachel discovers that her old boyfriend Nick, who disappeared at the end of the second book (I think; I don't remember exactly) has taken off to Michigan and gotten into a lot of trouble after stealing a priceless werewolf artifact, taking Jenks's son Jax with him. Rachel and and a human sized Jenks go to Michigan on a rescue mission; but is Rachel going to help Jenks save his son, or is this about her unresolved feelings for her ex-boyfriend? (Hint: it's B.)

What's good: The book is at its most honest and heartfelt when it deals with the unresolved issues between Rachel and Nick. Unfortunately this gets "resolved" pretty quickly, and it was a little convenient.
About halfway through, Ivy shows up for some unexplained reason (or maybe it was explained, but was pretty flimsy), and there are some really great scenes between her and Rachel. (I think this is probably what the book is actually about.)
The magic. This is where Harrison's imagination really shines through; when Rachel is performing spells, it's always fun to read.
Also, full sized Jenks is a lot of fun - though another reviewer complained about Rachel's constant ogling, and I have to agree.

What's bad: Some of the action in the book, particularly at the end, is pretty good. But there are several chapters where Rachel has to scuba dive to this island full of werewolves to rescue Nick, and that whole thing is BORING. It actually put me to sleep a couple times, and I don't think I'm the only one who struggled with it. I finally had to just skim until they got off or I never would have made it through.
My confusion about the structure of the vampire and werewolf societies made a lot of the plot of this book hard to follow. There are three werewolf packs on this island but they're all united under one alpha but only sort of and they're more aggressive because they want this statue... it was confusing. And what was the big deal about the statue? It might start a war? I'm a pretty smart girl, but I didn't get it. I basically came away with "it's valuable and dangerous". And they're willing to kill Rachel over it. I guess that's all I really needed to know, but it was all screwy and confusing.
Also still confused about the whole Ivy/Rachel/Kisten dynamic. And Kisten was missing from a lot of the book. He was at the beginning and the very end, but through the meat of the book he was just mentioned a lot because they seemed to be using all his stuff. Most of the time, though, Rachel didn't even think about him which was disappointing. Kisten is the best part of the seres, IMO!

I will doggedly continue to read this series. It somehow is able to keep me just barely interested enough to carry on, but there are a lot of things that confuse me and bother me about this series and try as I might, I don't think I'll ever understand why so many people love this series so much. Which is nothing against the fans; I'm kind of jealous, in fact. I want to love these books. They're just not really for me, I guess.(less)

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Mar 30, 2010 Lady Valee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Damn, how can I say this? This is a too good to be true series. I love it. I know it had a slow beginning with the first 2 books, but terrific from then on.

This book was amazing. I had never seen so much action and events going on in a same book. Really. So many things happened in this book that I felt like I was reading more than one book in a same series. And I mean this in a good way. Everything just developed smoothly.

UF lovers, you'll love this series, it is so different from all the ones...more

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Apr 16, 2009 Anya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Where the hell is Trent Kalamack???

He is probably off getting his elf butt married to that cold-hearted lady of the previous installment, but still... Where the heck is he? I am only a few chapters away from finishing the book and still fondly waiting for him to make an appearance. He is by far one of the most interesting characters of this series, along with Jenks, Ivy and of course Rachel herself. (Have to admit I am not precisely too great a fan of Ivy either...)

Nick... Nick can climb up the...more

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Dec 27, 2008 Lightreads rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, urban-fantasy, romance, fantasy, lgbt

This is a road trip book, taking Rachel (witch), and eventually Ivy (living vampire), out of town with a newly reconciled Jencks (pixie) to chase after Nick (human) the ex boyfriend and thief, a potentially powerful artifact, and a lot of werewolves. It’s funny, because though things do happen here and the plot carries forward, I am left with the impression of a placeholder book. Which is still not a bad thing, mind you, and I think Harrison’s instinct to get the original three out of the Hollow...more

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Jan 08, 2012 VampireNovelFan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires, urban-fantasy, paranormal-romance, shifters, witches, adventure, demons, elves, fae, comedy, mystery

Many people loved this book, but this was actually among my least favorite.

Nick, Rachel's ex-boyfriend is a conniving little snot. He adds nothing to this series, except my hate for him. He ends up partnering with Jax (Jenks' son) and they get themselves in trouble with the weres after their attempt to steal the Focus.

The gang take a road trip to save him and Jax, but Jenks needs to be a bit more powerful. Soooo Rachel makes him big! While this particular book wasn't my favorite, that one scene...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Jer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kim-harrison

THIS IS A GREAT SERIES! It has become my all time favorite.
KIM HARRISON(Dawn Cook) is the best, you will be hooked from book 1, page 1.

SHE WILL ALWAYS LEAVE YOU WANTING MORE...AND WAITING FOR THE NEXT IN THE SERIES!

You will not be disappointed! K.H.'s characters come alive, you will laugh and cry with them, grow tremendously from book #1. I love the world that K.H. has created. Bio-engineered tomatoes, witches, vampires, pixies, faeries, trolls, wolves...

The first book runs kinda slow in the be...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Kristi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fluff, twostars

This is a 4 "cold face" book. It was nice to see the number of times she used the phrase reduced. However, it seemed to come at a cost of other editing errors. One of the most hilarious instances of this was when a female character's arms were "emancipated." I believe she meant, "emaciated." Also, multiple times, someone "hit the breaks" while driving instead of the "brakes."

Plot-wise, Jenks gets big, which is lots of fun! He's my favorite character in this series anyway.

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Apr 01, 2008 Jackie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urbanfantasy

In book 4 of The Hollow Series, Rachel and a supersized Jenks head to Michigan to rescue Nick and Jax. Nick has stolen an artifact that the Weres want but Rachel knows that it will be a war between the Vampires and Weres like never before. After rescuing Nick and Jax, Rachel plots to make it appear like the focus is destroy and Nick has died so the Weres will leave her peace and Nick will be saved. She finds out Nick has betrayed her in more way than one.

Harrison has become one of my favorite ur...more

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Mar 23, 2008 Dannii (lilbob1980) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this book really hard to read compared to the previous three. Whilst there was all the usual excitement and twists and turns i was starting to feel like i had read this all before. Rachel is starting to get on my nerves a bit, i really can't understand how one person can keep making such bad mistakes and never learning from them, and she seems to have the biggest libido in the world. Can she survive five minutes without falling in love with someone? And is she ever going to stop toying w...more

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Dec 14, 2008 Crazy Uncle Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Crazy Uncle Ryan by: Stephanie

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I really enjoyed this one. I think this was the best book in this series so far. One part in particularly that I really enjoyed was the conversation between Rachel and Peter when they are Nick’s truck on the way to the bridge. Once again, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the series continues.

There is one problem I wanted to mention. Near the end of the book I noticed a LOT of typos. The publisher might need to invest in some better proofreaders.

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Sep 29, 2009 Mel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kim Harrison does it again. Just when you think you're actually starting to like Rachel, Harrison turns her into a TSTL whining little girl who seems to be deliberately getting in the biggest trouble possible. All in the mean time while trying to get in the pants of everybody in a radius of 50 miles. And when I say everybody, I mean e-ve-ry-body. Male, female, married, single, big, small, witch, werewolf, vampire...it doens't matter people: Rachel doesn't discriminate. What she does is irritate....more

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Oct 31, 2012 Evan Peterson rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one of the two supernatural series I turn to when I want the feel of Anita Blake without the 300 pages of necrophiliac and/or bestiality porn (the other is the Mercy Thompson series of books by Patricia Briggs).

Technically the writing in this series is fine, but after 4 novels I'm still not really connecting with the characters on an emotional level. A lot of Rachel Morgan's emotions seem harder for me to approach than Mercy's or even Anita's. This makes for this series to be a little ha...more

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Jan 21, 2009 Kristy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book has quite a few noticeable errors in it and that is slightly annoying since they are just careless proof reading errors that should have been picked up.

I find that Ms. Harrisison often writes Rachel's ideas for runs in a very confusing mess. The goal isn't always clear which leads a reader like myself, skipping through it and then figuring it out while it's happening. There is something about the way she goes through Rachel's thoughts that just seems like she's struggling and hurrying...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Matt Schiariti rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fistful is probably the most 'streamlined' of the Hollows books to date (I know, I'm a bit late to the party!). While I enjoyed the previous three just as much, if not more in some cases, they tend to wander at times. Which is perfectly fine. While they have a central plot, many of the scenes are 'a day in the life of Rachael and her unusual assembly of friends', and it's great reading! Some of the day to day situations Harrison puts these colorful characters in are more entertaining than some b...more Fistful is probably the most 'streamlined' of the Hollows books to date (I know, I'm a bit late to the party!). While I enjoyed the previous three just as much, if not more in some cases, they tend to wander at times. Which is perfectly fine. While they have a central plot, many of the scenes are 'a day in the life of Rachael and her unusual assembly of friends', and it's great reading! Some of the day to day situations Harrison puts these colorful characters in are more entertaining than some books main plot by far.

Fistful does lean heavily on a central plot: Nick is in trouble. He stole an ancient artifact that could shift the power balance between weres and vamps in the hollows and cause a bloody war. Rachael, happy in her life but still fighting her own demons about how Nick seemingly left her high and dry decides that she's going to help out. There's one other thing that makes this even more personal for Vampiric Charms. Nick enlisted Jenks' oldest son, Jax to help out. Road trip for Rachael and Jenks! The run/rescue mission takes them up north, well out of the comfort zone of Cincinati.

There's plenty of action mixed in with some really great character development here as Rachael's inability to say no to a loved one (or ex loved one) has her crossing more lines than she ever thought possible. It's very engaging to see her work through her moral dilemmas, both with the type of magic she enlists to help people out of a bad situation as well as how she deals with a certain vampire who may want more than she can give. There are some scenes in the book that are truly heart wrenching.

This is really a great, action packed, thoughtful story. We learn a lot more about what makes Rachael tick, both good and bad. We see certain relationships moved forward on shaky ground and some come to unforeseen conclusions and all the while, Rachael is one mean runner, but is always entertaining and likable.

I'm excited to get into the next of the series to see what other surprises Harrison has in store for me. Four books in and so far so fun! (less)

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Aug 01, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, audio

Book 4. Must go back to kindle version. Narrator Marguerite Gavin is fair but audio makes the stupid parts seem stupider. I think I skim when reading. Also, her voices need some help with consistency.

book description form library
The evil night things that prowl Cincinnati despise witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan. Her new reputation for the dark arts is turning human and undead heads alike with the intent to possess, bed, and kill her — not necessarily in that order.

Now a mortal lover who ab...more

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Mar 25, 2012 OpenBookSociety.com rated it 2 of 5 stars

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi

This is the fourth book in Kim Harrison’s Hollows series that follows the witch, Rachel Morgan, and her two business partners and friends, Ivy, the living vampire, and Jenks, the pixie.

In book three, Jenks left after Rachel didn’t trust him with a secret and they haven’t spoken since. Now Rachel finally gets her chance to mend things with him when his wife, Matalina, asks for her help. Rachel’s ex-boyfriend, Nick, left town and took Jenk’s and Matal...more Review brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi

This is the fourth book in Kim Harrison’s Hollows series that follows the witch, Rachel Morgan, and her two business partners and friends, Ivy, the living vampire, and Jenks, the pixie.

In book three, Jenks left after Rachel didn’t trust him with a secret and they haven’t spoken since. Now Rachel finally gets her chance to mend things with him when his wife, Matalina, asks for her help. Rachel’s ex-boyfriend, Nick, left town and took Jenk’s and Matalina’s oldest son, Jax, with him. Nick got caught up in some trouble and now Jax is stuck in Michigan, which is too cold for a pixie to survive in this time of year and he has no way back.

Rachel would do anything for Jenks and quickly agrees to go with Jenks, even if she has to force him to take her along. She finds some spells in some demon books that her boyfriend, Kisten, dropped off to help them. One of which makes Jenks big so he can survive the cold of Michigan and can protect Rachel from any vampires that may want to stake a claim on her. The cost of the demon spells is just a little black on Rachel’s soul.

They go to Michigan and find Jax and a new pet he’s taken on, Rex, the kitten. Jax tells them that Nick tried double-crossing some werewolves and was captured and has been beaten. Rachel and Jenks go in to save him and barely escape with their lives, but now the weres are hot on their trail, wanting the artifact that Nick has stolen. With it they can make any human into a were with a simple bite and could therefore take over the world.

Ivy shows up to help out and they formulate a plan to fake Nick’s death and the fake destruction of the artifact.

The books in this series have been hit or miss for me so far. This one fell shy of the mark, in my opinion. It was a slow read for me with the action being spaced out a little too far. And I felt there wasn’t enough Kisten or Trent Kalamack to keep it interesting…in fact Trent never made an appearance, although he was mentioned. Some of the scenes, descriptions, and conversations just seemed to drag on for forever I just found the book to be boring except for a few funny scenes with Jenks. It was fun having Jenks big and unleashing his inner shopper and of course all the girls that came along to ogle him. But I feel that that was the one bright part of the book and everything else dimmed in comparison.(less)

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Feb 05, 2012 Jan Edwards rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one in a series, but thankfully not serial, and while it might be useful to have read previous books (I have only read one other) it is not essential.

The premise if one of built in angst - with a bounty-hunting witch sharing both her home and (vampire) boyfriend with an emotionally disturbed vampire.

Rachel is a witch, who is, (almost inevitably) teetering on the precipice with her use of demon (as opposed to other) magic, and here is where maybe reading previous books would have been use...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rachel has moved on and is dating Kisten, still trying to keep the balance with Ivy, has gotten Jenks back and is keeping her business going (no small thanks to high paying jobs from Trent). When she finds out Nick is in huge trouble she of course has to come to the rescue of her ex-boyfriend, as she loves to help the underdog. Her trip to save Nick is not just to save Nick but Jenk's son who has been led astray and to a life of being a thief by Nick. In order to prepare for the trip she must us...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Kasia S. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Obviously I would not recommit this book to anyone who has not read the previous three installments, this series is so mouth wateringly good that you cannot miss a beat; it would truly be a loss for anyone to read this out of order. That aside I will keep the narration of this book short and sweet, ruining or giving anything away is the worst favor anyone can do with this series, the surprises emerge like spring flowers through the snow and action builds up with no sights set up on stopping anyt...more Obviously I would not recommit this book to anyone who has not read the previous three installments, this series is so mouth wateringly good that you cannot miss a beat; it would truly be a loss for anyone to read this out of order. That aside I will keep the narration of this book short and sweet, ruining or giving anything away is the worst favor anyone can do with this series, the surprises emerge like spring flowers through the snow and action builds up with no sights set up on stopping anytime soon. This book does not disappoint, there's drama, action, love and lots of good old fashioned fighting. I was enamored with this story and where it took the characters, it promises a good story continuation from here on!

Rachel is still amongst the living even though her luck has been stretching thin and what is in store for her in this novel is a big chunk of adventure. Kim Harrison really puts her all in her books, from the moment I open each novel I feel the warm welcome of the cozy church Rachel, Ivy and Jenks live in. The big kitchen with the wooden counter, large windows overlooking the pixy garden and the pots and pans, brownies baking or pizza sauce simmering and constant foods and spells Rachel is cooking up makes he hungry, she also simmers smells and makes charms, while I can't make those, at least reading about her cozy cooking makes me feel teleported into her world. The real charm of these books is the strength of characters and their bond with each other; Rachel the bounty hunter,then there's Ivy, her slinky hot vampire roommate with her almond shaped eyes, wearing leather and always defending her territory like a lioness and Jenks, mischievous and charming pixy with a great attitude, they are all familiar to but but they have a new problem on their hands. Nick, Rachel's missing ex-boyfriend is in trouble, and it includes an island bathed in mist, occupied by wild packs of werewolves. This book made me salivate and drool; finally the vampires make some room for the real monstrums in this book and with the help of some black demon magic, something that I can just tell will bite her back later, Rachel does the unthinkable, she finds a way to transform into a werewolf. I can not saying one more thing, the tale was sizzling and intense and things that happened between Rachel and Ivy almost made me fall out of bed. Hot hot hot....Something is happening between the powers of the wolves and the vampires and Rachel finds herself in midst of a huge new conflict. Read this and you will know it all!

I was thinking that my only complaint would be how long this book was, but honestly, after I read the last page I was looking up across the room for book five and then at the clock, then decided that 2;30 am is not the best time for starting a new Harrison book, it might lead to reading till my eyes fell and having to call out of work, not fair to others, so here I am, sitting here and trying to restrain myself from devouring the next installment. It's always a battle to try and hold on, the author is not only a generous and wonderful woman but she writes with so much love and humor and passion I hope she lives to be a thousand and writes millions of these books. She's funny like Xena, you know the warrior princess with brains and brawn, well she's just like her but a whole new combination of strong and cool, something you want in a writer that will knock you socks off.
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May 28, 2011 Books-treasureortrash rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fantasy, reviewed

Book Review: 2 Treasure Box rating

Nick, Rachel's ex, has stolen a priceless were artifac, and in the process has gotten both himselp and Jenks son into big trouble. It is up to Rachel and Jenks, along with a bit of help from Ivy to save the day. The book continues to show life with Rachel, Jenks and Ivy, including all the ups and downs.

A Fistful of Charms is the third book in the Rachel Morgan/The Hollows series. Currently there are nine books in the series, with another three or four expected...more Book Review: 2 Treasure Box rating

Nick, Rachel's ex, has stolen a priceless were artifac, and in the process has gotten both himselp and Jenks son into big trouble. It is up to Rachel and Jenks, along with a bit of help from Ivy to save the day. The book continues to show life with Rachel, Jenks and Ivy, including all the ups and downs.

A Fistful of Charms is the third book in the Rachel Morgan/The Hollows series. Currently there are nine books in the series, with another three or four expected to be relaesed in the future. This series is a modern day story that centers around inderlanders: witches, weres, vampires and others including the occasional demon, so it falls into the Contemporary Fantasy or Urban Fantasy genre. It is told in the first person narrative from Rachel Morgan’s point of view, she is the main protagonist.

There were several aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. I also found Rachel to be a bit annoying at times, but overall I liked some of the concepts in the book.I also found the storyline of Rachel being part of a pack, when she is a witch and not a werewolf to be a bit of a stretch (although it has been done in other series.) But of course it is always interesting to read about how Rachel gets out of the situations she puts herself in. In some ways it is endearing how loyal she is, but in other ways it does not always make a lot of sense. I found the whole bit about Jenks being upset with Rachel (for not telling him what species Trent belongs to) to be unrealistic and irritating. I did like how it segued into Jenks and Rachel getting back together to save Jenks son Jax.

It was really fun to read about Jenks as a full sized man. I also liked how the Nick storyline played out. The book was a complete story and had a good conclusion. Overall, the book was enjoyable and I will definitely be reading the next book in the series. I reccommend this book and series to anyone who enjoys reading contempory (urban) fantasy with a spunky witch as the main protagonist.

For more of my reviews go to: www.books-treasureortrash.com
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Mar 16, 2011 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ok let me just say that I actually really like these books, but man am I really starting to get sick of Rachel. I mean COME ON! Why is it that she almost never uses her powers. I know that she's worried about going black when she'd rather stay white, but if your in deep shit somethings got to give. She has all these powers and when she's in trouble she doesn't use them. She waits awhile to see how bad it get's first and I dont think that's because she likes to live on the wild side a bit too muc...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Jen (Red Hot Books) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: hollows, urban-fantasy

Is there anything Rachel Morgan can't do? She's a witch & a bounty hunter; she has escaped a hit commissioned by her former employer; she's outsmarted a demon; and now we find she can twist demon curses and "Were" into a wolf. Of course, her personal life is kind of messy, but we'll get to that in a minute.

As the book begins, Rachel and business partner Jenks the Pixie are still on the outs. They haven't spoken for 5 months... ever since Jenks found out Rachel had kept a secret from him. Bu...more Is there anything Rachel Morgan can't do? She's a witch & a bounty hunter; she has escaped a hit commissioned by her former employer; she's outsmarted a demon; and now we find she can twist demon curses and "Were" into a wolf. Of course, her personal life is kind of messy, but we'll get to that in a minute.

As the book begins, Rachel and business partner Jenks the Pixie are still on the outs. They haven't spoken for 5 months... ever since Jenks found out Rachel had kept a secret from him. But now, his son Jax is missing. He ran off with Rachel's ex-boyfriend Nick and now they're both in trouble. Rachel and Jenks are able to finally put aside their differences and work together in a mission to rescue Jax and Nick.

They end up on an island of werewolves who are holding Nick hostage. And they not only have to free him, but deal with the sacred item he stole that all the wolves want so desperately.

As with all the Hollows books, the action is great, but this is fundamentally a character story. Rachel is in a relationship with Kisten, but he is merely a background character here. This is about how Rachel is resolving her feelings for Nick. He abandoned her when he left and hurt her terribly. Yet she maintains loyalty to him. I think Nick really does love Rachel. She is the first person who has ever loved him unconditionally and accepts him. And I think he simply believed that love and acceptance was limitless... that she would accept and forgive all of his bad choices as she always seemed to in the past.

And of course there is Ivy. I know there are people out there who think she is Rachel's HEA. But I've got to tell you, her obsession with Rachel is... well, it makes me uncomfortable. If Rachel liked women and was on-board for a sexual relationship with her, maybe I'd feel differently. But she doesn't. And her sudden open-mindedness about sharing blood felt out-of-character. I know there was a lot of writing about self-realization and I was onboard with the assessment that she was a thrill seeker. But if she was only convincing herself she didn't want to be bitten all this time, she did such a good job that she convinced me too. And the whole scene in the van with Ivy was disturbing. I believe she loves Ivy, that she wants to help her and be a true friend. The rest is a tangled mess. I guess it's supposed to be.

Noticeably absent: Trent and Al. But I know they'll be back. And I'll be back every time there is another chance to revisit the Hollows. A truly great series. 4 1/2 stars.
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Nov 05, 2010 Patrick D'Orazio rated it 4 of 5 stars

The latest installment in this series has Rachel heading up to Michigan to help Jenks retrieve his son and help her save Nick, her ex-boyfriend, who has been captured by some were's who hired him to find them a very powerful artifact that he refused to give to them when he discovered what it could do.

The character development here continues to be impressive and the tension between Rachel and Ivy gets boosted when she begins to falter about the tightrope they seem to be walking about sharing blo...more The latest installment in this series has Rachel heading up to Michigan to help Jenks retrieve his son and help her save Nick, her ex-boyfriend, who has been captured by some were's who hired him to find them a very powerful artifact that he refused to give to them when he discovered what it could do.

The character development here continues to be impressive and the tension between Rachel and Ivy gets boosted when she begins to falter about the tightrope they seem to be walking about sharing blood and a deeper relationship with the potential for Rachel to become Ivy's scion.

Black magic seeps into Rachel's life as well as she is forced to use it to turn Jenks into human sized and allow herself to turn into a were. While we don't see any demons in this story the taint on her aura is a disruptive enough force in Rachel's life that she has to continuously work to convince herself that she is casting these curses for all the right reasons.

The plot here is solid and we continue to gain further insights into all the main characters. Jenks as a full sized being is pretty interesting but I have to admit that the repetitive commentary Rachel makes about how hot he is and how she needs to remember that he is a married Pixie was getting on my nerves after about the tenth comment. While I enjoyed the opportunity to see how he would operate as a full sized guy, I definitely prefer him in the four inch variety. He is simply a lot more fun in that size range.

I did enjoy the story here but I have to admit that Rachel's endless stressing out about virtually everything and feeling the need to detail those stresses on every page is getting old really quick. It seems that the author can't go more than a few paragraphs without reminding us about how tough Rachel has it when dealing with her personal life. Certainly there are plenty of things to stress her out and it is ongoing and every changing but to have her repeat, page after page, everything that is bothering her (and its the same stuff over and over) sort of made me want the story to just move on and come to a conclussion after a while.

I do definitely still like this series and have enjoyed it thus far. My criticisms are not major ones and I do look forward to discovering what comes next for Rachel and the gang.(less)

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Sep 05, 2010 Serendipityxxi rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 16, 2010 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bought-copy, series, urban-fantasy

"Let's take a look at my track record. I live in a church with a vampire who is the scion of a master vampire who would just as soon see me dead. I date her old boyfriend, who used to be said master vampire's scion, and my ex-boyfriend is a professional thief who calls demons and trades information about me for tips to steal artifacts that can start an Inderland power struggle." This is the shape of Rachel Morgan's life as we go through the fourth book in Kim Harrison's series about the Hollows...more "Let's take a look at my track record. I live in a church with a vampire who is the scion of a master vampire who would just as soon see me dead. I date her old boyfriend, who used to be said master vampire's scion, and my ex-boyfriend is a professional thief who calls demons and trades information about me for tips to steal artifacts that can start an Inderland power struggle." This is the shape of Rachel Morgan's life as we go through the fourth book in Kim Harrison's series about the Hollows and the Inderlanders who inhabit it.

In fact, in this story we take a road trip away from Cincinnati - Rachel receives news that Nick (her old flame) and Jenks' son Jax are in trouble, and sets out to help them. Since Ivy is supposedly unable to leave Cincinnati - otherwise Piscary gets pissed - Rachel invokes black demon magic in order to make Jenks...more useful. In the course of the story Rachel beats two Were alphas, discovers the existence of the Focus which could cause widescale warfare between Weres and Vamps, takes her relationship with Ivy to a new stage, and ogles Jenks......a lot!

There is a lot going on in this book, and it rapidly became my least favourite so far. I enjoyed the interaction between Rachel and Jenks - particularly because his presence was so missed in the previous book - and the uniqueness of his situation in this book. It was also heartbreaking to realise along with Rachel that Jenks actually counts as an old pixy. I liked the set up of the plan, and cheered the double cross of Nick.

However, there were many things I disliked or got tired of. Weres aren't really my thing, and so I found it difficult to stay interested in the main part of the plot. I ended up wanting to shake Rachel, because she came distinctly whiney in this book. Everything needed double or triple analysing and, because we're stuck in her head since it's all first person, we got to hear it all again and again and again. The Focus was suddenly thrust in as a new point having never been mentioned at all in any prior books, and hence came across as an extreme plot device. I also disliked the way Nick was treated - I mean, I never really liked the guy from the get-go and was relieved when he upped and left in the last book and paved the way for Kisten. But no one deserves to become such a jerk from being a fairly nice guy - it's almost as though Harrison got sick of the character herself or wanted to open the path for something else to happen in Rachel's future and so needed to get rid of Nick.

Still, with all that said, this is still a great series and it sounds like there are explosive events ahead of Rachel - especially now that she has more of a handle on what makes her tick. (less)

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Mar 31, 2010 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Book 4 in the Rachel Morgan series, this one takes place almost entire out of Cincinnati. Rachel, having been "dead", is now the Alpha in David's pack. Since it's just the 2 of them, and Rachel is a witch not a were, it's all a formality. Members of other packs don't see it as such and end up challenging Rachel to a fight. She nearly loses without use of her magic and is determined to find a spell to change her to a wolf so she can fight again.

In the meantime, Jenks and family are still living a...more

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Nov 12, 2009 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Kim Harrison always produces reliable escapist literature, so that didn't let me down. I had a few complaints with this book, the most central being that Harrison is playing the lesbian erotica card, even while denying she is denying her main character's potential bisexuality. Rachel is SO sure that she is exclusively straight, but, reading her reactions to Ivy, I am not. Here's the thing, I know Harrison wants me to be unsure. I get it, wavering sexuality is exciting. This is maybe true for the...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Ana rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 20, 2012 Eliane rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ich frage mich, ob der Heyne Verlag wirklich einen Lektor an diese Bücher gelassen hat. Die Rechtschreib- Grammatik- und Logikfehler werden von Band zu Band schlimmer. Hallo, man sollte wissen, ob die Katze weiblich oder männlich ist, wie eine Figur aussieht und vorallem sollte man gewisse Szenen eindeutig schreiben! Ich hatte dauerhaft das Gefühl, dass Mrs. Harrison einfach eine alte Vorlage genommen hat, halbherzig Dinge geändert hat und das wars.

Davon abgesehen gehen mir Ivy mit ihrem "Wenn i...more

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About Kim Harrison

Kim Harrison, dark urban fantasy author of the New York Times bestselling The Outlaw Demon Wails, was born and raised in the upper Midwest. After gaining her bachelors in the sciences, she moved to South Carolina, where she has remained since. She is currently developing a new young adult series between working on the Hollows books, and is a member of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Ame...more

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Books by Kim Harrison

Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, #3)

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows, #2)

The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows, #6)

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Quotes from A Fistful of Charms

“Plan B?' Ivy said. 'What is plan B?'
Jenks reddened. 'Grab the fish and run like hell,' he muttered, and I almost giggled.” — 198 people liked it

“Tagged by a whiny little vamp. Rache, take this sword and stick it in me. Just go and stick it in me. I'm a back-drafted, crumpled-winged, dust-caked, dew-assed excuse of a backup. Worthless as a pixy condom. Taken down by my own partner. Just tape my ass shut and let me fart out my mouth.” — 111 people liked it

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A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows #4)

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