Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Norville #1
Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station - and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged 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?
Ever since her brutal attack and subsequent change to werewolf status, Kitty has survived by becoming completely submissive. Yes that does make her little more than a plaything to the rest of her pack, but hey at least she is safe, or at least she thinks. Everything changes when her radio talk show takes off with sudden popularity and Kitty starts to grow some confidence. This causes some major waves in her pack, and while she doesn't want to back down, she also isn't ready for the consequences. Add into the mix a hunter on her tail, and some very powerful vampires who want her show stopped at all costs, and Kitty is in for a world of trouble.
I had read several reviews of Kitty and the Midnight Hour that really put me off, so much so that it kept getting pushed further and further down my to be read pile. I'm really glad I decided to give Kitty a shot in the end. In those reviews, she was painted as so weak and pathetic that I didn't think I would be able to stand it, even though they spoke of a "coming of age" type plot. Completely spineless characters really grate on my nerves. Granted Kitty is everything they say she was, but what was also apparent from the very start was her potential. She came across as a scared and lonely girl with some major emotional as well as physical damage who was just trying to survive the hand that she was dealt. All it took was one little catalyst for her to open her eyes and start wanting more, and I was thrilled to watch her grow.
The situation Kitty was in was nothing short of horrific. To me, the whole point of a werewolf pack is for support and protection. Yet, her pack seemed only to care about exploitation and abuse. The forced extreme submissiveness and the alpha's taking of sex from whoever and whenever he chose was sickening. Kitty had to sacrifice half her salary to the alpha pair in the name of protection, yet that protection was no where to be found when she truly needed it. It was really horrible to see her go through the things that she did, but in the long run it may just be for the best. Those events paved the way for Kitty to truly find herself and the strength she needs. I cannot wait to see her continued growth as she has so much potential and in time will be a forced to be reckoned with.
I read incredibly fast so sometimes it can be pretty frustrating for me to read books in a series that have only one or two books released. It just feels that once I really get into the characters and world, I've already flew through the book(s). That being said, I am always on the lookout for any well establish series to satisfy my appetite. So, imagine my delight after finishing Kitty and the Midnight Hour, and thoroughly enjoying it, and then knowing I have eight more already released books to read. I'll be spending the next week or so completely content and engrossed in Kitty's world, leaving me one happy camper. I really cannot wait to dive into the next installment to see how Kitty copes with the aftermath of her decisions and actions. All in all this was a pretty decent book that read really fast and almost immediately sucked me into to caring. I highly recommend it to fans of urban fantasy as it is line you won't want to miss.
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Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville, Book 1)
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I really liked the early books in this series. The later installments haven't really lit my fire. But Vaughn makes some bold choices in the first few. She surprised me more than once and I love it when books can do that.
ReplyDeleteThis first book was good but it definitely wasn't my favorite of the series. I ended up enjoying it more when I went back and reread the first couple of books. This is now a favorite series of mine :) Great review!
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