A Fistful of Charms

Hollows, Book 4

By: Kim Harrison

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the best-selling Dead Witch Walking makes her hardcover debut with this spellbinding new supernatural adventure featuring the highly original Rachel Morgan.

Things are going well for Rachel Morgan, witch, independent runner, and one-third of the runner service Vampiric Charms. She's got a business, friends, even a semi-regular - and always-sexy - boyfriend. So what if Kisten is a vampire? So's her roommate, Ivy....

But an unexpected call for help sends her out of Cincinnati on a desperate trip to rescue the son of her business partner, Jenks. It's fun at first, even with dealing with a human-sized Jenks (you cannot believe how much trouble a six-foot pixy can cause, especially when he looks like a supermodel), but the road trip quickly turns dangerous when confronting an old love becomes a fight for survival. 

For seeing Nick Sparagmos again is the least of Rachel's problems - the ancient, mystical statue he has stolen holds the key to sinister, wild magic that can change humans into Weres. And for the first time in millennia, the Were packs are banding together to overthrow human and Inderlander alike. The fight that follows will shake Rachel’s very soul...and she will never be the same. 

©2009 Kim Harrison (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Main character being an irrational idiot

A fun series if you don't mind the main character (Rachel Morgan) being an irrational idiot. Frustrating at times but plot armor and raw power keep her alive. 

Another Excellent Gavin Narration

I wrote an excellent, considered review, but once again, the changes in the allready-challening Kindle keyboard have annoyed me to the point of starting over! I will get another external keyboard, since my old one bit the dust. This keyboard is my number one problem with Kindle. The last update changed many things for my Kindle experience, none of them for the better. 🤐 I have been a heavy Kindle user and a fan since the first reader, so that says a lot.

Now onto the review, Gavin is great. The book is too long. The story action is good, but there's too much repetition of the Ivy/Rachel dynamic by the three Vampiric Charms partners and Kisten. All four of them in every configuration discuss it endlessly. We knew all this from book one, and I'm sick of it. Harrison should have let this develop naturally in a more subtle fashion within the stories. She probably could have cut this book down by a third and saved the readers some time and irritation. The scene in the van and Rachel's continuous inner dialog are too much. Folllowed by another endless discussion between the four, two and three at a time, one directly after another! Where is a decent editor? You'd think somebody would pay closer attention to the writer's first hardcover print! Many readers didn't finish the book or continue the series because of this pointless detail.

Recommended, but if you are as bothered by these issues as I am, you may choose to read this installment of the series instructions of listening. It's easier to skip over the repetitive parts.

Great except for one thing

I love this series and this narrator, but for the love of Peet, it's pronounced Ma-kuh-naa not ma-ka-nak. It's the first thing that shows up when you Google the place. I'm still giving it five stars because that's the only thing I didn't like, lol.

LOL The MC is a total Karin.

Stiff necked, judgmental, casually bigoted, quick tempered, easily offended and often turns small problems into big one's with poor planning and hysterics. Rachel Morgan is a total Karin, But oddly enough one that grows on you after a while. Don't get me wrong she can get really annoying at times, however she does try to do the right thing, is willing to learn from mistakes, and will always take responsibility for her own actions (even if she doesn't always want to). At the end of the first book i did NOT like her at all, but slowly but surely her brand of crazy started to win me over. I also came to realize that Rachel's character growth is the main overarching storyline. Lol i know what you are thinking, "DUH, No crap Sherlock," but it is actually unusual for a series to make character development the ONLY over arching plot, plus MC's don't usually start off quite as bad as Rachel. The slow transformation is quite expertly handled, you don't even realize it is happening until you start to realize that you are actually rooting for her. It's kind of weird. Though i would say there is still a problem of the author leaning a little too hard on the scales, you can only suspend your disbelief for so long. Like say for example a wolf who doesn't even know how to walk properly being able to hold her own in a fight against another who has an entire life time of experience. Going to need to let go of some of that plot armor Miss Harrison.

I am looking forward to seeing where this all goes.

Great Ending Too!!

I started this series years and years ago. Picking up a book here and there. So Its been a while (years) since I have read one of these. But these books were so well done, I pretty much remembered everything and was able to jump back in like I never left. Racheal, Jenks, and Ivy all very memorable characters. And Ivy and Kisten, and Rachel and Kisten, and most importantly Rachael and Ivy. Ohh, there is so much going on in these books. And I really am hoping that thing with Rachael and Ivy to work out. It was also awesome how this book had a lot of Jenks the Pixie in it. He really helps makes these books great. I loved learning more about him. Also, I loved that K.H's books always a little meat to them... Back story, plot, You know, little things like that. And this book checks all the important boxes. This is another series I swear I am going to finish. Kim's imagination is so totally worth it!

Kim Harrison is always a good listen!

Kim Harrison does it again. This was a great book to listen to with a nice developed plot line and great character details throughout so you really become invested and involved in their story. The only one minor complaint is that at some times the speed of the narration changed between going faster and slower. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

series is still great

I am still loving what Kim Harrison is doing. The last few books focused on demons and vampires. This book focused more on werewolves, fleshing out the world that they live in. The comedy is still great, the MC still wants to have sex with everyone she meets, and we still hear about every good outfit in perfect detail.

If you liked this series so far, you will love this one. Highly recommended.

Weird

Great narrator but wtf with the speeding up her voice until it sounds like she had helium here and there throughout the book?! Really weird to listen to but, when I was able to tune out the speed up and slow down of the narrator’s voice I enjoyed the story.

FMC

I love the series but Rachael is starting to get on my nerves. She’s supposed to be so strong but come off as stupid and weak most of the time then all of a sudden she’s a bad ass… it’s starting to get annoying.. but bc I love the series I will soldier on..

A Fistful of Twists and Turns

Great book! The plot twists and turns were great! On to the next book in the series!