Read Our Lips! Book Review Blog: 2.5 Kiss Spoiler-ish Review: Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1) by Kim Harrison

All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party... and to feed.
Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining - and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.

A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead... or undead.

My Spoiler-ish Review:

This book was totally not what I was expecting. I had no idea I was in for a YA book, from the look of the cover!!!!

The start of Dead Witch Walking hits the road running, full of funny anecdotes and situations, but before I was up and running into happy reading land, I quickly tripped on the worldbuilding. There were just so many differences the author tries on for size with her version of supernaturals, that it was just too much info to absorb.

First off, most of humanity's wiped out because of some mutation or virus found in tomatoes. But the humans who have managed to survive, have all but banned the food and it strikes fear in the populace (totally reminded me of the film - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. LOL). Good thing the supernaturals are immune to the virus and can still eat pizza.

Anyhoo, I can't believe that the supernaturals themselves don't even know about the differences in the species, like what sets off a vampire or not. It was just #teamtoomuch in trying to be set apart, when it would have been easier to just rely on the myths we know and associate with being a vampire, or a werewolf.

*le sigh* Rachel is a witch bounty hunter who works for the I.S., hunting down supernaturals who break the law. She has flubbed so many of her assignments that she ends up with shit detail, trying to bring in a leprechaun on tax evasion.

While on her run, she meets up with Ivy, a vampire (who's not dead? and therefore doesn't drink blood?) the star of the agency. In a moment of triumph, Rachel bags her mark and she's proud to show Ivy she can do her job.

But when the leprechaun tells Rachel she'll grant her three wishes in exchange for letting her go, Rachel jumps on the chance for some freedom from the oppressive job she's been meaning to leave for a while.

Rachel makes the mistake of telling Ivy her plans, and is surprised to find that Ivy, too, wants to leave the agency. Jumping on the band wagon is Jenks, a pixie who just wants the third wish for himself - sterilization so he can just enjoy being with his wife and not have to add to his brood.

Rachel agrees to the companionship and she wastes her wish on not getting caught letting the leprechaun go. Ivy saves her wish for a later time, and Jenks gets his wish right away. The three of them move to an old church, but danger looms at every turn.

When Rachel leaves, her boss Dennon is only too happy to see her go, but when Ivy quits the same day, he puts two and two together, realizing Rachel had something to do with his best runner's decision to leave. Pissed, Dennon puts out a death threat on Rachel's life.

What ensues is a bevy of assassination attempts, and in between it all, Rachel tries to undo the hit on her life by bringing down the biggest mobster in town, Trent - a protected and respected councilman she accuses of running biodrugs.

It's unclear what Trent really is - the mystery is never solved throughout the whole book, and it's a constant struggle of wills between him and Rachel. But the book is filled with all sorts of mysteries such as what was Ivy's wish? And just who is their neighbor? These are both never answered and are just a teaser to continue to the next book. Maybe I would have taken the bait, but there just wasn't any romance for me to continue.

Rachel, while disguised as a mink via one of her charms, is taken captive by Trent and is taken to the rat pit fights to fight for her life. In her first fight, she goes against Baron (who turns out to be Nick) and they both escape.

Nick is a human, but he's got vast knowledge of the superhumans as he works at a library. (How is it a human knows the ins and outs of every species, and yet a trained witch bounty hunter from a supernatural agency has no clue? *smh*) There's a big mystery surrounding him, too, but it's a let's-discuss-that-later issue. Nick becomes Rachel's love interest, but there wasn't much chemistry there.

It was an okay read, but I would have liked a warning saying this was a YA book. From the cover, I thought it was a paranormal romance. Oh well, live and learn.

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