Ever After (Hollows, #11)

by Kim Harrison

New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison returns to the Hollows with the electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed Ever After!

The ever-after, the demonic realm that parallels our own, is shrinking, and if it disappears, so does all magic. It's up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to fix the ever-after before the fragile balance between magic users and humans falls apart.

Of course, there's also the small fact that Rachel is the one who caused the ley line to rip in the first place, and her life is forfeit unless she can fix it. Not to mention the most powerful demon in the ever-after—the soul-eater Ku'Sox Sha-Ku'ru—has vowed to destroy her, and has kidnapped her friend and her goddaughter as leverage. If Rachel doesn't give herself up, they will die.

Forced by circumstance, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack—a partnership fraught with dangers of the heart as well as betrayal of the soul—to return to the ever-after and rescue those she loves. One world teeters on the brink of interspecies war, the other on the brink of its very demise—and it's up to Rachel to keep them both from being destroyed.

• ISBN13: 9780007523627
• Publish Date: 30 January 2014 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperVoyager
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[littleread1]

I am liking each book more than the last! ALMOST TO THE END THOUGH. Yikes!

[Linda]

*catching my breath*

WOW, what a ride! And that ending... Really? That's how it ends? And now I have to wait until next year to see where this will go?

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

Full review to come soon.

[Berls]

For more reviews, see: Fantasy is More Fun

What an incredible read! Whatever novel in the series was your favorite before get ready to replace it with Ever After, easily the best in the series. The book will excite you, shock you, break your heart, and then do it all over again. And again.

From the very first chapter, its clear that the events of the last couple books have had their impact on Rachel. No longer does Trent show up in the book for a scene or two only to disappear for the rest of the book. Now Trent is someone she's learning to trust and call a friend; it's heartwarming to see how she fits into his new life as a father. Several scenes bring us into the Kalamack home, made complete with Ceri, Quen, Lucy, and Ray... and even the fairies Rachel sent to spy once upon a time. The primary action/drama of this book centers on Ku'Sox reeking havoc on Rachel's life. He steals several Rosewood babies, who Rachel feels responsible for since it's her survival that has revealed their potential as demons. He also has alerted the demons to the line that she and Bis created in Pale Demon (by accident of course) and how that line has sped up the destruction of the Ever After. Needless to say they aren't happy about it and she's on a deadline to fix it or else.

Around these two central problems the book unfolds, simultaneously devastating and glorious. It's a virtually non-stop roller coaster, slowing down just long enough to let you catch your breath before climbing yet another peak. The only disappointment is reaching the end, knowing that not only do you have to wait for the next book, but that there are only two left. If Ever After is any indication, though, those books are going to be incredible. A definite must read.

[kimbacaffeinate]

As the eleventh book in the Hollows series, Rachel Morgan, Ivy, Jenks, Trent and Al all kind of feel like family and I was excited to see what kind of mess Rachel would find herself in this time. The day-walking demon took me by surprise and this is perhaps one of my favorite books in the series to date.

Rachel is adjusting to being a day-walking demon while awaiting citizenship, her training with Al is going well and things at the church are good. But we all know that cannot last. Quen wants her to work security for Trent, and while the jobs aren’t lining themselves up she is reluctant. Someone is stealing babies and the ley-line she created is sucking up the ever after. If she cannot fix it she will forfeit her life. Rachel is convinced the demon Ku’Sox is behind it and she is ready to do battle. The tale that unfolds was action packed, filled with world building and growth for the characters.

Harrison has created characters that have evoked many emotions from me; love, hatred, anger, frustration, happiness and tears. In this eleventh book we get all of those emotions and more. Rachel’s growth continues and she continues to thinks before she acts. At her core she is good and fair; qualities I have come to admire in her. She still has heartfelt, anger driven moments of wanting to rip people’s throats out but that is Rachel in a nutshell! Trust has never been one of her strong points but finally we are beginning to see her move from depending on herself to realizing others are there for her. Those she loves are in danger and Rachel is a force to be reckoned with. Ivy is absent for most of the novel but we do get an interesting thread about her. Trent is very present in this novel and the interaction between these too is intense and sweet. We see an overall shift in relationship dynamics involving most of the characters and it was exciting and a tad bit scary! Al and several of our favorite demons are present, and Rachel is fearless and even a little cocky when interacting with them. We see loss, and betrayal like only Harrison can deliver.

Epic world building delighted me in this addition of the Hollows. We finally get answers about the ever after, the elves and the demons. *happy dance* Harrison beautifully captures and describes the ever after and its history. If I ever doubted her intentions with the overall arc or wondered at times if she was flying by the seat of her pants those doubts have been abated. Harrison has been to the ever after and I am confident she knows exactly how this ends! The dilemmas and timelines kept me on edge the entire time I was reading. If I had not forced myself to savior the novel it would have been easy to lose myself from the first pages and not resurfacing till the bitter end. I am anxious to see where Harrison takes us next, and if there is hope for a certain couple. I have secret wishes about the world and cannot wait to return again.
See more of my reviews @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Hixxup]

This was by far the best book out of the series to date. Sure I have loved most of the books in this series once I got past the first couple, but this one tops it all out. This book, you get to know Trent just a little more which is always interesting, because I've always liked and have been interested in him. Then, you see some backgrounds to Demons and Elves. Ugh Ellasbeth is back, and she just makes me wanna "smack a bitch". Ivy well she's basically background music now, which is fine by me, I like Rachel and Jenks much better. And I just wish they would kill Nick I MEAN SERIOUSLY!!!! I can't wait for the next book, I know it's coming close to the end of the series, and I gotta say actually whine: "I don't want it toooooo!"

[Melanie]

This is one of my favorites in this series. It will make you laugh and almost made me cry. There is lots of Trent, Al and Bis. There is a fair amount of Jenks. There isn't much of Ivy, though she made me LOL not long after she arrives. Normally, Jenks is the one that is hysterically funny, and he had his moments, but this was not his best book. I can't wait to see where Rachel goes next. I know that series is coming to an end and it seems the Ms. Harrison knows what she's doing.

[ibeforem]

Every time I read one of these books, I get a little sadder because I know this series is winding down to its end. It’s evident in Rachel’s personal story arc. In this book, she doesn’t have any of the people she normally leans on available to her – Ivy’s out of town, Jenks can’t go to the ever-after, and even Al is out of commission. Trent’s help is unreliable, due to other circumstances. So Rachel is left to save not only herself, but the entire ever-after – and magic – as well. Just the fact that she attempts it without a complete breakdown shows tremendous growth in her character. Her actions may seem more reckless, but she’s trying her best to limit the danger to herself.

There are a lot of old familiar faces in this book, some welcome, some not. A few loose ends are tied up, a few long-asked questions are answered. But the book wasn’t perfect. There was some major action, including the death of a significant character, that occurs “off-screen”, and I thought it was a real disservice to that character. It’s very unusual for such an important plot point to be un-witnessed by Rachel. So why would Harrison do that? Was the book too long, and she needed to cut something? Or is the character not really dead at all? Perhaps that last idea is just wishful thinking.

I’m excited for where this series will go in its last couple of books. Will the ever-after finally stabilize? Will Rachel find a way to save Ivy’s soul? How will her success (or failure) change their relationship? What will happen with Jenks as his children continue to grow and leave the nest? And what the heck will happen with Rachel and Trent? Who will sabotage their truce first?

This is one of the few series (maybe the only!) that still has me waiting anxiously for each book, dieing to read it as soon as possible. The fact that I still feel this way after 11 books is a true testament to the strength of Harrison’s world and character building.