A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison

A Fistful of Charms (Hollows, #4) (Rachel Morgan, #4)

by Kim Harrison

The fourth book in the New York Times bestselling urban fantasy-thriller series starring sexy bounty hunter and witch, Rachel Morgan. There's no rest for the wicked, even when the taint on your soul isn't your fault. It would be wise for witch and bounty hunter, Rachel Morgan, to keep a low profile right now. Her new reputation for the dark arts has piqued the interest of Cincinnati's night-prowlers, who despise her and long to bring an end to her interference, one way or another. Nevertheless, Rachel must risk exposure. Her ex-boyfriend, Nick, has stolen a priceless Were artefact, and, as tempting as it may be to let the Weres him apart, Rachel feels obliged to attempt a rescue. But other sinister forces also covet the relic Nick has hidden. Some who desire it so badly, they will take the city -- and everyone in it -- apart to wield its frightening power.

Reviewed by tellemonstar on

4 of 5 stars

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Cross-posted at Book Reviews With The Blogmonstar

So Nick is back in A Fistful of Charms and Rachel winds up in a pretty big mess because of him. Why am I not at all surprised?

A Fistful of Charms sees Rachel on a remote island owned by Weres, who hired Nick to find an ancient Were artifact that would essentially lead them to having more power than the vampires. But, because of the pack mentality of most Weres, this would not be a good thing. Especially with that whole Alpha deal.

We see a bit more of David in this book, and I think it’s nice, because he is a good guy and I think he genuinely cares about Rachel, without wanting to date her. Which is exactly what she needs. He’s sort of a big brother figure, certainly more so than her actual big brother who we rarely hear about.

Rachel is beginning to do a lot more demon magic – whether intentionally or otherwise. The spells she uses to turn herself into a Were and to turn Jenks into a person-sized pixy for instance. Although at the time she agreed to use them she didn’t realise they were demon curses. She is starting to see that the world needs to have shades of grey in it, rather than just be black and white.

A Fistful of Charms makes good on the vampire and were politics outlined in previous books, and also the the laws of magic that have been established. The demon magic is probably a trickier area to define, although those rules are slowly coming together as well. This doesn’t always happen in fantasy novels, so it is good to see that, despite some of the weaker points of the storyline, the magic rules are pretty much kept intact.

The weakest part of A Fistful of Charms is Rachel herself. She still continues to do some pretty stupid things – some on impulse, which are much easier to forgive, and some simply because she thinks it will be the easier way out. Unfortunately this usually winds up causing her to be in more trouble than she was at first.

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  • Started reading
  • 7 June, 2013: Finished reading
  • 7 June, 2013: Reviewed