Sign in with Facebook
Jessica ā� ā� Silverbow ā� ā� 's Reviews > The Undead Pool
The Undead Pool (The Hollows, #12)
by
by
Jessica ā� ā� Silverbow ā� ā� 's review
bookshelves: fae, jerk-of-my-dreams, not-your-ordinary-creatures, some-kinda-magic, urban-fantasy, vampires, weres-shapeshifters, zombies, the-book-boy-is-mine, rabid-reads-reviews
Feb 28, 2013
bookshelves: fae, jerk-of-my-dreams, not-your-ordinary-creatures, some-kinda-magic, urban-fantasy, vampires, weres-shapeshifters, zombies, the-book-boy-is-mine, rabid-reads-reviews
Read 2 times. Last read February 24, 2014 to February 25, 2014.
2/7/18 - ON SALE for $1.99:
3.5 stars
Reviewed by:
So I realize that Iām diving straight into this without having reviewed the previous ELEVEN (it makes me happy that āelevenā� is so close to āelvesā�) books, but I promise Iāll get to them before the series ends next year.
*sobs*
Iām also going to do my darnedest to not be spoilery for this particular book, but as itās the twelfth book, avoiding spoilers for the series in its entirety is probably beyond my abilities. You have been dully warned.
Kim Harrisonās The Hollows is my second favorite Urban Fantasy series, and as such, itās one of the series that Iāve bothered my friends and family into reading. I love it. They love it. Everyone is happy. Especially now that it seems like Trent and Rachel are finally getting their shit together.
Since the very beginning, Iāve had a thing for Trent. Rachelās had half a dozen flings along the way (that have all ended in varying degrees of BAD), but Trent . . . of all the jerk-of-my-dreams characters in the world, he may be my favorite.
*sighs wistfully*
SO everyone who shared this perspective was THRILLED a few books back when his and Rachelās relationship began to change. Ever since then, Harrison has seemed to be leading us towards a happily ever after (HA), but did it finally happen in The Undead Pool?! Iāll never tell.
READ IT. *smirks*
In The Undead Pool, Rachel has been providing security for Trent for the past three months while Quen is in Cali with Ellasbeth and the girls (who are due to arrive back any day now). The sexual tension will blow. Your. Frigginā�. Mind. The last night before Rachel is off the job, Cincy goes to Hellāsomething is causing magical misfires of epic proportions.
At this point I feel itās necessary to inform you that Iāve been in a bit of a book funk. I donāt seem to be loving much of anything right now, so thereās a distinct possibility that when the re-read occurs next year, Iāll be all āOMG that book was AMAZING.ā� Right now, however, something just didnāt quite jive for me. Can you guess what it was?
The freaking mystics.
I mean what in the world? An Elvish goddess whoās not really a goddess, but a collective mind made up of energy whose individual thoughts (<āāthe mystics) are sentient, but who may have been an actual goddess (tangible person) once upon a time?
Huh?
AND Rachel has been concerned over the state of Ivyās soul (or the lack of one when she transitions from living vampire to undead) almost since the beginning, and for probably the last half of the series, sheās been actively trying to come up with a solution. I think that thatās the endgame for The Hollowsāfinding a way for vampires to keep their souls.
The point is that weāve all known for a while what was coming.
BUT this lead-in just felt . . . I donāt know, contrived? A previously unheard of sect of vampires out to take over (at the very least) the vampire portion of the supernatural races? Weād never heard of the Humans-Against-Whatever from A Perfect Blood either, but at least when the concept was introduced there were background stories to support its existence. This time it was just BOOM: Free Vampires.
And the whole situation was engineered by what/who?
David at some point in this book says that Rachel saved Trentāthat Trent had been headed down a completely different and ruthless path, but Rachel saved him from himself. Maybe Harrison was drawing a parallel about the kind of man Trent would have become without Rachelās influence. Maybe. Probably. Whatever.
Intentional parallel or not, all the ends and outs of this installment didnāt gel for me the way others have. It was still good. I love Rachel and Trent and Jenks and everyone else, and Harrison upheld all of the established elements of her seriesāthere is nothing out of left field here (unlike a not-to-be-named other series that ended recently). But all the time I spent with my brow furrowed in confusion while I was reading makes this a four star book for me. I wasnāt able to just sink into the story and let it take me over.
Still, The Hollows continues to have a cast of characters that is both original and dynamic, and its conclusion next year is sure to be bittersweet. Donāt let the seriesā� end catch you unawaresāget caught up and soon!
My other reviews for this series:
Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1)
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows #2)
Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows #3)
A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows #4)
For a Few Demons More (The Hollows #5)
The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows #6)
White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows #7)
Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows #8)
Pale Demon (The Hollows #9)
Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond
3.5 stars
Reviewed by:
So I realize that Iām diving straight into this without having reviewed the previous ELEVEN (it makes me happy that āelevenā� is so close to āelvesā�) books, but I promise Iāll get to them before the series ends next year.
*sobs*
Iām also going to do my darnedest to not be spoilery for this particular book, but as itās the twelfth book, avoiding spoilers for the series in its entirety is probably beyond my abilities. You have been dully warned.
Kim Harrisonās The Hollows is my second favorite Urban Fantasy series, and as such, itās one of the series that Iāve bothered my friends and family into reading. I love it. They love it. Everyone is happy. Especially now that it seems like Trent and Rachel are finally getting their shit together.
Since the very beginning, Iāve had a thing for Trent. Rachelās had half a dozen flings along the way (that have all ended in varying degrees of BAD), but Trent . . . of all the jerk-of-my-dreams characters in the world, he may be my favorite.
*sighs wistfully*
SO everyone who shared this perspective was THRILLED a few books back when his and Rachelās relationship began to change. Ever since then, Harrison has seemed to be leading us towards a happily ever after (HA), but did it finally happen in The Undead Pool?! Iāll never tell.
READ IT. *smirks*
In The Undead Pool, Rachel has been providing security for Trent for the past three months while Quen is in Cali with Ellasbeth and the girls (who are due to arrive back any day now). The sexual tension will blow. Your. Frigginā�. Mind. The last night before Rachel is off the job, Cincy goes to Hellāsomething is causing magical misfires of epic proportions.
At this point I feel itās necessary to inform you that Iāve been in a bit of a book funk. I donāt seem to be loving much of anything right now, so thereās a distinct possibility that when the re-read occurs next year, Iāll be all āOMG that book was AMAZING.ā� Right now, however, something just didnāt quite jive for me. Can you guess what it was?
The freaking mystics.
I mean what in the world? An Elvish goddess whoās not really a goddess, but a collective mind made up of energy whose individual thoughts (<āāthe mystics) are sentient, but who may have been an actual goddess (tangible person) once upon a time?
Huh?
AND Rachel has been concerned over the state of Ivyās soul (or the lack of one when she transitions from living vampire to undead) almost since the beginning, and for probably the last half of the series, sheās been actively trying to come up with a solution. I think that thatās the endgame for The Hollowsāfinding a way for vampires to keep their souls.
The point is that weāve all known for a while what was coming.
BUT this lead-in just felt . . . I donāt know, contrived? A previously unheard of sect of vampires out to take over (at the very least) the vampire portion of the supernatural races? Weād never heard of the Humans-Against-Whatever from A Perfect Blood either, but at least when the concept was introduced there were background stories to support its existence. This time it was just BOOM: Free Vampires.
And the whole situation was engineered by what/who?
David at some point in this book says that Rachel saved Trentāthat Trent had been headed down a completely different and ruthless path, but Rachel saved him from himself. Maybe Harrison was drawing a parallel about the kind of man Trent would have become without Rachelās influence. Maybe. Probably. Whatever.
Intentional parallel or not, all the ends and outs of this installment didnāt gel for me the way others have. It was still good. I love Rachel and Trent and Jenks and everyone else, and Harrison upheld all of the established elements of her seriesāthere is nothing out of left field here (unlike a not-to-be-named other series that ended recently). But all the time I spent with my brow furrowed in confusion while I was reading makes this a four star book for me. I wasnāt able to just sink into the story and let it take me over.
Still, The Hollows continues to have a cast of characters that is both original and dynamic, and its conclusion next year is sure to be bittersweet. Donāt let the seriesā� end catch you unawaresāget caught up and soon!
My other reviews for this series:
Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1)
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows #2)
Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows #3)
A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows #4)
For a Few Demons More (The Hollows #5)
The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows #6)
White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows #7)
Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows #8)
Pale Demon (The Hollows #9)
Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéĄÖ to see if any of your friends have read
The Undead Pool.
Sign In Ā»
Reading Progress
Finished Reading
February 28, 2013
– Shelved
February 24, 2014
–
Started Reading
February 24, 2014
–
0.0%
"Not really. But you better believe that this is what's happening as soon as I open my eyes tomorrow.
"
"
February 25, 2014
–
31.0%
""'Why does everyone assume I'm having sex with him?' I said, exasperated.
'Because he's an elf, love, and elves are very good at it.'" (says Newt)
"
'Because he's an elf, love, and elves are very good at it.'" (says Newt)
"
February 25, 2014
–
75.0%
"One of my favorite things about this series is that if you're a demon, you can get jailed for "uncommon stupidity." LOL."
February 25, 2014
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
[deleted user]
(new)
Mar 17, 2014 08:27AM
Yeah, I agree with you on the plot in this one. It felt messier than I'm used to from Harrison. I still love the series and I'm still excited to finish it out, but everything in this book felt... anticlimactic to me. Sitting on it for a bit before I review.
reply
|
flag
Yeah, I had to let my thoughts marinate for a bit too. And yes, anticlimactic is exactly how it felt to me as well.
Thank you, Brandi ;)
I always love reading your reviews. :)BTW, what's your first favorite Urban Fantasy series?
