Amadan na Briona

I am generally not a huge fan of post-Buffy urban fantasy, particularly the "hot chicks in leather" genre. The only reason I decided to try the first book in the popular "Kitty Norville" series is that I've heard good things about the author, Carrie Vaughn, and also it was on sale on Audible.com.

Well, Kitty and the Midnight Hour is well-written and not as schlocky as I feared, but it did not change my mind about the genre, nor am I likely to continue following the series. I found the story entertaining mind candy, but it's certainly nothing that stands out from the crowd. Also, I got so tired of Kitty groveling, whining, submitting, etc. By the time she finally did grow a pair -- sorry, grow some claws -- I just wanted to see the designated Love Interest werewolf hunter shoot her. I wanted to see more vampires and werewolves and learn more about how their world works, not listen to endless tedious angst about how much it sucks to be a lycanthrope. Shades of White Wolf!

The story is split into several different threads: Kitty's renegotiating her place in the supernatural world (and in her pack), a rogue werewolf who's killing people, and an evangelical preacher who claims he can "cure" the supernatural. None of these plot threads are completely resolved by the end of the book, so obviously you're meant to read the next installment. I wish I could say that the strength of Kitty's character was enough for me to want to find out what happens next, but it's not. The most entertaining bits were Kitty's on-air advice to lovelorn (and/or seriously delusional) supernaturals and supernatural-wannabes, but this was also too thin a premise by itself to keep me engaged with the series.

Not a bad read, certainly, but I'm becoming increasingly judgmental about well-trodden genre novels, and this just didn't have enough Win to overcome my aversion to "hawt vampire-boinking chick" series. (Okay, in fairness, Kitty doesn't boink any vampires... at least not in this book.)