Review: The Witch With No Name

The Witch With No Name by Kim Harrison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. 13 books is a lot of time to invest in a main character and I wasn't sure what to expect in this last installment. Yes, I'm on Team Trent (for some reason... I mean, he was torturing her and threatening her life in the beginning of the series, right?). I wanted to big resolved ending with HEA for everyone. If that's what you're looking for, you will be endlessly satisfied by this book. We get just about everything tied up in a happy way. So why do I have mixed feelings? I guess the fault probably lies with my other expectations - growth from Rachel.

Before I start in on my issues, let's discuss the main plot here. As expected, we are finally tying up some loose ends. First, remember how Rachel promised Ivy to work on her soul/vampire problem. Now it's been bumped up to priority number one, thanks to your favorite vampire kingpin. As if that wasn't a big enough task, Landon is back and being as manipulating as ever. He's got his hooks in Trent's ex, the elves, and even the vampires. While this overlaps a bit with the vampire story, it also manages to force another loose end to completion - the goddess story.

Much action ensues (of course) with a lot of luck, a parade of familiar characters popping up, and (yay) lots of Al (and the demons... but Al is really important... and the best). To balance the best of all things, we are still stuck in the head of one Rachel Morgan. Rachel started this long series as a bit of an annoying whiner. It's part of why it took a lot of effort to move through the first few books, but I persevered. I was rewarded by a character that recognized her faults and grew endlessly stronger and more likable. Unfortunately, at the end of the series now, I'm confronted by a Rachel that looks a lot like the one who started this series. She spends a large portion of the book throwing a big pity party, forcing herself to believe that she doesn't deserve Trent, that she will have to leave him so he can go after bigger and better things, etc. Rather than being able to bask in the glow of the final installment of the series, I found myself questioning how I got here.

All in all, this book delivered a solid last installment (which was greatly redeemed by the amount of Al). If the first few books bothered you, then you will probably be in the same boat as me -- conflicted. If you loved the entire series, you probably think *I'm* the whiner. Either way, it felt good to finish and I'm completely satisfied by the many, many happy endings.



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