My Urban Fantasies: Review: Ever After by Kim Harrison

Title: Ever After

Author: Kim Harrison

Series: The Hollows, #11

•Source: Purchased
•Publisher: Harper Voyager
•Publication Date: January 22, 2013

Opening Line: This is close enough.

The ever-after, the demonic realm that parallels the human world, is shrinking. If it disappears completely, so does all magic. It's up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to avert catastrophe and keep life from changing . . . for the worse.

Saving the world isn't Rachel's only motivation. There's also the small fact that she caused the ley line to rip in the first place. That little mistake has made her life forfeit unless she can fix it. It's also made her more than a few enemies, including the most powerful demon in the ever after—a terrifying entity who eats souls and now has an insatiable appetite for her. He's already kidnapped her friend and goddaughter to lure her out, and if Rachel doesn't give herself up soon, they'll die.

But Rachel has more than a few impressive and frightening skills of her own, and she isn't going to hand over her soul and her life without one hell of a fight. She's also got a surprise: elven tycoon Trent Kalamack. With this unlikely ally beside her—a prospect both thrilling and unnerving—she's going to return to the ever after, kick some demon butt, rescue her loved ones... and prevent an apocalypse before it's too late. Or, at least that's the plan. . . .

I have no words to describe the brilliance that is Kim Harrison. I have loved this series since the very beginning. I never though Harrison could top Pale Demon, which was beyond brilliant. I'm happy to announce that I was so very wrong. Ever After is beyond amazing. Saying I LOVED it does not even begin to describe how I feel about this book. I have two words...MY PRECIOUS!

Ever After takes place a couple of months after A Perfect Blood. Rachel's ley line had been slowly leaking energy from the ever-after. Something has gone terribly wrong. The ley line is now leaking massive amounts of energy and the ever-after is shrinking at an alarming rate. Rachel has only a few days to fix the ley line or the demons are going to kill her.

Cute Socks, *smiles* I mean Ku'Sox is back with a vengeance. He's the reason why Rachel's ley line is leaking so badly. Ku'Sox is also working with crape for brains, also known as Nick, stealing Rosewood babies. As if things could not get any worse, Ku'Sox has also kidnapped Ceri and Lucy. Saving the world is once again on Rachel's shoulders. And the only chance for her to defeat Ku'Sox is for Rachel and Trent to trust each other like they never have before.

Ever After is definitely as Al, Rachel and Trent story. Ivy is out of town for most of the book. Jenks does not have the means to fight Ku'sox. Bis has a surprisingly important role to play. And I do not know if I'll ever get over what happened between Rachel and Quen.

Rachel has grown so much as a character. I think that's the reason why Rachel, Jenks and Ivy are drifting apart. The distance between them is not huge, but it's noticeable especially compared to the earlier novels. Rachel's no longer rushing into situations haphazardly, which is why Jenks no longer has to be a constant companion. Rachel and Ivy are no longer completely dependent upon each other, allowing for healthier relationships between themselves and with other people.

I did have three tiny problems with this book. Well, not exactly problems more like personal quirks. They are inconsequential compared to the book as a whole, but they annoyed me enough that I thought I would mention them.

That evil wench Ellasbeth is back. A prospect that I am less than thrilled with. Trent deserves so much better....like Rachel. *wink* I'm just saying that's who I want Rachel to have her happily ever after with.
The blue butterflies are back and I still have no idea what they mean. I love Al, the thought of him and blue butterflies is intriguing. *sigh* I do not know why it bugs me so much. I hope it's mentioned somewhere in the last two books.
Where the hell is Wayde?

My favorite part of Ever After was the last chapter. I promise it will make more sense after you read the book. I'm not going into detail, I would never ruin it for you. I will tell you this; it made me happy, sad, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for the future.

Favorite Quotes

"I want one pure thing in my life. I want one thing I can point to and say, 'That is good, and it's a part of me.'"

"That's dumber than Tink's dildo!"

Eyes holding an unreadable emotion, he hesitated, his attention running over my snarly hair. "Down, I think," he whispered, and making a sharp nod, he turned away.

"I will compensate all your one-inch, two-inch losses because I know how important every inch is to you aged, decrepit men."

"Oh, you're going to pay for that, itchy witch."
"Hey, if I'm going to get blamed for hitting her, I'm going to hit her."

"Call me tomorrow," Al said seriously pointing at him with a bottle as he reclined on the cot. "I've got a curse that will take care of that. Unless you like the snake in a turtleneck look."