Review: The Turn by Kim Harrison

The Turn by Kim Harrison
Series: The Hollows #0.1
Published by Gallery Books
Published on: February 7 2017
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 448
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

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#1 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison returns to her beloved Hollows series with The Turn, the official prequel to the series that will introduce fans and readers to a whole new side of Rachel Morgan's world as they've never seen it before!

Can science save us when all else fails?

Trisk and her hated rival, Kalamack, have the same goal: save their species from extinction.

Death comes in the guise of hope when a genetically modified tomato created to feed the world combines with the government's new tactical virus, giving it an unexpected host and a mode of transport. Plague takes the world, giving the paranormal species an uncomfortable choice to stay hidden and allow humanity to die, or to show themselves in a bid to save them.

Under accusations of scientific misconduct, Trisk and Kal flee across a plague torn United States to convince leaders of the major paranormal species to save their supposedly weaker kin, but not everyone thinks humanity should be saved.

Kal surreptitiously works against her as Trisk fights the prejudices of two societies to prove that not only does humanity have something to offer, but that long-accepted beliefs against women, dark magic, and humanity itself can turn to understanding; that when people are at their worst that the best show their true strength, and that love can hold the world together as a new balance is found.

I . . . am a fickle broad.

I spent the majority of the last two days bitching and moaning about this book. I have the screenshots to prove it:

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, I hated THE TURN right up until the very end.

Literally. The very end.

The last four pages are what kept me from one-starring this book.

You: Whoa, one star, that’s really bad.

Me: Yes. It is. Typically reserved for horror shows of books like Red Queen and Winter.

You: Why were you going to one star THE TURN?

Me: So. Many. Reasons.

1. The first 40% could’ve been condensed into, oh, around 5 – 10%, leaving us with a surplus of I’m-a-female-scientist-in-the-1960s-hear-me-RAWRRRR stuff and nonsense that was ultimately pointless given the outcome of the book.

You: What does that mean?

Me: If you want to know, you’re going to have to suffer through it, same as me. #notevenalittlebitsorry

2. Drama Queen, thy name is H A R R I S O N.

As you’ve undoubtedly gathering from the above screenshots, Harrison’s prolific use of cliché phrases and sentiments was a great source of amusement/disdain.

There were peaks and valleys, but I never made it more than a few chapters without some variation of this happening:

And then her ears exploded as the hand of God reached down and slapped her.

Or, you know, there was an explosion. *shrugs awkwardly* Certainly not an everyday occurrence, but “the hand of God“?

Pfffffffffft.

3. I hate this story.

Harrison could have written a book about a tragic accident, the perpetrators rife with the guilt of what their tampering with nature had wrought. She could have revealed to us how a small-minded man sought the ruination of a competitor and unwittingly unleashed a plague on humanity, his avarice equaling his DOOM.

She could have told told us any number of tales with any number of satisfactory outcomes.

Instead, she gave us a story of the hapless and the narcissistic and zero accountability.

Booooooooo.

BUT.

Those last four pages. *gnashes teeth*

I hated Kal.

Hated.

Hated, loathed, despised, and abominated.

Justifiably too. The man was a stubborn stupid blind megalomaniac who, albeit accidentally, View Spoiler »slaughtered somewhere between one-fourth and one-half of the world’s human population.

And refused to accept responsibility for it. Then found a way to profit from it.

As if it was his DUE. « Hide Spoiler

*throws head back and shrieks with rage*

Then with a glance and few well-chosen words, Harrison had me wanting to believe he could be a better man.

Whiskey . . . Tango . . . Foxtrot . . .?

No matter how messed up my reaction, Harrison was the one who elicited it, and that was nothing short of miraculous.

Also, the additional background on dark elves (of the brunet Quen variety) vs. light elves (blond-haired, green-eyed Trent Kalamack of HOLLOWS fame) was interesting.

Maybe the distinction was made in THE HOLLOWS, but if it was, I don’t remember it.

Also, also, there were those periodic moments of brilliance that kept me reading THE HOLLOWS loooooong after I’d lost patience with Rachel Morgan:

“His horse’s nostrils flared when he was angry, and his ears? His ears showed his mood, which was mostly bad, so they lay flat against his head.”
April clutched her glass unicorn to her. “Did he hurt April’s horse?” she asked.
Trisk shook her head, and even the boys at the fire relaxed. “No. Princess April wouldn’t let him, but the prince wanted her to come with him. He gave her presents, and food, and kittens.”

And so . . . I am a fickle broad.

Not really recommended, but I won’t blame you if morbid curiosity draws you down this infuriating path.

The Hollows:

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