Review: Kitty Takes a Holiday

Reviewed by Jen
 

I know it appears there are a lot of hidden spoilers here.  But, they all focus on one big, surprise event in the book... I can't really share my feelings on this story without mentioning it, but I hope the review still makes sense for those of you who choose not to click on the spoilers.

Book 3 in Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series is the best yet. Kitty Takes a Holiday details Kitty’s efforts to get away from it all after her kidnapping at the end of Kitty Goes to Washington. She’s decided to rent a cabin in the woods and write her memoirs. Only it’s not going so well. She starts getting harassed… People leaving dead animals on her porch and whatnot. But things only get worse when werewolf hunter Cormac shows up with lawyer Ben, who has been bitten and has contracted lycanthropy. Cormac figures Kitty can help Ben recover and learn how to accept his wolf. But Ben’s not on board; he wants Cormac to kill him.

We’ve been watching the will-they or won’t-they between Kitty and Cormac since the beginning of the series.

So imagine my shock and surprise, (*spoiler*) when instead of the Cormac hookup I’ve been waiting for, Kitty hooks up with Ben! Remember the scene at the end of Final Destination, when the girl is arguing with her friends, then turns to stomp off and gets hit by a bus? I was completely blindsided by that scene. It came out of nowhere, but at the same time, it made sense in the context of the movie. That’s how I felt when (*spoiler*) Kitty rolled over after her first run with Ben and had sex with him. Totally blindsided.

Of course, Cormac realizes something is amiss between his cousin and lady of interest. He takes off, to leave Ben and Kitty to deal with the growing threat to Kitty safety.

In addition to the dead animals and the threat of a curse outside Kitty’s door, it also appears that the wolf involved in Ben’s infection has followed him to the cabin. But is it really a wolf or something scarier?

A lot was going on in this book, but it never felt scattered or confusing. I never realized that I cared about Ben, but by the end of the book, I was surprised to find out that I do. And I see why Kitty does. And the whole triangle with Kitty-Cormac-Ben is intriguing. I hate what happened with Cormac in the end, but I hold out hope that this will be resolved in the next book or one soon after.
5 stars.

If you are a Kitty fan, don’t miss this one. It’s a game changer. If you’ve never read Kitty before, start with Kitty and the Midnight Hour and keep going with the series. You’ll be glad you did.