The Turn by Kim Harrison

As a huge fan of the Hollows series by Kim Harrison, I was very excited to be allowed to preview The Turn, the novel that details the events that lead to supernaturals being outed in Rachel Morgan’s world.

I received an ARC or review copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are my own.

Title: The Turn
Author: Kim Harrison
Series: The Hollows, 0.1
Publish Date: February 7, 2017
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: NetGalley

Publisher’s Description: #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.

Possible spoilers beyond this point.

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Invested Ivana says…

The Turn stirred up quite the mix of emotions for me. On the one hand, it was fantastic to revisit the world of the Hollows and get a glimpse of its history. On the other hand, I’m not sure I’ve ever had a stronger urge to slap two protagonists upside the head as much as I did with Kal and Trisk.

I have a couple of nitpicks. These really are nitpicks—tiny things that bother me but do not really impact my love of the book.  First, I had to work hard to remember that the Kalamack in this book is NOT Trent. That was just a mental mindset I had to change. 🙂

Second, the cover, while beautiful, feels like a Young Adult cover. Like with many YA books, the focus is on the fancy dress.  It’s hard to tell that Trisk is holding a black tomato, and the black stain on the dress is obscured by the title treatment. When I first saw the cover, I was concerned—I’m not a big fan of YA. However, this book could be considered New Adult, which often has similar covers as YA. The book doesn’t seem to be billed as either YA or NA, but Amazon does have it listed as Fantasy Romance. I would have to disagree with that—this is not a traditional romance. This reads, to me, like a New Adult Urban Fantasy, and for that, I guess the cover is fairly appropriate.

Being written for a New Adult audience would certainly explain why I felt the protagonists needed a good slap so often. In my admittedly limited experience, the New Adult genre is about newly independent adults working through new situations, screwing it up, fixing it, and learning from their mistakes. That is very much what happens in The Turn, only the mistakes these two new adults make have devastating consequences for an entire country.

Both Trisk and Kal are somewhat self-involved, as new adults tend to be—Kal more so than Trisk, as is generally appropriate for male and female development at that age, from what psychology tells us (disregarding that they are elves, of course). Actually, Kal is just an ass all the way through the book.  By the end, I still didn’t like him one bit. Trisk was more sympathetic—while many of her decisions weren’t very smart, she mostly got screwed over by Kal.

The book takes place in the 1960’s. As a lover of historical fiction and consistent world-building, I found the ending of the book appropriate for the time period and accurate based on what we have learned in the Hollows series. But as a liberal female, it was emotionally frustrating. I actually harrumphed as I ended the book. This is not a book about female empowerment. That is Rachel’s story.

Even with that, however, I truly enjoyed The Turn. Because I love world-building so much, I love books that delve into the history, or future, of a known world, examining how what we know about the world ties into other eras or characters. Harrison laid some great groundwork for the rest of the series, particularly when it comes to how Trent treats Jinks and other fairies. It was very interesting to see the political games at work among the supernaturals, games that seem too familiar and real from our own history.

In the end, I think this would be an emotionally frustrating book to read stand-alone, but a great addition to the Hollows series. We get to visit with familiar characters, see how they connect to the past, and get to watch the groundwork being laid for the future we know. I’m very much looking forward to listening to this book in audio, just to cement more of the details in my mind. 4.5

Our reviews in this series…

Series Spotlight: The Hollows by Kim Harrison

Other recommendations…

I haven’t read many New Adult books, but if you like them, check out the Custard Protocol by Gail Carriger. Of course, I recommend the Hollows series by Kim Harrison, and though I haven’t read them yet, I’m really looking forward to the Peri Reed Chronicles. Harrison also has a Young Adult series, the Madison Avery series, about a young Grim Reaper.

I received an ARC or review copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are my own.