The Turn: The Hollows Begins With Death (The Hollows 0.1) ~ By Kim Harrison – 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: February 7th, 2017

448 Pages

Synopsis: 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?

Tristan 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 unsuspected 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 the best show their true strength, and that love can hold the world together as a new balance is found.

I absolutely loved Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series which follows the adventures of witch/private investigator Rachel Morgan in an alternate world where supernatural creatures coexist alongside humans who were almost wiped out by genetically-engineered tomatoes in the 1960s. To be honest, I’m still suffering from withdrawal since its conclusion. Needless to say I was beyond excited when I saw there was going to be a prequel.

As soon as The Turn downloaded to my Kindle, I settled into my favorite chair, made sure I had nourishment and told my husband to get out of the house until I finished. Okay. That last part was a slight exaggeration. I did keep shushing him though whenever he came in the room.

 And I think after the third or forth time he interrupted me, I may have given him the evil eye, because he stopped bothering me at that point.

So, even though this is a prequel and you could read it without have read the series first, I recommend reading the series in order first, and then come back to this. I swear I’m not being OCD about this. The Hollows is just such an incredible series that I think you’ll get more out of The Turn if you start with Dead Witch Walking and read the rest of the books in order. This story takes readers back to the 1960s where fans of the series finally get the whole explanation of how tomatoes almost completely annihilate the human race. Given the time period, Trisk has two strikes against her. She’s a woman trying to make it in a field dominated by men, and she’s a dark elf, looked down upon by the rest of the inderlanders. But she’s not an elf to be trifled with. She’s strong, compassionate, extremely intelligent, and determined to prove herself. I absolutely loved her and admired how she continuously tries to make the best of what life hands to her. She’s impulsive at times, which leads to some poor decision making, but this just further makes her more relatable. And then there’s Kal, her childhood bully and lifelong nemesis. His arrogance and self-serving narcissism makes it so easy to hate him, but even he has a couple of redeeming qualities, especially when it comes to his rather touching friendship with a certain sword-wielding pixie.

 For the most part though, Kal proves to be a manipulative elf who doesn’t mind sacrificing anyone to further his petty ambitions. It’s easy to see where Trent (who is a character in The Hollows) inherits his nastiness from. There are also a few familiar faces such as Quen, who I actually liked more in this story. It goes without saying that as usual Kim Harrison does a phenomenal job with the world building, combining all the politics amidst the interlanders, with the societal norms of the 1960s. The ending is left somewhat open, so I’m hoping there will be another book coming about Trisk. What is truly fantastic about The Turn though, is that it’s made me want to go back and re-read the previous books. 

I highly, HIGHLY recommend this to fans of The Hollows. And if you haven’t read the previous books and you’re a fan of urban fantasy you can’t go wrong with this author!