Customer Reviews

Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville)

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I usually review vampire novels, but the werewolf genre seems to be growing - not quite up to the size of the vampire genre yet, but getting there. This book has vampires as well as werewolves, although the main protagonist is a werewolf. So I can give it a run through BunRab's Standard Vampire Classification, applying the standards to both vamps and weres:
The book's genre is definitely fantasy, but it's also a murder mystery. (Front cover blurb is from Charlaine Harris, who writes mainly in the mystery genre and only recently started in on vampire fantasy.) Both the werewolves and the vampires have the standard supernatural characteristics expected of them - extraordinary strength, susceptible to silver bullets, etc. - and not too much outside of those usual characteristics. The vampires don't turn into bats, no one gets to be completely invisible (although vampires can certainly disappear rapidly). The characters have a purpose in life besides being evil creatures of the night - they hold jobs, have civilian lives, have non-supernatural friends - they aren't just fantasy characters. Although there is a noticeable amount of sexual content in the book, the vampire characters are not there solely as metaphors for sexual activity, as is the case with some of the older breed of vampire books. The author, and the characters, have a sense of humor - the book isn't always dead serious. (All of these features - cross-over genres, what metaphors are used, whether the supernatural characters are also people, whether the book is serious or farce or in between, are all ways to compare various fantasies to see whether they fit into your favorite style. Some people prefer the dark and brooding evil creature of the night or the tortured soul; others prefer the touch of humor that Tanya Huff or Charlaine Harris brings; still others prefer the heavy sexual content of Laurel Hamilton's books. BunRab's Standard Vampire Classification is my attempt to give you points of comparison to see if this is a match for other vampire books that you have already read and enjoyed.)

Kitty is a nice character. Brave, smart - maybe a little bit too nice and philosophical and able to instantly deliver wise advice on the radio, but then, this is a fantasy - our characters don't have to be completely realistic. Certainly, a werewolf who discusses the love lives of the supernatural is less of a blowhard, and probably a lot more fun to listen to, that the talk radio hosts that really are out there.

Some of the touches I enjoyed:
*the sign-off for Kitty's show is a recording of her own wolf howl;
*"Wide World of News" tabloid's repeated Bat Boy stories;
*The cops we meet are mostly good guys and mostly competent, not played for the worst stereotypes;
*The hints of more species to come - at the end, after homo sapiens sanguinis and homo sapiens lupus, there's a mention of homo sapiens pinnipedia (those of you who have a little scientific Latin & Greek, as I do, will guess what that is instantly, as I did; the rest of you need to refresh yourself on high school biology.)
*The preview of the next book, which includes a caller to the talk show who thinks he's a were-alpaca.

The book's not perfect - there are a few small plot holes and unresolved bits, and there's some of the careless copy-editing that is rife in mass-market books these days (your for you're, etc.) but not much - it's bearable.

Family reading alert: as mentioned above, there *is* explicit sexual content. There's also some blood and gore. Not too much in the way of four-letter words. Overall, I'd call it about a PG-15, unless the idea of any sexual content at all really bothers you.

Summary: a decently-plotted and resolved murder mystery, fairly well-thought-out supernatural characters, some nice touches of humor. I will definitely be purchasing the next in the series!

Kitty has the late ship at a small radio station. She likes the late hours because she is a werewolf. One night she accidentally makes some comments on her show and it turns into a talk fest with the music forgotten. The subject was the paranormal, specifically Bat Boy, in the tabloids. The talk hits its stride and the station wants to keep the format and even move to limited syndication. What could be wrong with that?

Well, the local werewolf and vampire populations do not like the attention. They are afraid people will realize they are real. But as submissive as Kitty is in her werewolf pack, her human side is more assertive and she tries to keep the show going. Soon people find out she speaks from experience and trouble really begins to build. Assassins, the police, vampires, werewolves, jealousy and hatred all combine to make things difficult for the late night show host. Find out how she deals with it.

A very nice first book in a series (number two is excerpted at the end). The world is interesting but I think full humans handle the news of the supernatural a little too blandly. But still it is a very enjoyable book and hard to put down. Check it out.

This book, all about the adventures of late-night radio DJ Kitty who happens to be a werewolf, starts off very slowly. At the beginning, I didn't much care for this character who seemed entirely too inclined to allow other people to bully her and fight her battles. I recommend sticking with the book though, as the last 2/3 of the book proves to be much better than the rocky start. Kitty grows up a lot in this book and I am hopeful that a sequel will be even better. I love the portrayal of the werewolf pack and the interpersonal dynamics as Kitty struggles her way through the tough changes in her life. The vampire Family dynamics were also extremely interesting and I hope that they are explored more in depth in the next book. The appearance of a recurring villain was also quite refreshing, giving the main character a challenge while not allowing her to become too powerful too quickly. I think readers who stick it out to the end will be glad they did!

I used to read Science Fiction almost exclusively, but when Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire books introduced me to the world of semi-romantic modern day urban fantasy, I was hooked. The genre is growing by leaps and bounds, so it is getting harder to decide which books to read and which ones to skip. When I read the synopsis of 'Kitty and the Midnight Hour', it sounded like something I would like. I do not want to get a full blown romance book, nor do I want the oversexed novels of L.K.Hamilton, and I am certainly not looking for anything with over the top violence. 'Kitty' seemed to fit into what I was looking for.
Having said that, I was extremely disappointed when the book arrived and it was only 288 pages of large, wide spaced text. Surely this small novel cannot be very well developed, or very interesting. But as I started reading I was easily drawn into Kitty's world, and I was impressed by the way that such a short novel was able to convey so much character depth and emotion, and how attached I could become to characters that where given so little space to develop. Kitty's story and growth occurred simultaneously without one interfering with the other, and by the end of the book I was hooked and wanted more.
I know that this is a series, and characters and situations will be further - or more fully - explored in the future books, but I still think this book could have been better with more story. Hopefully future books will get a little more involved, but for the time being I will follow Kitty to Washington and on Holliday.
Fans of Rachel Caine's 'Weather Warden' series, Jim Butchers 'Dresden Files', and the 'Southern Vampire' books will probably like the 'Kitty' books.

Chick lit meets the paranormal in this fast-paced, entertaining novel by Carrie Vaughn.

Late-night DJ, Kitty Norville, is bored with the same old song requests, so she opens the mike to calls for advice--from the supernatural. Being a werewolf herself, she has some insight into what their lives are like. To everyone's surprise, the show becomes a huge success. Unfortunately, it also brings Kitty out of the closet. Death threats abound, and not just from humans. Throw in a sexy hunter ala Van Helsing, a homicidal werewolf and challenges from her own pack, and Kitty doesn't know which way to turn.

While this book does have some romance, that is not the aim of the story, so don't buy it with puppy love in mind. Chick Lit doesn't always end up with the guy and girl riding off into the sunset. But if you're looking for a light-hearted (though sometimes nauseating) fun read that includes werewolves, vampires, cops, intrigue and the gore that goes with it, pick this up and enjoy.

Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
6/8/2006

I'm a big fan of paranormal books and am always on the lookout for something new. This is new, and it's good too, not a trashy romance masqurading as the next LK Hamilton.

One of the best things about this book was the way in which Vaughn describes life as a member of a werewolf pack. I've read a lot of books about werewolves, but none that described the sexual and power relationship struggles so realistically.

This book has just enough sex to make it interesting, but not so much that I felt embarassed to read it. It's got a murder mystery subplot, and a great deal of dialogue and character development. If you're wondering whether to buy it or just get it from the library, buy it. It's good enough to last a second or third reading.

I read and reviewed this one mostly for [...] Werewolf Month, but in the end, I needed more space to really explore my reaction. At best I thought "meh".

I'm absolutely a werewolf fan, all shape shifters really, and even though I don't like the tradition man-to-monster angle on werewolves found in horror I just can't get enough. If it has shape shifters I'll try it, and this is one of those times where that bites me on the rear.

What's causing this internal conflict is the number of fans and positive reviews out there. I don't understand what other readers see in this series, because I was done with this book 20 pages in (I kept reading through the first 100 pages and it never picked up.)

Kitty Norville is a werewolf, but she's not only submissive, she's whiny. She cowers, she whines, she cries, but she still goes against her alphas. Furthermore, she has a very flat personality and seems to be nothing outside of "being a werewolf" and running her late night call in show, The Midnight Hour.

The radio show bits are the only interesting parts of the book, but those aren't entirely realistic, when combined with Kitty's complete lack of experience and the reactions of the callers to Kitty. Callers seem to unquestioningly trust Kitty. This leads to a feeling that everyone who calls into The Midnight Hour is either an irrational hater/religious nut or blindly and adoringly trusts and obey Kitty. This, without a firm rational to explain it, directly sets off my Mary Sue alarm, because it leaves me, as a reader, feeling like the author is setting the character up to be loved and adored and sympathized with by other characters in the hopes readers will feel the same way (we don't).

I never liked Kitty, and never felt like I was given a reason to like Kitty other than "Poor Kitty was attacked by a werewolf and victimized and can't be herself except on this radio show, which everyone wants to take away from her". That simply isn't motivation enough for me. I need to see features in characters that I like and want to connect with.

And speaking of the werewolves, I've seen much praise for this book "showing the darker side of werewolf pack life that other books ignore" that I also don't understand. I've seen lots of stories about constant battles and co-dependency among werewolves. But this book slaps readers in the face with the message over and over with every pack scene.

Put simply, Kitty's whining is made worse by the fact that her alpha, Carl, commonly beats her and has
sex with her and when not doing either he emotionally manipulates her to be completely dependent on him. Kitty even says he wants her to be a child, helpless and useless without him, unable to protect herself, or make her own choices, but that doesn't matter because Carl will make the tough choices (in his favor) for her. Even Kitty's close friend, Carl's second in command T.J., assaults her and emotionally abuses her, always undermining her choices, especially the ones where Kitty starts to stand up for herself. "Oh I'm worried about you" and "What's wrong with you" he asks, when Kitty fights back against the man who attacked and infected her and who, in that scene, also tries to force her to have sex with him (again, apparently). With these not-so-subtle questions to her behavior T.J. implies that there is something wrong with Kitty defending herself from forced sex from someone who has proven to want to kill her.

Outside of the radio show and the pack issues there is nothing. All the other scenes, sometimes weeks at a time are completely skipped over, reinforcing the feel that there is nothing to Kitty other than pack submission and giving out advice she's not qualified to give. It's as if Kitty has no life outside of these things, save for the fact that she tells us certain things in the "fast forward" sections (like about her family, who are also mindlessly supportive once Kitty comes out).

Through the whole book Kitty is supposed to be investigating a religious cult claiming to be able to cure vampirism and lycanthropy, however no "on scene" time is spent on this investigation. Yet when asked about this Kitty always has more information. What is first presented as likely the main plot, sort of lingers in the background, not really addressed for the sake of Kitty's emotional pack drama.

Add to that a myriad of small irritations like, how is Kitty's own howl being used as the sign off for her show, how did she record her own howl if she avoids shape shifting as much as possible? Add the utter lack of resolution making this whole book feels like a prologue to the next book, and there just isn't anything to keep me reading, much less wanting to buy the next.

In the end the only good thing I can say it that I didn't force myself to finish this one, I didn't pay full price, and what I did pay went to my local library (I bought this book at a library sale). Not to say I feel any ill will toward the author, just that a book this disappointing would be worse if its purchase hadn't ultimately been for a good cause.

According to Gene Wolfe, author of "The Wizard": "Do you like Werewolves? Vampires? Talk radio? Reading? Sex? If the answer to any of these is YES, you're in for a wonderful ride."

Allow me to disillusion you right now. There is no sex in this book, no romance. There is only lust and rape. Our main character is repeatedly raped in this novel. I don't know about anyone else, but I feel no romantic rush from seeing the main character raped. Keeping this in mind, she's all over another character at one point in the story, providing a small glimmer of contrived romance, but nothing happens. This is a good thing, since this character previously tried to KILL HER. Unfortunately, according to many people's sense of logic, this means that there's OBVIOUSLY some chemistry between them. This disappointed me, because there were early indicators showing us that the author wasn't going to follow that incredibly unrealistic and cliched path. I also find it hard to believe that a survivor of multiple rapes is eager to jump in the sack with a virtual stranger.

Overall, it was an interesting read, delving into the gritty rules and politics of pack life in this world. There is visible character growth in Kitty, which is something I always appreciate in a good book. In some aspects, this novel is like so many others of the genre, while in others, it is definitely unique. If you are familiar with the genre, you will recognize which is which.

I choose not embellish further for fear of giving away more than I already have, but I do want the reader to be aware of what isn't in this book: sex and romance.

I give it a three, because it is a page-turner, but it is lacking in some character credibility.

I have wanted to read good paranormal novels for a while, but was unable to find them. That is until I found Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn. Kitty is a recently turned werewolf and radio show personality who begins to receive calls from vampires, werewolves and other creepy crawlies during a late-shift radio show spot. The bizarre phone calls and conversations on the air get immediate attention and Kitty becomes an overnight success. However, a group of killer vampires want Kitty and her show to disappear. After Kitty's werewolf identity is uncovered, she begins to help the police find a serial killer who may or may not be a werewolf. Kitty's life, which to that point had centered on her wanting to live a more normal life and resist her wolf side, will never be the same. There are various twists throughout the novel.

The novel, its characters and the heroine are quite similar to the works of Kelley Armstrong, Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris. However, the book also has its own voice and entertaining situations. I like how the author, through Kitty and the radio callers, addresses various issues with vampires and shape-shifters, like religion, HIV and sexual preference. I was especially impressed with the way the vampire/Christianity issue is addressed. Many contemporary authors overlook this issue in their paranormal books or they simply don't develop it much. This novel is more centered on Kitty coming to terms with her wolf side, a good thing to get out of the way if Ms. Vaughn intends to turn this into a series. I would have liked the storyline to be more centered on vampires, but that's only because I am more partial to vampires than werewolves. As for the heroine Kitty, she annoys me at times, but I like her quick-witted ways. All in all, I enjoyed reading this novel. It reminded me of how much I like this genre so much. I recommend this one to all paranormal/fantasy enthusiasts.

This is the first book I have read by Carrie Vaughn and also the first book in the ongoing Kitty Norville series. The writing style and story remind me a lot of Patricia Briggs Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) series. This is more of a paranormal action/drama type of book than a paranormal romance (for those of us who are picky with the type of paranormal book we read).

Kitty Norville is a DJ. She was attacked and turned into a werewolf previously and has been trying to live normally while partaking in pack life. She has been increasingly drawn to being awake night hours and subbing in for the overnight shift at the radio station she works at suites this perfectly. One night she takes some calls about paranormal activity and this really makes her program take off. Suddenly her program Kitty and the Midnight Hour, is being syndicated country-wide. Only this is making certain people very unhappy (mainly leaders in the supernatural community). Kitty is struggling to keep her place in her werewolf pack, as well as keep her radio show running, amongst this all there are rumors about there being a cure for both werewolves and vampirism so she is trying to figure that out too.

This was a quick read. It is well-written. It is very very similar to Patricia Briggs writing style; in fact I think I might have trouble distinguishing between them. While this was an entertaining read on the plane; I didn't find it that exciting. The action scenes are mediocre, nothing that exciting happens, and the world (thus far) is something we have seen a million times before. Vampires and werewolves don't like each other, werewolf packs are male dominant, the paranormal community is on the edge of coming out, maybe.

Kitty herself is not a very inspiring character. Maybe she will become more in a few books. None of the side characters were all that interesting either. I thought this book was okay, but mostly boring. I happen to have the next three books in the series, so I will definitely read at least the next book. Just be warned that this is one of those books that sets you up for a long series; in and of itself it is not that interesting of a book. I actually thought the Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) series was better and I wasn't really that big on that series either. Personally I have really enjoyed Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Jaz Parks, Book 1) and the The Scent of Shadows (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 1) series a lot more.