Kitty Takes a Holiday

Kitty Takes a Holiday (2007) Carrie Vaughn

The third book in this series takes off where Kitty Goes to Washington left off. After being exposed on national television, Kitty has decided to take a holiday to escape for awhile, and to write her memoirs–or attempt to write her memoirs. Unfortunately, her rural isolated cabin doesn’t seem to be as isolated as she expected, as dead animals keep appearing on her porch–someone’s attempt to drive her away.

The situation is further complicated by the arrival of Ben and Cormac, under circumstances that bode well for no one.

This book was full of surprises. Just as I thought I had a handle on where the story was going, there was another twist and things went off in another direction.

The strength of these books lies in Carrie Vaughn’s storytelling. I devoured this book in two sittings–the first half of the book and then the second half of the book. I was so pulled into the story that putting the book down to go to bed was very difficult, and I knew better than to pick the book up again until after dinner.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten anything done.

So the story went in unexpected (but reasonable) directions, and was interesting enough that I didn’t want to put it down.

The other thing I like is that Kitty remains a fallible character. She remains unsure of herself, yet stands up to do what she believes needs to be done. She makes mistakes, but those mistakes are believable considering her situation (I’m always annoyed by characters who seemingly blindly and willfully make stupid mistakes, and then are shocked (shocked!) when things don’t work out. Plenty of mistakes are made in this book, but they are honest mistakes.

SPOILER
(rot 13)
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END SPOLIER

About the only negative I have to say is that, like the previous two books, Kitty Takes a Holiday isn’t serious reading. It’s quick, it’s fast, and it’s fun. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s also nothing that’s going to stick in my head and make me think about this book long after it’s over.

So that’s not really a negative per se. After all, sometimes light reading is just what one needs.

If you read the previous two books, then you should definitely enjoy Kitty Takes a Holiday. If you have not read a Kitty book before, then I recommend finding a copy of Kitty and the Midnight Hour. You’ll want to read the previous two books before this one. And if you’re at all interested in stories about supernatural creatures, you should enjoy these books.

Published by Grand Central Publishing

Rating: 7/10

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