The Hallows

 Warning: This Series has mature content and adult themes, I would not recommend this to any reader under the age of 18.

The first 13 book covers of The Hallows Series

I’ve currently listening to book four, “A Fistful of Charms”, of the Hallows series. The protagonist, Rachel Morgan, is a bounty hunter or ‘runner’ as it is referred to in the books and a witch. The series follows her as she decides to leave the law enforcement agency she works for and creates her own agency with her two friends. She is witty, and sassy, and does a fair share of butt-kicking. 

I'm a big fan of books with strong female characters who are witty, sassy, scrappy, and survivors. I have read a few before like Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series but so far I like Kim Harrison’s Hallow series better. I find that often times the female characters in books like are poorly written because the authors don’t give real consequences for the character's struggles or failures which makes the book less enjoyable for the reader, which some might label as a ‘Mary Sue’ character.

However, Kim Harrison has done a pretty good job in her Hallows series so far.

Rachel has faced many challenges like having a price put on her head by her former boss, fending off the assassins sent to kill her, and many more. I like that not only are the challenges Rachel encounters legitimate challenges, meaning they are challenges that she struggles to surpass or fails to overcome, and that her actions have serious consequences. Consequences are an integral part of a good story. Consequences give weight to a character’s actions and without them, the reader has a sense that nothing matters and loses interest.

The one downside to this series is how graphic the mature content is in the series. I understand that some like their fantasy romance books to have sex scenes. My preference is that if the author wants to include them that they are not graphic about it. There are other adult themes of rape and violence and lots of swearing, which is the reason for the mature audience's only warning.