Book Review of Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

Goodreads Summary: Having barely escaped being skewered by the criminal vampire overlord of Cinncinati, Rachel now has even bigger problems to contend with. The demon, Algaliarept, although banished back into the everafter has infected others of his kind with his interest in a witch who can channel demon magic.
Goodreads Rating: 4.38 stars with over 40,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Witches, Demons
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository
Goodreads Challenge: 14/30
2018 Reading Challenge: #22 A book about witches (Challenge can be found here.)
My Previous Reviews on the Series: White Witch Black Curse, For A Few Demons More, The Outlaw Demon Wails

Blog Housekeeping: 

This isn't anything super important, but apparently, some of my links in posts and the review list aren't working. I just figured it out when linking the previous review for The Hollows series. I just wanted to apologize for any frustration this may have caused. After I finish this review, I'm going to go through and make sure everything is working as it should. If I'm feeling ambitious, I might try to update the labels as well to be more helpful. No promises on that though. 

Book Review: 

This is honestly one of my favorite series. I love the world and imagery that Kim Harrison creates within her magical version of Cinncinati. This is the 8th book in the series, and I feel like every book leaves me hanging on the edge of my seat. Black Magic Sanction did not disappoint. This may have been one of my favorite books in the series, thus far. 

I'm going to give a little overview of Rachel Morgan's world for those of you who haven't started this series. I started reading it before I created this blog, so I only have a couple of the books reviewed.  Rachel Morgan started out as an "inlander" bounty hunter, inlander in this world is the paranormal. She worked alongside her partner a sassy foul-mouthed Pixie named Jenks. Rachel is an Earth Magic witch who has an unusual set of abilities for what she is. The one thing I like about this series is her abilities develops as the books go on.

I tend to read the books in this series sporadically. I'll read 2 or 3 of them, and then I tend to back off for a while before picking them up again. Because of this, my memory on the series is probably a bit fuzzy. Luckily, Kim Harrison does a great job of giving a recap while still keeping the story going forward. I've always felt that it's been an incredibly action-packed series, but I think this one was even more so. I finished it around 3:30 in the morning, and had to get the 9th book and start reading it instantly. I have problems, mainly not sleeping because there are books to read.

There's probably going to be some spoilers in the rest of this review. It's kind of hard to be eight books deep in a series and not give things away. I think that Black Magic Sanction showed Rachel's path a lot more. I've felt for some time she was going to sway more to the demon side, and I think this book more or less confirmed it. It's an interesting twist that in parts of the story Rachel felt more at home with Al in the Everafter instead of at home in her church and garden.

There's a lot of development between Rachel and Pierce in this book, and I loved it. Pierce is becoming one of my favorite characters in this series. He's extremely powerful, mysterious, and seemingly tows the line between good and evil. After a particular scene towards the end of the book, I'm interested to see where this goes...... Hello. ;)

I will say, one thing that I'm kind of over in this series is the sort of sexual tension between Rachel and Ivy. It doesn't seem authentic and comes across as forced because of the Vampire Phermones. I hope this sub-plot either goes away or gets more interesting to read. I'm kind of tired of reading about Nick too. He gets even slimier each book, but I think there was quite a bit more closure on his whole situation in Black Sanction Magic. Maybe in the next book he'll get sold for a nice room in the Everafter ;).

I always love this series. If you love a good Paranormal action/adventure type of series, I highly recommend it. If you're a sucker for details, Kim Harrison does a great job of really immersing the reader into the world. She's very descriptive, with the scenery, the actions, the magic, and even the backstory. It's very consuming. I'm going to post a few select quotes I highlighted from the book since this is the first one in the series that I've read on Kindle. I love being able to do this as it shows some of the things I find interesting and gives a sample at the writing style.

"I don't know why I'd brought him from home. It had been Ivy's idea, and when an anxious vampire tells you to take your fish, you take your fish." page 2

"Tink's a Disney whore!" page 96 (and throughout the book. This is Jenk's way of swearing.)

"With all the conveniences and clean simplicity we lived in, people had lost a lot of polish." page 142

"Happy endings were never handed out. You had to fight for them, earn them with bruised hearts and sacrifices." page 185

"Perception is everything, determining how others treat us. If enough people think you're a demon, you are." page 234

"Tears could not be equal if I wept diamonds from the skies," Jenks whispered, empty and bereft. "My word silent, though I should howl, muffled by death, my wings can't lift me high enough to find you. I feel you within. Unaware of my pain. Not knowing why I mourn." He lifted his eyes to mine, a glimmer of tears showing. "And why I breathe alone." Page 313 (Just go ahead and grab yourself a box of tissues when you get to this spot.)

"Go... to hell," she said, trying to spit on him only to have it drip down her own chin. "That's what I'm trying to do," he intoned." Page 337

"Rachel, don't threaten the gargoyle; they bite" page 348

"Wishes are lies. Tell me you're going to leave. Tell me you're not going to stay. Tell me that it's only for a while so I can enjoy today." page 440

"I cannot stay," he lied for me, eyes averted. "I'm only going to be here for a time, then leave you." His gaze met mine. "And I will cry when I go because I could love you forever." Page 440, in response to the previous quote

"It stinks of sex in here, God woman. I leave you alone for one night, and you're humping the ghost." page 447