Release-Day Review: Shadow Rites by Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock #10)

Shadow Rites (Jane Yellowrock #10)
Faith Hunter
Published: Apr. 5, 2016 (Roc)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Margaret

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

 Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it does make reference to previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Skinwalker.

 Jane and the Yellowrock Securities team have been preparing for months for the Vampire-Witch Conclave in New Orleans. On the eve of the summit, Jane’s house is attacked by a strange magic wave. The search for its source leads to a master vampire, long thought dead, starving and buried in the bayou. That disappearance was just the first step in a scheme that’s been underway for years and is about to put a serious kink in Jane’s plans.

Something that the Jane Yellowrock series seems to do more than any other I’ve read (with the possible exception of the Dresden Files) is bring back characters and events from much earlier books. The spells cast by the vampire-witch cult in Dark Arts and the day Gee di Mercy healed Jane from werewolf bites in Mercy Blade both affect Jane in Shadow Rites. Jane even recounts her adventures in Skinwalker to the rescued vampire, who disappeared just before that first book took place. Those events actually play a big role in the current story. I enjoyed the opportunity to relive some of those earlier books, but it also emphasizes the fact that these supernatural creatures really are playing a long game.

The one thing that bothered me about Shadow Rites is that too much magical, metaphorical action takes place inside Jane’s soul home, especially in the first half of the book. But lots of Jane and Bruiser time in the second half makes up for some of that. I also liked getting to learn more about Edmond Hartley, including finally finding out why he’s so attached to Jane.

The other important development is that Jane, who was an orphan and a loner for years, starts to accept that she has created a new family for herself. She’s been calling the Youngers her brothers for a while, but I think what that really means finally starts to sink in. The Truebloods, including Jane’s godchildren, and even the vampires are Jane’s family now. (Maybe Leo’s like an inappropriate uncle?)

In this tenth book in the series, Jane seems to be moving toward her Happily Ever After. Or possibly toward the catastrophe that blows it all to hell.

Sexual content: sex, references to sexual assault