Hell of a Witch

Urban Fantasy Action with Witches and Demons (Tear Down Heaven, Book 2)

De: Rachel Aaron

Narrado por: Nicholas Cain

The hotly anticipated sequel to HELL FOR HIRE! One month ago, Bex, the demon Queen of Wrath, and Adrian, witch of the Blackwood, pulled off the upset victory of the century. Now, they find themselves facing the question all unexpected champions must answer: what next?

They’ve declared war on Heaven, but how do you actually bring down a divinely powerful tyrant when your army’s still in the single digits and your magical fortress is an illegally modified Winnebago? It seems like a hopeless situation. As always, though, Adrian Blackwood has a plan, and this time, he’s going big. He’s got an idea to take down the Seattle Anchor, the giant magical fortress that houses the Anchor Market and every other bit of critical infrastructure that connects Heaven to Earth.

How the Anchors work is a closely guarded secret, and getting to the good stuff will require going deep into the heart of Gilgamesh’s power. There’s a reason even the Queen of Wrath has never attacked one directly, but now that Adrian’s on her team, Bex thinks they can do it. She’s finally got the power she needs to actually move the needle on this war, and she’s going to hit that Anchor with all the fire she’s got. But the enemies of Heaven aren’t the only ones making plans. After the fiery return of his most persistent annoyance, Gilgamesh has ordered his princes to take care of the demon queen problem personally. It’s time to roll out the big guns and show these rebels what divine wrath really means, starting with the Hell of a Witch who made it all possible.

-Book 2 of a new, action-packed Urban Fantasy series from the author of NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST and MINIMUM-WAGE MAGIC!

©2024 Rachel Aaron (P)2024 Rachel Aaron

even better than the 1st one!

I loved it even more than the 1st book and that one was awesome! This is one of my favorite authors and I'm really emoting this newest installment in her collection of stories.

A Witch and Some Demons Walk into a Market...

Hell of a Witch, the second book of the Tear Down Heaven series, picks up a month after the event in Hell for Hire. It has a slow burn romance, underdog fight against the big bad and a found family that is amazing. The Queen of Wrath is out to thwart the Princes of Heaven and while you might think we would be on the Prince’s side we definitely are not since they, and their master, took over heaven millennia ago and our Heroine is trying to save her people, rescue her sisters and take down the wizard that tore down heaven.

Bex, Demon Queen of Wrath, finally has enough allies to try and do something big in the resistance against Gilgamesh. Adrian has come up with a plan to deal a devastating blow to the all powerful wizard. With some of the coolest witchy tricks I’ve read about, he and Bex sneak into the heart of enemy territory to see what they can learn about one of the anchors to Heaven. However, when things don’t go quite right it puts a huge strain on their budding relationship. Bex must make some difficult choices between being a Queen and head of a rebellion or the personal wants she has in her life. It doesn’t help that her ring/sword, Drox, is talking in her head and only cares about fighting.

Rachel Aaron has come up with a fantastically interesting and original world, with a extraordinary backstory. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like this and love the world that she has created. Hell of a Witch is more action packed and faster paced than Hell for Hire and also sprinkles in more worldbuilding and backstory to flesh out the characters and the world. I enjoyed how the reader is fed some of the information and shown some of the concepts that help make this story feel like a real place. Bex and Adrian both shine in this book, but Adrian stole the show a little with his potential parentage reveal and new dealings with a pretty powerful crow.

I love found families and Bex has a great one with the core group of demons who follow her. Nemini, a void demon, is hilarious to me when she is one the page. Her quips and dialogue remind me of the sad robot in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Having a lust demon and a war demon on your side doesn’t hurt either. They didn’t quite as much page time as Adrian and his feline familiar were the stars of the book. But they brought some good comic relief and badass fighting skills to the story.

Overall this is an entertaining a easy read and great for when you want a slow burn romance and a fight against all the odds.

“But I’m happy to hear you say we’re friends. I was worried you only stuck with me out of pity.”

Nemini looked as close to insulted as Bex had ever seen. “How could you doubt? We value each other’s well being despite knowing that life is meaningless and everything will well end. There is no name for that folly other than friendship.”

Narration

Nicholas Cain is a solid narrator. He captured Adrian and Bex well in the story and I was able to distinguish the other characters well throughout. His voice worked for an unusual witch of the body and he added some mystical charm to Adrian’s character. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.

Performance: ★★★
Character Separation: ★★★★
Diction: ★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★
Sound Effects: limited at the introduction

Little rough around the edges

The storyline was good but a few too many over used plot lines. Hex’s dialogues with self and ring was way too much. Not saying that some of it needed to happen.

The final battle dialogue was long then the battle. That just my opinion.

Already wanting the next book.

Exciting and romantic

I love the world building and really enjoy a new magic system. Hope for more books!
Also enjoyed the narration

Much Anticipated and Over Too Soon!

I waited what felt like so very long (thank goodness it wasn’t actually long at all, but I’d still love for the next book to come out even more quickly) for book 2 in Aaron’s Tear Down Heaven series to be released. I haven’t been this excited since waiting with bated breath for each release in her too short D.F.Z. series.

I started reading and listening as soon as “Hell of a Witch” was released, bought, and downloaded. However, I actively fought to slow my pace to try to draw out my enjoyment a bit because otherwise I would have finished it in a single day. I enjoyed the continued world development, and was ultimately happy with where this book eventually left us to await the next chapter. The character development, while suffering from growing pains, felt realistic because of those very pains, and certainly opened up limitless possibilities for very good things going forward in the series. I eagerly await seeing what comes next. Book three, please!

For those who want an even more verbosely detailed review:
However, with that being said, I must say that I did cringe quite a bit at a great deal of the angst the main characters went through, but it had to happen. Aaron is very adept at making her characters go through things that people actually go through and then grow through, and this happened a lot in this book. I knew from the beginning where some of the stories were heading, and that the MCs would need to deal with very specific downturns and pitfalls that nearly every story with similar characters and elements contains. Love between two hopeless young underdogs out to buck the system (especially if one of them is a martyr in an infinite loop that only the other one can reboot)? Oh yeah, they have to stubbornly pick each other despite pointed pushback from authority figures. Naturally, they have to get burned for that choice somehow, too. Of course what ensues thereafter includes annoying the absolute mess out of me, the jaded reader. However, being extremely annoyed with the choices of the characters was a part of the immersion, as it was supposed to be. Thankfully, like the worst parts of puberty, the angst was necessary and now I very much hope it is entirely behind us.

The only exceptions that give me pause (and it’s very nearly a full stop, unfortunately) are the relationships of the Blades with the Princes. That was left wide open, raw, and festering, and I’m very much hoping it doesn’t get anymore cringe-worthy. It was weird and icky in book 1, and intensely and uncomfortably creepy and horrible in this one; I really hope it doesn’t get worse and the emphasis on them as a whole fades away, as I’m not a fan of that element of the story that feels somewhere between extreme domestic violence, deep demonic horror, and cult brainwashing. The chord it strikes simply doesn’t match the emotional and mental level of the rest of the book; I hope the dissonance resolves. Overall, I cannot wait for the next book!

For the listeners, audiophiles, and other ADHD squirrel-chasers:
Just after midnight on the planned release date for Hell of a Witch, to my profound delight, I found that the Kindle version had indeed dropped at the same time as the Audible version. Ah, sweet bliss! Both formats being released simultaneously is extremely vital for me because I must listen while I read along due to my poor vision. The narration is also good, and aids immersion for those of us with ADHD who are a bit too quick to wander off mentally at every perceived squirrel. I didn’t even wait for the Whispersync process to be completed, so I forfeited the hefty Audible discount and the automatic scrolling when using audio in the Kindle app. Instead, I just used both apps at once and did it manually like I used to need to do every time ages ago, but often don’t need to now as more books become properly Whisper synced. It was totally worth it!

Time to raise hell- Bex embraces her wrath

“You’re going at this awfully hard for someone with no horns in the game.”
Okay, with book two, I’m definitely all in on the series. Yeah, the romance is a little too teenage squee … but I suppose I can run with it given Bex’s absence of memory for her past lives. It’s a unique way to make her a powerful Queen of Wrath … and also a vulnerable young girl drowning in destiny.

“Never doubt the power of a forest.”
I’m loving the witch/demon dynamic; each takes a fresh approach to magic and world building.
I’m not sure I understand the whole Prince and Princess dynamic, like, how come the Princesses are slaves and yet so immensely powerful? And the idea of Gilgamesh the human capturing the kingdom of heaven? And, we’ve got humans, demons, witches and warlocks … but what of angels? I have questions.
But, I was so entertained that I’m fine waiting for answers in future books.

Original world-building!

I've loved Rachel Aaron's work since I first read her Eli Monpress series. As much as I enjoy her Nice Dragons and Minimum-Wage Magic series set in an alternate Detroit, this one is my new fave. I've never read much about Babylonian and Sumerian mythology beyond learning about Ishtar, but I plan to remedy that. Aaron's blending of characters from millennia
l-ancient myths (Ishtar, Gilgamesh, assorted demons) with witches and sorcerers of different traditions shouldn't work, but it does, and brilliantly! Hell of a Witch is so much more than the second book in a series--instead of being a bridge or placeholder, the plot went in myriad directions, yet all the strands flowed back together. Simply loving these characters from The Queen of Wrath, Bex, to her crew of Lyss, Nimini, and Iggs (sorry about the spelling, audiobook); to Adrian Blackwood and Boston, his familiar & my favorite cat in urban fantasy since Mister, Harry Dresden's very large feline. And I didn't expect the Celtic Goddess of War & Death to make an appearance, but thrilled she did. After listening, I might reread Demon for Hire, book one, because I missed a lot of the symbolism, metaphors, and psychological depth of Bex, a female character who never feels worthy and is laden with guilt. Watching her grow is half the fun. This is my favorite series of 2024.

Great all around

Extremely funny while also having great plot and tension. I liked the minor sound effects, like characters talking on the phone sounding like it.