Review – Rafael by Laurell K. Hamilton

Posted May 5, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 14 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – Rafael by Laurell K. HamiltonRafael by Laurell K. Hamilton
Narrator: Kimberly Alexis
Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #28
ISBN: 9780593332924
Published by Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin on February 9, 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, General, Paranormal, Romance, Urban
Length: 7 hours 20 minutes
Pages: 272
Format: ARC, Audiobook, eBook
Source: Publisher, Purchased
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three-stars

Rafael, king of the wererats, must fight to the death to defend his crown. He wants Anita Blake, one of his closest allies, with him as he faces an opponent unlike any he’s faced before. He will ask Anita to risk everything to be at his side....

But some of the wererats fear that Rafael depends too much on Anita and her ties to the vampires. They believe that there is only room in America for one supernatural king, and Rafael will turn them into nothing more than food for the bloodsuckers.

Among his enemies, a new challenger has arisen who is younger, hungrier, and has dark secrets that could destroy both the wererats and the vampires. Rafael will go into the magical heart of his people to find the power and violence that he needs to save them all, or die trying.

My feelings are a little mixed with this book. There were some things that I really liked about the book but there were also things that I didn’t care for at all. This is the 28th installment in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and I have read most of the books in the series. I am the first to admit that I haven’t loved them all but I haven’t quite given up on the series just yet.

I was actually pretty excited when I found out about this book. As a long-time reader of the series, I consider myself a fan of the title character in this book and couldn’t wait to see Rafael as the main focus of the book. I really liked learning about the wererats and seeing how things worked in their community. Rafael is facing a serious challenge and I really wanted to see things work out in his favor.

There were some things that I didn’t enjoy quite so much. I love action in books and this book had some of that and I really enjoyed those sections. Unfortunately, it sometimes seemed like the characters would have to talk everything over at great length before anything could be done. At the start of the book, Anita and Rafael decide that they want to have sex. Okay, great. They spend so much time talking about where they will have sex and how they will do it that by the time they actually got around to it, I didn’t care anymore. It seemed like 2/3 of the book was the characters talking about what they would do and the other 1/3 was them actually doing those things. I really would have loved less talking and more doing.

Kimberly Alexis did a great job with the narration. I think that she does a great job with the entire cast of characters and I like the fact that she had a very distinctive voice for each individual. I thought that she had a very pleasant voice that was easy to listen to for hours at a time. I do believe that he narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would recommend this book to fans of this series. I don’t think that this would be a good place for new readers to jump into the series but fans of the series shouldn’t miss this one.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

14 responses to “Review – Rafael by Laurell K. Hamilton

  1. It’s been a while since I read this series. I read the first two books but haven’t gotten to them since.
    I’m sorry to read this one left you with a lot of mixed feelings. All that talk about the sex definitely sounds like it was have made me lose interest too.

    • The talk about sex was just an example. Everything had to be discussed in so much detail. I really just wanted to skip the talk and get to the action.

  2. Are there more than 28 books already? Or is this the newest book? Will you continue it?

    I probably won’t start reading it. I have too many books on the never-ending-TBR to be picking up a 28-long series…

    • This is the most recent book. Will I continue? Maybe? I used to enjoy the series but I am starting to wonder if I have changed as a reader.

  3. This series is HOW long? I read a book over a decade ago and I don’t think the writing meshed with me. Sorry you didn’t love it, but kudos to you for sticking it through!

    • The series has been going on for quite a while. I really enjoyed them years ago but I wonder if I have changed as a reader.