Kitty Goes to Washington
book 2 of the Kitty Norville series
by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Goes to Washington picks up about a month after the events of the previous book, Kitty and The Midnight Hour. As a result of her fateful rebellion against the alphas of her pack Kitty is forced to pick up her things and move on, no longer allowed to live in her town of Denver. And really, with T.J.’s murderers running the werewolf scene there she isn’t too keen on sticking around anyway.

So for the past month Kitty has been traveling across the U.S. and hosting her show at a different radio station every week. It makes the full moon runs a little more hectic but so far she’s enjoying it. At least now she doesn’t have to pay a bribery fee to her “alpha” anymore and all of her show’s earnings are her own. Everything seems to be rolling fine until Ben, her attorney, calls up to tell her she’s been issued a subpoena to appear before a cabinet meeting of the Senate. What is the topic up for discussion? Why the existence of supernatural creatures of course! And Kitty, being an outed werewolf, is a prime expert witness to give testimony.

If you thought the first book was rife with humor, action, and surprises than you’ll be thrilled to hear that not only does Vaughn deliver as expected, she exceeds all expectations spectacularly. Vaughn does an excellent job of mixing political intrigue, action, mystery, the supernatural together with a liberal dose of Kitty’s wisecracks and a dash of romance. The surprises are non stop and even Kitty is left hanging with her jaw down to the fall at some of the turn of events. A good majority of them I did not see coming, but when they arrived I could have smacked myself in the forehead for not seeing them.

True to form, Kitty’s character undergoes amazing (but realistic) growth. Her perception and maturity grows exponentially yet still she manages to retain a sense of youth and naivety that clearly shows that Kitty still has quite a bit to go. Never once does the character come off as a “know it all” or far too dense. Vaughn does an excellent job balancing character growth and personality. Perhaps some of Vaughn’s contemporaries should sit up and take note on what true character development is? Just a thought.

One thing that really impressed me was Vaughn’s ability to portray a variety of characters ranging all over the emotional and behavioral spectrum, and her ability to do so in such a believable fashion. I believe that Vaughn truly captured the essence of the politicians we all fear and love to hate. I’m sure readers the world over will see someone (politician or not) whom Senator Duke reflects.

A new character was introduced in this book who, in my opinion played a very significant role. Despite having a birth mother and speaking with her weekly Kitty seems distant from her mother, possibly as a result of not being able to tell her what she was for so long. In the vampire Mistress of the City Alette, Kitty finds both a mother figure who can understand and relate to her, a confidant, and a friend. A lot of Kitty’s emotional and mental maturity is due to her experiences with Alette. After witnessing first hand the cruelty and lack of humanity that her fellow supernaturals have, Kitty wavers under her belief that the supernatural community are people too. Alette provides the assurance that Kitty is not alone in this belief as well as the glimmer of hope that Kitty clutches onto tightly at the end of the book.

While Kitty has seen first hand that the supernatural world is filled with monsters of the worst kind Senator Duke and his cohorts (not to mention her ex mentioned in the previous book) prove that humans are capable of monstrous acts as well. This is an underlying theme in Vaughn’s books and seems to be the lesson Kitty is learning. The supernatural community are not monsters anymore than the human population is. It is the heart of the person that determines what they truly are.

Over all I found this book to be just as good, if not even better than the first, and I cannot wait to share with you my insights on the third book. Nor can I wait for the latest upcoming release Kitty and the Silver Bullet.

Joana’s rating: