Book Review: Grim Tidings by Caitlin Kittredge

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Grim Tidings
Hellhound Chronicles #2
Author: Caitlin Kittredge
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: April 19 2016
Review Source: Harper Voyager

In this thrilling sequel to Black Dog—award-winning Caitlin Kittredge’s dark urban fantasy series, Hellhound Chronicles—a soul catcher must stop demonic monsters from her past from infecting the world

After winning her freedom from a reaper and facing off against a fearsome demon boss, Ava is now a masterless hellhound. Her friend, Leo, has found a new life after death himself: He’s returned as the Grim Reaper—the first in centuries. As both try to adjust to their new circumstances, Ava’s dark past comes back to wreak havoc on her . . . and the entire world.

A breed of monsters as smart as vampires—but who behave like zombies—have been sighted in Kansas. Ava can’t believe these “zompires” are back. She thought she’d kicked their asses for good when she first battled them in a Nazi death camp. Now, they’re spreading their infection across America’s heartland thanks to a nasty piece of business named Cain.

Free at last after being locked up in Hell for millennia, Cain has some scores to settle. To stop him, Ava must form an unholy alliance with some old foes . . . a bargain that will lead her to uncover deeply buried truths about her past—and Leo’s future.

Picking up right where Black Dog left off we're with Ava and Leo as they're driving to their next destination, only for them to be thrown off the road by something bigger and badder than they excepted. With needing to prove that Leo is now the Grim Reaper, and wanting to get rid of The Walking Man, Ava must figure out how to embrace the hellhound she is and find a way to kick some butt.

Kittredge is seriously a mastermind. I am so in love with this world that she has created. One that is based out of stories we've heard over and over again, but made in her own unique styling. There's more myth and legend thrown into this book, but for me there were also fewer pages. I so love this story, and I needed more. Which then makes me hope that there will be more hellhound chronicles.

Ava and Leo are hard workers on their own; they're independent but find out that they work their best when they are working together. At first Ava is afraid of that, she's use to needing only herself and not relying on her Grim Reaper for anything - even if it is just that intimate connection her and Leo share. But after a lot of debating she realizes that there's really no question about it, her and Leo are meant to be. Which therefore makes me swoon. This isn't really a swoony book, but anytime characters find their other half whom allows them to be their own person, and that only brings out the best in their character, to me that is a reason to swoon.

And of course. Like I said about Black Dog, this story takes on a Kill Bill-esque story. With enough action and violence in that would make Tarantino proud, and it puts readers on the edge of their seat. Sometimes wanting more, and sometimes cringing at how painful some of the injuries sound.

Grim Tidings definitely was worth the read, and it definitely kept me captivated. And more importantly it left me wanting more.