Title: Proven Guilty
Author: Jim Butcher
Narrator: James Marsters
Series: The Dresden Files #8
Length: 16 hours, 16 minutes
Harry Dresden may be a part of the White Council now but he still doesn’t agree with most of their policies or actions. When he is tasked to look into signs of black magic in the city, he doesn’t expect for it to lead to interacting with Michael’s oldest daughter who seems to be at the center of the magic.
This was another action packed and enjoyable case for Dresden. Harry is finally a part of the White Council but is struggling with their actions, especially against those who they should be teaching. This case seemed simple at first but it quickly ended up being complicated with fae, vampires, and the White Council all ending up being involved. I really loved the horror movie aspect of this, especially since it made for some interesting villains.
My favorite part of this book though was Charity. She has just been Michael’s wife throughout the series, but in this we see the true woman who isn’t a pushover. I loved that she was willing to fight for her daughter and had her own weapons to go with it. She was just a huge surprise and the first woman in this series that I think I actually liked.
Now onto what I didn’t like about this book: Molly. Molly is 16 years old in this but Butcher thought it was ok to sexualize her and talk about her body, and then make her try to seduce Harry (and yes I know that is a spoiler but it’s not ok) and his first thought isn’t that she was underage and he needs to say no, that was like the third or fourth point on turning her down. When Molly wasn’t being sexualized, I liked her and thought she was a good character who I am interested in seeing more of.
Overall, this was entertaining, but also disappointing at times. I enjoyed everything about the case except the sexualization of a teenage girl. But, I am curious to see what will happen in the next book now since so much changed for Harry at the end of this one.
TW: on page execution (1st chapter); misogyny and inappropriate thoughts about a teenager; on page animal injury from car (it doesn’t die); kidnapping; drug use discussed; torture;
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Previous books and reviews for the series:
#0.5 Restoration of Faith
#1. Storm Front
#2. Fool Moon
#3. Grave Peril
#4. Summer Knight
#5. Death Masks
#6. Blood Rites
#7. Dead Beat
Red-Haired Ash Reads 