History YMMV / KittyNorville

* ValuesDissonance: 20-something Kitty often laments that her "normal" life came to an end when she became a Werewolf. However, she often emphasizes her family being [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant white, middle-class, suburban, and well-off]] and how she would have gone to a good college, [[MRSDegree met an affluent husband]], and settled down in a comfortable suburban house with a white picket fence and golden retriever. Given how increasingly unattainable these things are to 20-somethings in a post-Great Recession era (particularly college and home ownership), Kitty's comfy pre-werewolf life can come across less as "normal" and more as a loss of ''privilege''. (Especially since she often encounters vampires and werewolves from actual impoverished and minority backgrounds.)
* {{Wangst}}: Kitty often laments the loss of her "normal" lifestyle that amounts to being a WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant can make her come across as a bit of a privileged whiner, especially since she often encounters were-creatures from actual impoverished and minority backgrounds.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The quote under ShoutOut on the main page, where Gemma is confused by Kitty's ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'' joke, and Anastasia realizes she's too young to get the reference so she'll "have a book for you to read later", becomes heartbreaking before the book is even over, as she'll never get the chance [[spoiler:thanks to being burned into ashes by the rising sun]].

* TheUntwist: David turning out not to be the serial killer in "Il Est Né" was pretty much this, since the CoincidentalBroadcast and the set-up with his uncontrolled Changes and lack of memory of his actions was rather too obvious; if he really ''had'' turned out to be the killer, that would have been more surprising (and out-of-character for Vaughn, since DarkerAndEdgier moments aside, she seems to not be quite ''that'' cruel to nice, good, or heroic characters--at least not until book 7). Who the killer really did turn out to be was a nice twist, though.

** Kitty's meeting with Ned, and realizing he [[spoiler:knew Shakespeare, so that she in turn had a connection to him and could ask anything about the life and times of one of her literary heroes]], comes across as a combination of this and SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments --she gets quite choked up and literally [[TearsOfJoy ends up in tears]] herself.

* MagnificentBastard: Ned is the rare heroic (or anti-heroic) version of this.
* MagnificentBitch: And Anastasia is the heroic (or anti-heroic) version of ''this''.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: When Kitty learns that all of Alette's human servants, the cops on her payroll, and the photos and paintings in her house are her extended family, whom she originally became a vampire [[MamaBear to protect]] [[GoodParents and give the best possible lives she could]]--[[DotingParent and she still does so today]]. Makes the death of Bradley (and vampirism of [[spoiler:Emma]]) much more of a TearJerker.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Carl]] starts out as just violent and possessive, but moves up to sexual assault, rape, and eventually torture. And murder, in the case of poor Jenny.

* RomanticPlotTumor: ''Kitty Takes a Holiday'' is ostensibly about fighting a curse, but the major plot thread running through the book is [[spoiler: Kitty's RescueRomance with Ben]] It even [[spoiler: displaces the main plot by the end- TheManBehindTheMan turns out to be an AntiClimaxBoss, and the final "battle" is essentially Kitty and Ben vs. Ben's issues with his lycanthropy]].
** There is a bit more to it than that, since facing said AntiClimaxBoss and obtaining info about the skinwalker is essential to clearing Cormac's name, the face-off with the skinwalker is actually quite intense and climactic, and helping Ben deal with [[spoiler:his lycanthropy, and not be DrivenToSuicide]] is a dramatic and well-written character arc in its own right. But the romance does take up more room in the plot than it probably should.

* TearJerker: Right from the beginning the [[BuryYourGays death of T.J.]] is this, as is Jenny in book 4, but the slew of deaths in ''House of Horrors'' ramp it up to eleven. Especially traumatic are the deaths of [[spoiler:Ariel, Gemma, and Jeffrey Miles]].

** Kitty's meeting with Ned, and realizing he [[spoiler:knew Shakespeare, so that she in turn had a connection to him and could ask anything about the life and times of one of her literary heroes]], comes across as a combination of this and CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming--she gets quite choked up and literally [[TearsOfJoy ends up in tears]] herself.

*** Well, [[spoiler: she was trying to ''kill'' him and vice versa]] and she doesn't regret trying to do that. Later, her Wolf side [[spoiler: instinctively wanted to protect him from a vampire]], but she suppressed the urge because he didn't deserve it. And in an earlier book she [[EmergencyTransformation offered to turn a family member]], so her own personal line is a bit blurry. A bit of {{Angst}} was natural and expected in the situation in book 7, but it's nowhere near a WhatTheHellHero moment.
*** Never said it was. The implication was that having crossed the line once, albeit for a very justifiable reason, if in order to stop the forces of darkness/chaos Kitty is forced to keep doing such things, eventually she may fully cross the line and have a true WhatTheHellHero moment ''in the future''. She probably won't do so since she's the {{Hero}}, but it seems likely the author will address the issue and show some {{Angst}} regarding it. (Thankfully, she didn't. Though you never know what might happen in future stories...)

* TheUntwist: David turning out not to be the serial killer in "Il Est Né" was pretty much this, since the CoincidentalBroadcast and the set-up with his uncontrolled Changes and lack of memory of his actions was rather too obvious; if he really ''had'' turned out to be the killer, that would have been more surprising (and out-of-character for Vaughn, since DarkerAndEdgier moments aside, she seems to not be not quite ''that'' cruel to nice, good, or heroic characters--at least not until book 7). Who the killer really did turn out to be was a nice twist, though.

* BrokenBase: Individual books in the series are LoveItOrHateIt for some fans--many dislike book 5 due to it being all about a wedding, no pack involvement, Kitty becoming a DamselInDistress, and a DeusExMachina ending; some feel Kitty in book 6, despite being more proactive, was still depending too much on others for help; some loved the episodic nature of books 7 and 9, others hated it; some thought book 7 was dark, powerful, and suspenseful while others found it flat and predictable. But the biggest [[ShipToShipCombat divide]] of them all, it seems, is between [[OneTruePairing those who love Kitty with]] [[spoiler:Ben]] and [[DieForOurShip those who want her hooked up with]] [[spoiler:[[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Cormac]]]].

* NightmareFuel: Plenty. The scenes of the crimes where James was leaving his victims (which are also an in-story version of NauseaFuel for Kitty). [[AxCrazy The skinwalker.]] [[EldritchAbomination Whatever]] is in Grant's DisappearingBox. The seance at New Moon (particularly what they see and hear on the footage later, in the fire...). What happens to the Ifrit's victims. The moment where [[spoiler:Roman]] [[PeoplePuppets takes control of Kitty]] and forces the Change on her. The entire suspenseful, tension-wracked slasher-movie [[TenLittleMurderVictims plot]] of ''House of Horrors''. [[BodyHorror Hundun,]] [[PsychoForHire god of chaos.]] TheMaze [[NothingIsScarier under San Francisco]]. And of course, [[spoiler:Roman]] himself and whatever he is planning for the end of the Long Game...

*** Never said it was. The implication was that having crossed the line once, albeit for a very justifiable reason, if in order to stop the forces of darkness/chaos Kitty is forced to keep doing such things, eventually she may fully cross the line and have a true WhatTheHellHero moment ''in the future''. She probably won't do so since she's the {{Hero}}, but it seems likely the author will address the issue and show some {{Angst}} regarding it. (And thankfully, she didn't. Though you never know what might happen in future stories...)

** At the end of ''Low Midnight'', [[spoiler:Amelia apologizes to Cormac for possessing him, hoping that she didn't damage him or "alter what you would have been without me."]] Not only does Cormac think to himself he'd be dead, still in prison, or still a HeWhoFightsMonsters bounty hunter, he says, "You being here means that whenever I die, however it happens, if it's going up against Roman or something else that gets us--I won't be alone." [[spoiler:And he takes her hand.]]

*** Never said it was. The implication was that having crossed the line once, albeit for a very justifiable reason, if in order to stop the forces of darkness/chaos Kitty is forced to keep doing such things, eventually she may fully cross the line and have a true WhatTheHellHero moment ''in the future''. She probably won't do so since she's the {{Hero}}, but it seems likely the author will address the issue and show some {{Angst}} regarding it.

* HoYay: When Kitty enters the Band of Tiamat's suite, she discovers "the place smelled thickly of sex. As if--what else were a bunch of hunky men supposed to do when they weren't onstage?" With the band being all male and the female assistants for the show not living with them (or being lycanthropes), this rather strongly implies at least bisexuality among the band. You know, the ReligionOfEvil promoting chaos and blood sacrifice.

* HoYay: When Kitty enters the Band of Tiamat's suite, she discovers "the place smelled thickly of sex. As if--what else were a bunch of hunky men supposed to do when they weren't onstage?" With the band being all male and the female assistants for the show not living with them (or being lycanthropes), this rather strongly implies at least bisexuality among the band. You know, the ReligionOfEvil promoting chaos and blood sacrifice. As if there wasn't enough UnfortunateImplications associated with this particular plotline...

* UnfortunateImplications: One of the supernaturals killed in ''Kitty's House of Horrors'' is [[TokenMinority black]]--and [[BlackGuyDiesFirst he is the first to die]], other than Dorian. Also, the suggestion that [[ThePornomancer Balthasar]] attempts to seduce and sacrifice Kitty either [[AllMenArePerverts because he's male]] (we never see a female lycanthrope do such a thing) or because he's a lycanthrope (read: furry) is disturbing to say the least. The seduction and sacrifice scenes are also a little too S&M for comfort (and this is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Kitty herself), while her later private meeting with the Band of Tiamat in which she is constantly surrounded by either purring, nuzzling cats or fawning, clinging men has very unsettling echoes of either an incipient orgy or gang rape.
** Veronica Sevilla, the Anne Rice knockoff from the first book, says her vampire son "would not have the life she envisioned for him" and that she had reconciled herself to the life he did have, "if one could call it life". This is...rather jarring, considering the real Anne Rice's son is gay (''and'' she fully supports him even in spite of her return to Christianity).

* AnticlimaxBoss: [[spoiler: Lawrence Wilson]] from ''Kitty Takes a Holiday''.
* BrokenBase: Individual books in the series are LoveItOrHateIt for some fans--many dislike book 5 due to it being all about a wedding, no pack involvement, Kitty becoming a DistressedDamsel, and a DeusExMachina ending; some feel Kitty in book 6, despite being more proactive, was still depending too much on others for help; some loved the episodic nature of books 7 and 9, others hated it; some thought book 7 was dark, powerful, and suspenseful while others found it flat and predictable. But the biggest [[ShipToShipCombat divide]] of them all, it seems, is between [[{{OTP}} those who love Kitty with]] [[spoiler:Ben]] and [[DieForOurShip those who want her hooked up with]] [[spoiler:[[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Cormac]]]].
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: When Kitty learns that all of Alette's human servants, the cops on her payroll, and the photos and paintings in her house are her extended family, whom she originally became a vampire [[MamaBear to protect]] [[GoodParents and give the best possible lives she could]]--[[DotingParent and she still does so today]]. Makes the death of Bradley (and vampirism of [[spoiler:Emma]]) much more of a TearJerker.

** Also, as of book 7 Kitty herself has crossed her own personal line, having [[spoiler:turned someone into a lycanthrope against their will]], something she swore she'd never do. Considering the fact she came close several times to losing herself in the Wolf and even harming her friends and allies, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters she may]] [[WhatTheHellHero be right]] [[GrayAndGreyMorality to worry]].

**** Never said it was. The implication was that having crossed the line once, albeit for a very justifiable reason, if in order to stop the forces of darkness/chaos Kitty is forced to keep doing such things, eventually she may fully cross the line and have a true WhatTheHellHero moment ''in the future''. She probably won't do so since she's the {{Hero}}, but it seems likely the author will address the issue and show some {{Angst}} regarding it.
* NightmareFuel: Plenty. The scenes of the crimes where James was leaving his victims (which are also an in-story version of NauseaFuel for Kitty). [[AxCrazy The skinwalker]]. [[EldritchAbomination Whatever]] is in Grant's DisappearingBox. The seance at New Moon (particularly what they see and hear on the footage later, in the fire...). What happens to the ifrit's victims. The moment where [[spoiler:Roman]] [[PeoplePuppets takes control of Kitty]] and forces the Change on her. The entire suspenseful, tension-wracked slasher-movie [[TenLittleMurderVictims plot]] of ''House of Horrors''. [[BodyHorror Hundun]], [[PsychoForHire god of chaos]]. TheMaze [[NothingIsScarier under San Francisco]]. And of course, [[spoiler:Roman]] himself and whatever he is planning for the end of the Long Game...
* RomanticPlotTumor: ''Kitty Takes a Holiday'' is ostensibly about fighting a curse, but the major plot thread running through the book is [[spoiler: Kitty's RescueRomance with Ben]] It even [[spoiler: displaces the main plot by the end- TheManBehindTheMan turns out to be an AnticlimaxBoss, and the final "battle" is essentially Kitty and Ben vs. Ben's issues with his lycanthropy.]]
** There is a bit more to it than that, since facing said AnticlimaxBoss and obtaining info about the skinwalker is essential to clearing Cormac's name, the face-off with the skinwalker is actually quite intense and climactic, and helping Ben deal with [[spoiler:his lycanthropy, and not be DrivenToSuicide]] is a dramatic and well-written character arc in its own right. But the romance does take up more room in the plot than it probably should.

* UnfortunateImplications: One of the supernaturals killed in ''Kitty's House of Horrors'' is [[TokenMinority black]]--and [[BlackGuyDiesFirst he is the first to die]], other than Dorian. Also, the suggestion that [[ThePornomancer Balthasar]] attempts to seduce and sacrifice Kitty either [[AllMenArePerverts because he's male]] (we never see a female lycanthrope do such a thing) or because he's a lycanthrope (read: furry) is disturbing to say the least. The seduction and sacrifice scenes are also a little too S&M for comfort (and this is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Kitty herself), while her later private meeting with the Band of Tiamat in which she is constantly surrounded by either purring, nuzzling cats or fawning, clinging men has very unsettling echoes of either an incipient orgy or gang rape.

** David's phone call home to his parents at the end of "Il Est Ne", mirrored by Kitty's call to her own parents.

* TheUntwist: David turning out not to be the serial killer in "Il Est Ne" was pretty much this, since the CoincidentalBroadcast and the set-up with his uncontrolled Changes and lack of memory of his actions was rather too obvious; if he really ''had'' turned out to be the killer, that would have been more surprising (and out-of-character for Vaughn, since DarkerAndEdgier moments aside, she seems to not be not quite ''that'' cruel to nice, good, or heroic characters--at least not until book 7). Who the killer really did turn out to be was a nice twist, though.
* TheWoobie: Estelle in book 1, Jenny in book 4. The latter is especially poignant as a WhatCouldHaveBeen for Kitty herself. Karin in book 10 also counts. Also, David in "Il Est Ne."