STARRED Book Review: The Campaign by Evette Davis

Reviewed by Lauren Hayataka

This campaign trail comes with curses, ghosts, and a demon or two.

In The Campaign, the final book in The Council Trilogy, Evette Davis delivers a smart, fast-paced urban fantasy that’s as much about political warfare as it is about personal reckoning. Returning to the series is like settling into familiar territory—only this time, the stakes have gone global, and the monsters wear suits.

Olivia Shepherd, political consultant and reluctant witch, barely has time to regroup after her last mission before she’s rerouted to Idaho on a favor she can’t ignore. Diana Chambers, a Secretary of State with her eye on the presidency, is assembling a campaign—and she wants Olivia by her side. The job would be complicated enough without Stoner Halbert in the mix. He’s not just a campaign rival—he’s the very real face of supernatural chaos, backed by dark magic and a trail of destruction no press cycle can explain away.

With her circle—William, Josef, Elsa, Lily—back at her side, Olivia’s pulled into something much larger than an election. Strange weather, unexplained violence, and ominous visions point to a world increasingly out of balance. And for once, it’s not just the Council calling the shots. It’s the gods. The dead. Her family. Everyone, it seems, wants Olivia to become something more.

The chapters move briskly, and Davis has sharpened the pacing since The Gift. The writing is confident but relaxed, letting the emotional stakes rise without drawing too much attention to them. There’s the expected fantasy flare—werewolf attacks, spectral messengers, cursed amulets—but none of it overwhelms what makes the story work: Olivia herself.

She’s a heroine who still doesn’t quite want the job, still doubts herself, still wishes things could be simpler. But this time, she stops running. Her relationships with William and Josef remain tangled and intimate, especially as she begins to question what love looks like after betrayal—and what it means to be chosen by someone versus choosing them in return. It’s messy, but grounded. Davis never plays the romance for drama. She lets it sit in the background where it belongs, textured but never overpowering.

There’s a heaviness here that wasn’t present in earlier books—grief, inheritance, exhaustion. Olivia’s late mother and grandmother are constant shadows, not just in spirit but in memory, reminding her that power often comes from pain. Her father, once a steady hand at the head of the Council, begins to falter. The prophecy following her for two books now presses closer, demanding more than strategy or magic. It demands commitment; commitment that Olivia isn’t sure she’s capable of living up to.

And still, Davis never forgets to make room for sharp dialogue, dry humor, or the surreal nature of blending campaign stops with ancient rituals. A demon hiding behind a press secretary. A livestreamed witch hunt. A political opponent whose very presence warps the laws of nature. It all works because it isn’t overwrought. It’s just Olivia’s life now—and like her, we’re not surprised anymore.

The book’s final third pivots toward deeper revelations, but Davis keeps her focus where it belongs: on Olivia. The resolution isn’t about fireworks or final battles. It’s about acceptance. What makes The Campaign satisfying isn’t how it wraps up the plot—it’s how Olivia begins to take ownership of herself. The work she does isn’t just in the field. It’s in her relationships. In her family home. In the way she finally stops hiding from the life that’s been waiting for her.

There are still enemies. Still sacrifices. But by the end, Olivia understands the cost of leading—and chooses it anyway.

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