Magic Bites

I'd give it a 3.5 actually. It was a little hard to get into at first, I felt like I was thrown into a story mid way and actually checked to make sure this wasn't a sequel. That being said, once I did get into it I liked it very much. The heroine was strong and likable (at least to me), the events unfolded in an appropriate fashion, and I appreciated her logic in most cases. Overall a good book :D

Disclaimer: I bought this book for book club. Yay reading buddies! All opinions are my own. Book: Magic Bites Author: Ilona Andrews Book Series: Kate Daniels Book 1 Rating: 4.5/5 Recommended For...: Urban Fantasy readers, fantasy, paranormal, romance, vampires, shape-shifters, adult readers, magic Genre: Urban Fantasy Publication Date: May 27, 2007 Publisher: Ace Pages: 260 Recommended Age: 18+ (language, police brutality, death, violence, gore, dead parents, racist term, sexual content, religion, incest, sexual assault) Explanation of CWs: There is a lot of cursing in this book. There are mentions of police brutality. There is a lot of violence, death, blood gore, and mention of dead parents. There is a racist term in this book due to the age of the book (g****). There is some sexual content mentioned in this book. There is some mentions of the Christian religion. There is one mention of incest and sexual assault. If This Was a Taylor Swift Song: Bad Blood Synopsis: Ilona Andrews invites you to experience the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring the intriguing fantasy world of mercenary Kate Daniels… When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake. Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles. The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t have it any other way… Review: I thought this book was so inventive and really well done. The book takes place after this magic apocalypse and our MC is a woman who was just informed of their quasi-adoptive father's death in the line of duty against magical beings. Her journey to find out what happened takes her to far reaching areas of Atlanta and we're along for that journey. I loved that the author took a lot of care and attention to name a lot of places in Atlanta that the magical beings now inhabit and I loved the feel of the story. I thought the world building was well done and the pacing on point. The only issue I really had with the book is that I felt like the ending battle scene and the scenes after that went rather quickly. It was a lot of set-up for a very quick 10 page ending. However, I can't wait for the next one. Verdict: It was good! I liked it a lot.

Decent book, good twists, but not the most developed characters. I don’t know if I’d like to read the second. I might anyway.

Those of us who went on to read the rest of the (lengthy) series agree that this is the weakest book of the lot. Still, the magical world introduced here is fantastic, and these books are fun and quick.

I read this two years ago, which should mean that I slap some stars on it quick and call it a day. I remember liking it so much, however, that I am going to take a stab at a small review for it. Between what I remember and what I jotted down at the time, I can only offer the following:

1. This book was a damn good time. I read it and immediately hopped on ebay to order every other book in the series. I remember laughing a lot. I also wrote down about "awwws" and "jaw drops" and "feeling SMITTEN."

2. Kate is a kick-ass lead. She's tough as nails but always mentions (to the reader) when she feels fear. This is actually pretty often, which makes me like her even more. She also has this funny personality that can be a little sarcastic but without being snarky.
"You're right. I probably don't. She bothers me," I admitted.
"Why? Because she's prettier?
I winced. "Derek, never ever tell a woman that someone is prettier than her. You'll make an enemy for life."
"You're funnier than she is. And you hit harder."
"Oh, thank you. Please, continue to reinforce the fact that she's more attractive. If you say that I have a better personality, you'll find out how hard I can hit."

3. The love interest is Curran. He is part human, part lion, part I don't know/remember what. I somehow formed a legitimate crush on a part human, part lion, part I don't know/remember what character. That's great writing at it's best.
"Why do I have to punch the bag while he meditates?" I mumbled on the way out. 'Because he breaks the bags when he punches them.' Marlon said.

4. There are creatures galore - this is urban fantasy after all - but ones most memorable to me were the vampires. They are not pretty; no Cullens here!
The bones of its spine and hips had permanently shifted to adapt to quadruped locomotion. The creature advanced, lean and wiry like a greyhound. An inch-high bone crest shielded its spine, formed by out-growth of the vertebrae though the leather-thick skin.
It's face no longer bore any resemblance to a human. The skull jutted back in a bony hornlike curve to balance the horribly massive protruding jaws. The creature had no nose, not even a hint of the nose bridge. It opened its mouth, splitting its head in half. Rows of fangs gleamed against the blackness. It wouldn't just puncture and rip, it would shred me.

I can't believe I left this series in the dust for so long. I'll be picking it back up very soon. I think it'll be a great way to start out my 2017.

4 Stars