by Ilona Andrews
Genre: Urban
Fantasy/Paranormal
Reading Grade: Adult
Publication Date:
December 4, 2011
Source: gift from Lan @
The Write Obsession
Age Rating: 17+
Kate Daniels is a
down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up 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.
My Review
First, I'd like to say
thank you to Lan @ The Write Obsession for giving me this book,
although I feel bad because I didn't like it as much as I wish I had.
But, I do appreciate that she thought I might like it.
- Plot: There wasn't much of one for most of it. Magic Bites
was made up of Kate Daniels' daily activities, which was boring until about halfway. Things, then, did get more interesting and it lead to a climactic battle scene with Kate's guardian's killer. She was looking for this killer throughout the novel, and it was a surprise who the real killer was. But, I would have liked to have seen her normal work life at the beginning because you don't get to see what she actually does for a living. Just saying she was a mercenary over and over again didn't help me to understand that.
- Characters: I wish I could have liked these main characters but I couldn't. Kate had a major chip on her shoulder and tried too hard to act tough, which might make sense given her profession, but she seemed fake to me. I like characters that come off genuine and, for me, she hardly had a genuine moment during the entire novel. Curran was my least favorite character, hovering between treating Kate worse than garbage and acting like a decent guy towards her. Guess he couldn't make up his mind. I found him foul-mouthed, rude and border-line abusive. He could be excused for being a werelion, but I have so little tolerance for behavior like that, no matter what. Surprisingly, I really liked Dr. Crest of all people. He was a classy guy and made the story better during his scenes, although he didn't have much overall significance.
- Writing: The writing was very good, made up of mostly short sentences that make the reading move quickly. It was very effective for this type of story.
- Storytelling: I think because I wanted so much to see Kate doing her regular mercenary job, but never got to, I'd have to say the storytelling was not fabulous. Things got a lot better in the second half, but it was too little, too late for me. The humor was occasionally good, but I found it underdone for my tastes. The world-building was extremely well-done, but my gripe with it was only that it was confusing. I never could wrap my brain around how magic was affecting everyone's daily lives, and what all the guilds were, plus how all the shapechangers were classified. I could not figure out how Kate fit into this world that was created for her.
- Overall Quality: I'll give it pretty decent marks for quality. It lacked a lot of things I wished it had had, and had too much of what I wished it had not had, but still was a competent story. A lot of people love it and that has to count for something.
- Favorite Moment/Scene: The scene where Dr. Crest went to Kate's apartment just after she had fought with and killed a nasty vampire, and she was very badly wounded in the abdomen. He was a nice guy and helped her out, being particularly well-suited, since he was a surgeon by trade. I felt that Kate actually showed a smidgeon of genuine-ness and vulnerability because of him.
- My Score: 3 out of 5 stars.
Buy this title from AMAZON
Wow. I've heard so much about this series, how awesome Kate is, how hot Curran is. I've never started it, though, b/c I honestly dont have the time to start another huge series. Now I'm even less inclined.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Cathy. As always!
@Andrea: If you really want to try this series, out, then don't let my review sway you. A lot of people love these books, so there's a good chance you will, too.
DeleteHmmm, sounds interesting, although the paranormal-crime-fighter thing has been done A LOT. I don't mind worn-out themes if there are cool characters or a cool twist to the story, though. Thanks for sharing your review!
ReplyDelete@Camille: Yeah, it has been done a lot, and I'm fine with that. But, I need to be able to connect with the characters in order to like any overdone premise. I like the premise of this one just fine, but it failed when it came to the characters for me.
DeleteEveryone seems to love these books so it's nice to see you didn't find this one that amazing. It gives me some perspective. Otherwise I would have snatched them up and had really high expectations and most likely been disappointed.
ReplyDelete@Jenny: I typically don't find everyone's favorite books all that amazing. That's normal for me. I hope if you do read this book, you'll be less inclined to assume it's great. But, hopefully, you will like it a lot anyway!
DeleteI think most of Ilona Andrews' fans (and even the authors themselves- a husband-and-wife writing team) think that Magic Bites is the weakest book of the series, especially the beginning of Magic Bites. I remember feeling lost for the first part. The other books do get better, and those are the books that us fans brag about. I now count it as one of my top 5 favorite UF series, but not every book is for every person, right? That's what makes it so fun. Good review, and I agree with a lot of it.
ReplyDeleteJean S.
I agree with Jean that Magic Bites is the weakest of the books and I didn't fully get into the series until the end of the second book and by the third I was hooked. Kate sort of fluctuates with me but you know how I feel about Curran. I can see how you would think those things about him based on book 1, but I am so over the heroes who fall all over themselves for the heroine in 5 seconds flat that his behaviour was kind of a relief for me. Never mind that you didn't like the books as much as you'd hoped Cathy. Not everything is for everyone.
ReplyDelete@Lan: I can see how you'd like Curran not falling in love with Kate the second he meets her. That is annoyingly overdone. And, thanks for understanding.
DeleteI haven't heard of this book before, but the synopsis sounds interesting. It's unfortunate that the story was boring during the first half of the book though--I hate that! It also sucks when the paranormal aspects of a book are being explained but they are too darn confusing to appreciate and comprehend. Thanks for sharing this honest review. By the way, I really like your review style! =)
ReplyDelete-Shanon @ Escaping With Fiction
@Shanon: Yeah, it was very confusing and all over the place with the world-building. Thanks for the compliment!
DeleteIt's interesting that you didn't think there was much of a plot. It seems like everyone loves this series. I would have expected it to suck you in right away. I still want to read it.
ReplyDelete@Alison: You should read it if you want to. It's not a good fit for me, but I'm not going to recommend others not try it out. Since so many people love these books, there's a good chance you will, too. So, go for it.
DeleteOh man... sad that it's made up of Kate's activities! That's dull. x___x Still tempted by it because I have heard fantastic things about this. Lovely review. :)
ReplyDeleteAshelynn @ Gypsy Book Reviews.
@Ash: Thanks, and you should read it if you think it will interest you. You never know!
DeleteMAGIC BITES actually kept me turning the pages, enthralled. Kate's a great character, the 'tech wave vs.magic wave' world-building is fresh, original and vivid, and--one thing about her fantasy that I really like--the bad guys are really evil. Although there are moments when Kate has to contemplate moral gray areas it felt great that she was able to, overall, be a force for good in the world.
ReplyDelete