User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars
10 Reasons to Love Kate Daniels:1. She doesn't take any crap from anyone.
2. She's sarcastic and occasionally rude and always hilarious. Who else would greet a snarly Beast Lord with "Here, kitty, kitty...?"
3. She knows all the rules of diplomacy when dealing with shapeshifters, vampires, and other supernaturals.
4. She knows how to
break all those rules and commands respect in spite of it.
5. She admits when she makes mistakes.
6. She's comfortable with herself and who she is. But she's lonely too, and she isn't afraid to acknowledge it.
7. She has a lot of men in her life that she likes for different reasons. But she won't hesitate to call them out if she thinks they're crossing the line.
8. She has a huge amount of decency and integrity. Exhausted, hurt, bleeding, and hungry, she'll still stop eating when she thinks someone else is being slighted.
9. She wields a mean sword that she calls "Slayer" that she uses to kill all kinds of vicious creatures.
10. She kicks
serious ass, with or without magic.
I have a hit-or-miss track record with most urban fantasy books that I've tried, but I think Kate and I are going to get along just fine. Can't wait to read the next book! And the one after that, and the one after that...
Rating: really liked it
5/5/18: Still love it (if that wasn’t evident by virtue of having read it SIX times). If you haven’t read this, you should. Immediately. 📚🖤
This is my F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E series.
And that's kind of a big deal. For example, if you asked me what my second favorite series was, I'd have to give you a top 5 list. BUT. KATE DANIELS is unquestionably my #1 favorite.
I'm rereading the series, b/c the new book is out next Tuesday, and I think this is my fifth (or sixth?) time. I typically can't reread a series every year b/c I get bored, and I thought that might be a problem this time, but, NOPE, it's not.
This is also the series I immediately suggest when asked for a reading recommendation, and it's hooked every person that's taken that advice. When I'm harassing people for feedback, they've all liked MAGIC BITES enough to read the next book, which is good b/c unlike most series, this one just keeps getting better.
There have, however, been a few complaints that this first book is a little confusing on the world-building front. I can't be completely objective, b/c looking back after reading the series five(+) times . . . hindsight is, after all, 20/20.
The basic premise is brand new: the world began with magic and technology existing in a harmonious balance.
The analogy made is of a pendulum swinging only slightly back (magic) and forth (technology). But over time man developed magic, causing the pendulum to swing increasingly wildly until the pendulum crashed to the other side, leaving only a minimal amount of magic behind and flooding the world with the ability to use technology in magic's stead.
I pictured it like that boat ride at theme parks--at Carowinds it's called the Frenzoid--that starts out swinging slowing back and forth, gaining momentum, until finally, after a nerve-wracking several seconds held completely upside down, it crashes to the other side.
This happens approximately every 4000(ish) years, most recently about 40 years prior to the present time in the book.
The changeover from magic-to-tech, or in the book's case, tech-to-magic, is not immediately complete. Like the Frenzoid, after the initial shift from back-and-forth to completing a full circle, the momentum keeps the boat (or magic/tech) swinging wildly back and forth until it settles down in the middle, or
magic in MAGIC BITES.
As man develops magic to replace the lost technology, the process begins again, and in another 4000ish years the reverse shift will occur.
I honestly can't remember how well this is explained in book 1, but I
do know that if it
wasn't fully explained,
I did not care. It was secondary to the plot and the characters.
I knew that sometimes magic worked and sometimes it didn't. Same for technology. I knew that when magic worked, guns wouldn't fire, and that spells didn't work when tech was up.
I also knew this was why Kate carried a sword--b/c a sword
always works.<-----Kate is KICK-ASS.
And that was enough information for me, b/c who cares about world-building when you have a main character like Kate Daniels?
Not me.
Kate is the perfect heroine. On the surface, she's the standard Urban Fantasy MC: she's super special magically and snarktastic. Oftentimes this can get old, but not Kate Daniels, who after numerous rereads only gets more fantastic.
Unlike other UF heroines, Kate's brand of special kept her
truly isolated. She didn't
feel alone, she
was alone. Anything else meant death. And yeah, her mouth is always getting her into trouble, but Kate often reveals her vulnerability right before she attacks:
Curran turned to me. "Take one of mine again and I'll kill you." He said it in a conversational manner, matter-of-fact and flat, but in his eyes I could see a simple certainty. If he had to, he would kill me. He would not lose any sleep over it. He would not give it a second thought. He would do it and move on, untroubled by ending my existence.
It scared the shit out of me, so I laughed in his face.
She was scared. So she laughed. In his FACE.
And
that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love Kate.
She doesn't bitch and moan about how life isn't fair, why her? She does what needs doing, and she often does it hilariously.
She's my favorite.
Teenage girls everywhere wish that they were Katniss Everdeen. I wish I was Kate Daniels.
My other reviews for this series: A Questionable Client (Kate Daniels, #0.5) Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2) Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, #3) Magic Mourns (Kate Daniels, #3.5) Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, #4) Magic Dreams (Kate Daniels, #4.5) Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, #5) Magic Tests (Kate Daniels, #5.3) Magic Gifts (Kate Daniels, #5.4) Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels, #5.5) Retribution Clause (Kate Daniels, #5.6) An Ill-Advised Rescue (Kate Daniels, #5.8) Magic Rises (Kate Daniels, #6) Magic Steals (Kate Daniels, #6.5) Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels, #7) Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels, #8) Magic Stars (Kate Daniels, #8.5, Grey Wolf, #1) Magic Binds (Kate Daniels, #9) Iron and Magic (Kate Daniels, #9.5) Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels, #10) Curran POV Collection
Rating: really liked it
This was a really dry book. I mean...wow!So, I originally read this (at the prompting of my BFF) back in 2010, and was so underwhelmed it took me 4 years to pick up the second book. And,
no I didn't bother doing a re-read of book 1 beforehand. I was simply so
sick and tired of all my friends telling me what a great series I was missing out on, that I just snatched up 2 and dove in.
I fully expected to hate it.
However, Magic Burns was fantastic, and set me on the path of becoming a rabid fan of not only
this series, but of
anything the Ilona Andrews duo writes. And even though I've pretty much read everything else that I can get my hands on, I'd
still never attempted a re-read of
Magic Bites. All I could remember was what a chore it felt like to slog through, and some vague
Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty... reference to Kate and Curran's first meeting.
It was love at first sight for those two...
So. Fast forward 7 years, and here I am.
Finally going back to see what happened to kick off one of my favorite series ever! I felt sure it would be awesome! And in my mind, I looked a bit like
THIS while jumping into the story:
The reality was a bit more...
THIS:
Ok. So,
yes, it was better this time around. Now that I know what the world is like, see where all of this is going with Kate and Curran, know what's up with all of the cryptic references to her father and her blood, and recognize characters that will become important staples in this universe in later books - it wasn't chore to get through it.
However.I still say this is one of the worst intro books ever. At least, to such a
fabulous series.
The first book of a new series should WOW you. It should be so
delicious that it slaps you across the face, knocks you off your feet, makes you want to come back for more.
This? This was dry and crunchy with an oddly unspecific taste to it.
This time around, I'd give it 4 stars because I love these characters SO much, and seeing them meet and fight was unbelievably worthwhile. But there's still a
teeny-tiny part of my brain that realizes this book was boring enough that it took me 7 years to bring myself to do a re-read.
I wish I could just be like,
Nah, this was great! I don't know what you fools are talking about! And admitting that I understand why a lot of people don't continue with the series after reading this
pains me...truly.
Ok, so here's the deal: if you read this and thought it sucked, for the love of God, just read the second book before you decide to give up. And, NO, don't go back and try to do a re-read of this one first! Go...just
go! Move on to book 2, and the recaps will get you through.
For anyone who truly
did enjoy this book the first time around, know that I'm
not saying it's crap, just that I don't believe it does a good job showing how awesome these characters or this world will become in the future.
Rating: really liked it
Ever ventured out into the world of dating and discovered that it was disproportionately populated with assholes? Did you ever look around and say, "Where the hell are all these assholes coming from?"
Well, if Curran turned your oven on then the answer is possibly: You!
Yes, that's right. Assholes who have the common traits of narcissism, marchiavellianism and pyscopathy according to recent studies, score more with the ladies. It's called the Dark Triad (I know - best name ever) and in many respects these aspects of a person can be considered partially genetic traits. So when ladies hook up with the dirtbags, they occassionally spawn a entirely new generation to fill up a gene pool that obviously NEEDS more jerks.
I'm not going to bag out Magic Bites because I actually really, really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, which I'm about to start, but either Curran needs to have a major personality overhaul or he needs to be boinking someone else. He's aggressive, petty, arrogant, dismissive and violent. And yes, I caught myself thinking he was hot on a couple of occasions.
I will submit myself for regular beatings - with nunchucks later. Nunchucks can cure anything.
I really loved the concept, I loved the world and its interesting take on vampires and the governing associations that run the world. I had just a LITTLE bit of a problem with the characterization.
Okay, I might get crucified for this, but Kate Daniels actually really reminded me of Anita Blake.
Paranormal mystery solver? Check!
Daggy clothes and utter disregard to style? Check!
Tough-talking super bravado? Check!
Solves everything with violence or an over abundance of natural magical ability? Check!
Obviously when more than two men had an overly enthusiastic sexual interest in Kate, my Pavlovian conditioning kicked in and I was half prepared for Kate Daniels to turn into a slutqueen with a magical vagina. You have no idea how happy I was when she didn't!
I did like her better than Anita though as she had moments of maturity when she decided that tough talk and threats of violence weren't really conducive to what she needed and thus backed down and recognized that she can't defeat evil with her badassery alone (Anita will never discover this because even if she died, she'd just seduce God and steal his powers and then we'd ALL be in a lot of trouble!)
Also, when the chips were down, she got drunk, sat on her porch and DARED the world to come and get her. I like it. Best. Fucking. Plan. Ever. I felt true sisterly affection for her then!
The mystery was painfully easy but I dismissed that because everything else was covered in so much badass awesomeness. Besides, right from the start, Kate laid out her very tactical sleuthing plan and I immediately knew that she was definitely NOT Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. She was SUPPOSED to be bad at it and thus she gets my seal of approval. It's truly aweinspiring when you can suck arse at something and still come out on top! I love it.
So, over all, THOUGH I only gave it three stars, I actually liked it. Funny, fun, a little bit sexy and a good, light read.
Except for all the gruesome death, rape, stabbing, decomposing and dying.
Rating: really liked it
honestly fun. not perfect but i’m marathoning the series so i care less about individual book quality ✌🏻
Rating: really liked it
Completed an audiobook reread of this book in July. Here are my thoughts on this reread. Most of the meat on the bones is in my first review.
I am glad I reread this. It was a great book, but I forgot quite a bit of what happened. It's pretty edgy even today. A hefty dose of the horrific in the type of villain it features and the highly heinous deeds he commits. Kate Daniels is badass. She is snarky, but has the ability to back it up. I enjoyed her dialogue and I appreciated being inside her head and seeing the world through her eyes. For an urban fantasy, this book is highly dystopian. A near future setting where Atlanta is devastated by a magical cataclysm. In the time of COVID-19, it seems very prescient.
I liked the 'flirting' with Curran, if you want to call it that. I appreciate that Kate doesn't compromise who she is just because he's the Beast Lord. And he's very scary, tbh. I really like Derek as Kate's sidekick.
Renee Raudman is a very good narrator. She has a great way of making Kate sound lethal but also deliver's her snarky lines perfectly. She's also good at male voices as well.
I would recommend checking out this Audiobook, even if you're read this before.****************
About twelve years ago, there was a little girl named Danielle who read a book called Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, and was seduced into the dark, enchanting world of urban fantasy. She went on to read more urban fantasy than she could shake a stick at. Over the years, she lost touch with Anita Blake, and mourned the loss of a tough-as-nails, kickass, urban fantasy heroine to join for exciting, dangerous, and magical adventures.
Recently, she finally picked up a book called Magic Bites, which had been sitting on her bloated, embarrassingly large tbr pile. She read it to find out who this mysterious "Beast Lord" was, and why everyone thought that Kate and Curran were the best urban fantasy couple. That young girl is a very happy camper.
Magic Bites is a hard book to describe. If you are a genuine, die-hard urban fantasy fan, you will like this book. At 260 pages, it appears deceptively slim. However, there's a lot of information, adventure, description, and incredibly good writing in that relatively small amount of pages. I will admit that this book made being confused and baffled fun for me. I had a lot of questions as I was reading. Still do. But that's kind of nice.
Kate Daniels is one of the best urban fantasy heroines I've had the pleasure to meet. I've said before that I don't care for arrogant, braggadocious, posturing characters. She doesn't posture. She simply is a bad-ass, but down to earth, at the same time. She doesn't run around in bustiers, low-riding leather pants, and stiletto heels, climbing out of bed with some random guy long enough to kick-butt. She wears clothes that facilitate her ability to kick ass and to keep herself alive. Being cute is all good and well, but in her world, being cute might get her killed. Her only vanity is her long hair, which she keeps in a braid most of the time. Lethal abilities aside, Kate is very feminine. She can appreciate a cute guy, and she had flaws and weaknesses just like the rest of us armchair kickbutt heroines. I like her no-nonsense view of the world, her snarky sense of humor, and the fact that she likes to pull the lion by the tail, sometimes literally. I thought she was an interesting character. She has some emotional wounds that she is dealing with, and tends to keep her own company. It's nice to see a thoughtful, almost brooding heroine in this genre.
Ms. Andrews earned my respect. The Atlanta that she has created is a very fascinating place. I still don't understand all of what occurred to make Atlanta very much like a dystopic wastleland, but I didn't have to understand that to enjoy this book. I do know that magic plays a huge hand in the catastrophe that hit this fair Southern city. It seems to surge and ebb, like the electricity brownouts that were hitting California when I lived out there. For all the importance that magic plays in this story, Ms. Andrews is never heavy-handed with the use of magic. In fact, she lightly and skillfully builds a storyline that is credible and interesting around the tendrils of magic power wielded in different ways by many of the characters in this novel. And better yet, she was able to create a female magic-wielder who wasn't a witch. I believe there are far too many witch urban fantasy and paranormal heroines. It's gotten to the point where it's almost cliche'. Her use of folklore is clever and well-placed. She takes a different direction with vampires, shapechangers, and mages. I must say I've never seen vampires described in the manner in which they exist in this story. They are quite gruesome and almost pitiful in Kate Daniels' world.
I have to say that Ilona Andrews writing is high class. She sets the scenes very well, using language in just the right way, to keep the story flowing forward. She employs the noir elements that I enjoy in urban fantasy and occult detective novels very well. Better yet, she treats the reader with respect, understanding that popular fiction readers like to be challenged and fully engaged. She seems to understand that just because we enjoy fantastic, escapist material, it doesn't mean that we want to read something meaningless and without substance. In fact, I felt as though I was reading a police procedural with magical and horrific elements (a sure sign of a good occult detective novel). I thought I had figured out who the killer was fairly early on (and was about to be disappointed), but I was way off. When the reveal happens, it comes at you in such a manner that you cannot help but admire how skillfully the red herring and clues were laid out.
As I read this book, my brain, which always tries to make order and sense of things, tried to think of a way to categorize and classify this book and the world within it. I never came up with a concrete classification. But that's a good thing. It's nice to find something new within a well-loved genre, and to encounter a novel reading experience at the same time. This book delivered that to me.
If I were to make any literary allusions, I would consider this book to have incorporated the story traditions of the tales of medieval knights, with a modern and often horrific spin. If I could describe Kate in any quick way, I would call her a knight-mercenary. She has the requisite sword, although she lacks the steed that usually goes with the package(To my pleasant surprise, there is quite a bit of horse-riding in this book, but Kate doesn't have her own horse). Unfortunately, we didn't get to see her wearing her armor. Maybe in the next books. Slasher, her blood-thirsty and sentient sword, reminded me of Stormbringer, the vampiric sword owned by Elric of Melniboné, written by Michael Moorcock, whom I became acquainted with earlier this fall.
Any urban fantasy heroine has to have a potential spark, if you will. That's where Curran, The Beast Lord, comes in. He's impressive, let's leave it at that. He's not just a potential love interest, but a powerful ally. These two butt heads in the most delightful ways. As the Beast Lord, and a lion shapeshifter, Curran's used to being in charge, and Kate lives by the 'you're not the boss of me' philosophy. I look forward to more fighting alongside, and flirting with Curran in the next books.
This book is quite dark. Blood (and blood magic) and guts aplenty, dark deeds, dark magic, dark creatures. This is a book for a reasonably mature reader, in that regard. Being a big fan of Magic Noir (thank you, Brad, for letting me steal your fantastic term), I enjoyed those aspects. But I did wince at a few particularly gruesome scenes. The villain is a very disturbing individual, in more ways than one. Everything in this story has an edge to it. That's not a bad thing to this reader, since she enjoys a little darkness in her fiction. But if you tend to enjoy the lighter urban fantasy stories, you'd want to be prepared when you read this one. Now there is humor, but it's of the drier, more wry, and grimmer variety. If you like the hero to get banged up and injured quite a bit, you'll enjoy that about this novel. Kate definitely faces jeopardy, again and again. The stakes are particularly high in this novel, in ways that you need to read to find out.
So, after so much rambling, I have to say that this urban fantasy fan has found a new series of which she intends to fully avail herself. Kate Daniels is my newest knight in shining armor. Let the adventures continue.
Rating: really liked it
“These were unsafe times. But then in safer times, I'd be a woman without a job. The safe-tech world had little use for a magic-touting mercenary like me.”
Welcome to a world where
magic and technology fight to gain the upper hand. Where
necromancers control vampires and
every nightmarish mythical creature turns out to be real, eager to devour human flesh.
Welcome to Atlanta.
The story “My name is Kate Daniels. Greg Feldman was my legal guardian and the closest thing to a family I've had for many years. I want to find the scum who killed him.”
Kate Daniels is a mercenary, hired to take care of supernatural problems. When her guardian is brutally murdered but no one seems to know by whom and why, she takes matters in her own hands and crosses paths with shapechanger lords, necromancers and vampires trying to get answers. But when she is targeted by a creature more devious and ruthless than anything she's ever encoutered, she has to make choices that will affect others and decide who is worthy of her trust and who deserves to be run through by her magic blade.
Thoughts Magic Bites was the introduction to an
action-packed,
drama-free and
gruesome saga. I must admit there were many times I felt
confused and my brain hurt from the effort to understand, because the world-building was slow with many questions unanswered, and that's the reason I rated it with 4 stars. That being said,
I immensely enjoyed this book! Despite being difficult to get into, it kept me hooked and I was eager to learn more, to dive into magic adventures and bloody fights! I've read my fair share of urban fantasy but this series was different from my regular YA ones. More
mature, darker, crueller and slightly disgusting (unless you are unfazed by mutilated corpses and a huge variety of body fluids), yet
fascinating and
extremely engaging.
The characters “What kind of a woman greets the Beast Lord with 'here, kitty, kitty'?”
That's Kate. Sarcastic, confident and smart-ass, she'll face danger without blinking and she'll slay anything that gets in her way. She's not a team player and she can't tolerate any form of authority. She doesn't have any friends, her life evolves around blood and magic. And she has a sword named Slayer. That's what we call
badass.
But Kate isn't the only badass here. How about a shapechanger whose beast form is a lion, sexy as hell, arrogant and stubborn
alpha-male asshole? Meet Curran, also known as
sex-on-a-stick.
While romance isn't the main focus of Magic Bites, you can sense that things will get intimate between Kate and Curran because
holy.hawt.chemistry.Batman! They barely tolerate each other because they're so much alike, and they constantly bicker and that's why when they finally get together I expect explosions and fireworks!
If you're in the mood for a
darker urban fantasy book full of blood and gore, then don't hesitate to grab the Kate Daniels series!
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | BookNest
Rating: really liked it
➽
And the moral of this particular rerererererereread is: 
Need I say more? Didn't think so.
👋
Until next time and stuff.
[
May 2019]
🐈
The Adventures Of A Brave Little Kitty Buddy Rerererereread (TAOABLKBR™) with the IA Addicts 🐈
➽
And the moral of this particular rererererereread is: Kate Bloody Shrimping Daniels =
Bloody shrimping QED and stuff.
[
November 2017]
⚔
The Grand IAA™ KD Buddy Rerererereread Extravaganza (GIAAKDBRE™), aka the
yellow brick road to Magic Triumphs ⚔
Presenting Episode 1, or How Kate Daniels Learned Not all Cats are Kitty-Kitty-Kitties.
·
Previous rating: 10 stars
·
New rating: I have been asked by GR support not to reveal my rating. The IT team thinks the site might implode if I do.
➽
And the moral of this particular rererererereread is: have a thing against a certain plastic surgeon? The
Anti-Toothpaste Coalition (ATC™) is actively recruiting! PM me for details.
P.S. Let's dance.
I'm the short one in the middle, in case you were wondering. The more inconspicuous, the more nefarious and stuff.[
April 2016]
❣
KD is the Cure to All of Life's Problems Buddy Read (KDitCtAoLPBR™) with my dear wife Ange, and the poor souls who have fallen into our deathly
KD Surprise Reread Trap (KSRT™) ❣
·
Original rating: 5 stars
·
Rating after xxxxxx rereads: 10 stars.
Up up up the rating goes.»
And the moral of this particular rererereread is: one tiny little KD fix and all is right in the world again.
Bye now.
[
Original review]
☆☆☆ Post-Shift Productions proudly present ☆☆☆Just Another Day in the Life of Kate Daniels
►
8.00 a.m.: Chilling at home. Looks like there's something on your wall. Well hello there you
friendly neighbourhood spiderman. Throw a knife, slice a throat.
Today's going to be a good day.
►
8.30 a.m.: Greg. Dead.
Shit.
►
9.00 a.m.: Pay the
Knights of Merciful Aid a visit. Meet Scumbag Ted of The Debatable Fashion Sense. Discuss your
investigative techniques:
annoy the people involved until the guilty party tries to make you go away. Always works wonders.
►
9.30 a.m.: Meet a hot guy with a toothpaste name. Try to
radiate integrity and decency of character. Doesn't work. Give him your knockout smile. Misfires.
Damn.
►
10.00 a.m.: Talk to
Anna. She just had a vision of you sitting cross-legged on the grass, eating a corpse.
Nice.
►
10.30 a.m.: Oh look! A big cat!
Here kitty kitty kitty! Give the beast your best
cryptic smile. Try to impress him with Slayer's useless but very cool white glow.
Fail miserably.
►
11.00 a.m.: Pay
Saiman a visit. Watch him go from bombshell blonde to
barbarian king in less time than it takes to blink.
Throw up in your mouth a little.
►
11.30 a.m.: Finally manage to get some rest. Head to shower.
The phone rings. Step out of shower. It's Mr Hot Toothpaste asking you out. Wow, did you just say yes to a date? Yes you did. Head back to shower.
The phone rings. Damn. Step out of shower. It's Maxine letting you know Scumbag Ted of The Debatable Fashion Sense wants to see you ASAP. Oh goody. Head back to shower.
The phone rings. Somebody kill me now. Step out of shower. It's Jim. Gives you hell but puts up with your shit. He doesn't have a choice.
Who else is going to help his furry ass anyway?
►
12.00 a.m.: Put on your
Thugs Are Us outfit. Pay your new Pack friends a visit. Piss His Furry Majesty off a little.
He better get used to it.
►
12.30 a.m.: Get yourself a
teenage werewolf sidekick. Go visit the People's shithole. Look at lovely
vampire family pictures: intestines, brain, heart, bladder, colon, oesophagus, lungs, liver, kidneys. It's like a build-your-own-vampire Ikea kit!
Very cool.
►
1.00 p.m.: Cut a freakish, ancient
vampire's head off. Take it home to try a new recipe. Add some herbs. A drop of blood. Chant a little.
Wakey wakey vampire head!►
1.30 p.m.: Surprise visit from
Mr Hot Toothpaste. Chat about tattoos, ravens and the
odds of getting an orgasm with a blind date. Hey, it looks like someone is trying to take advantage of an injured, naked woman.
About time!
►
2.00 p.m.: Time to finally
get some rest. Someone knocks on your door.
What now? Oh look, the Beast Lord! And here you were thinking it would be
someone important.
►
2.30 p.m.: Field trip to
Unicorn Lane with your furry friends. His Fussiness compares you to an elephant.
Try and refrain from kicking his ass.
►
3.00 p.m.: Meet a lovely
Mistress of the Dead. Cut cut cut, slice slice slice, cleave cleave cleave. Play the disembowelment game.
Fun times.
►
3.30 p.m.: Oh look! A
blanket of undead on the ceiling!
Rip a heart out, mix a blood cocktail, pilot a few vamps, play with fire, pass out.
Same old, same old.
►
4.00 p.m.: Witness the
Beast Lord soaking in all his naked glory. Want to jump in? Err, no thank you.
Places to go, things to do and all that.
►
4.30 p.m.: Get ready for a
date with Mr Hot Toothpaste. Dress up. Fancy restaurant.
Boring, boring, BORED. Well if that isn't His Furry Highness sitting across the room from you!
Here, have some milk kitty cat.
►
5.00 p.m.: Home at last.
Get some sleep. Wake up feeling refreshed. Err, is that a human head on a stick? In your yard?
Will this day never end?►
5.30 p.m.: Oh look! A
giant bone puzzle! It's just like sorting out dirty laundry! Vamps on the right, shifters on the left!
Good times.
►
6.00 p.m.: Wrongly accuse an innocent man.
Feel like shit. Get drunk. Uh-oh, bad idea. Looks like
you're on the menu tonight.
►
6.30 p.m.: Make a
pact with the devil. Piss His Furriness off.
So what else is new?►
7.00 p.m.: Time for a
costume party. The Beast Lord wishes you good luck. I. What. You. Huh?
Concentrate Kate, concentrate.
►
7.30 p.m.: Rotting flesh,
putrid juices, swarms of flies, half-animals on a telepathic leash.
Why me?►
8.00 p.m.: Cut cut cut, slice slice slice. Make a little magic, speak a few power words, play with fire again.
Oh look! A see-through villain! Take that you vicious bastard!
Feel like you're dying a little.
►
8.30 p.m.: Regain consciousness.
Unexpected hellish nursemaid. No nails. New job. The Beast Lord can't hammer shit.
Oh boy.
•
Book 2: Magic Burns ★★★★★
•
Book 3: Magic Strikes ★★★★★
•
Book 4: Magic Bleeds ★★★★★
•
Book 5: Magic Slays ★★★★★
•
Book 6: Magic Rises ★★★★★
•
Book 7: Magic Breaks ★★★★★
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Book 8: Magic Shifts ★★★★★
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Book 9: Magic Binds ★★★★★
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Book 10: Magic Triumphs ★★★★
Rating: really liked it
Another second chance reread. Another DNF. I can’t believe I put some much work into ranting about this book. All I can say today is that it bores me.
Original reviewI've read enough urban fantasy to know that the genre is extremely formulaic, just like, let's say, the genre of historical romance. Basically, you are aware of what exactly you are going to get from the get-go. The difficulty here is to find a series whose standard mix of ass-kicking heroine/amusing cast of secondary characters/lore/mystery/paranormal hunk that suits your personal preferences. Unfortunately, I will have to put "Magic Bites" into the pile of urban fantasy I doubt I will ever get back to, along with Richelle Mead's "Storm Born" and Patricia Briggs' "Moon Called."
The weakest part of the book is definitely the writing. I can see how Ilona Andrews might have lost numerous readers within just the first couple of chapters. She throws us in the middle of her world without explaining anything at all. Only pages later do we get enough information to understand previous events. A perfect example is the opening scene of "Magic Bites" where Kate throws a knife into a vampire's throat and then this vampire starts talking to her in a voice of some other character. Finally two chapters later you find out that in Andrews' world vampires are basically brainless zombies who are operated by necronavigators. This kind of thing happens repeatedly. Some readers might enjoy such cryptic type of writing based on extensive withholding of information. I personally don't find it enjoyable, unless it's written by Margaret Atwood or Megan Whalen Turner. However in this case I don't think the effect is intentional, it seems to be more indicative of poor writing skills. I might have overlooked the bad writing (after all, you do eventually get a better understanding of the world and start keeping up with the events), if only I felt attached to the world or the characters. No luck here unfortunately.
Patricia Briggs calls "Magic Bites"
"an edgy, dark fantasy, touched with just the right amount of humor" in her blurb on the book cover. The novel is not particularly (or at all) humorous, but it is dark indeed. In fact, "Magic Bites" is probably the darkest and goriest urban fantasy I've come across so far. Andrews doesn't shy away from incorporating split open chests, exposed colons, dead flesh eating monsters, etc. in her novel. So if you are not into this kind of thing, you might want to reconsider reading this book.
I appreciate the author's attempt to reshape traditional werewolf/vampire lore with a touch of Slavic mythology added in. Sometimes it works (I liked the shapechanger concept), sometimes it seems ridiculous ("feeding" your sword a mixture of wheat with some iron bits). I personally find this world ugly and very vaguely defined. For instance, I still have no understanding of what exactly "magic" is. Is it some kind of energy force? Who can be in possession of magic? How is it used? I've seen it operate cars, I've seen it applied telepathically, through incantation, via a sword, with the help of herbs in this book. I still have no idea what it is. I would also love to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the human and magic world. Do they co-exist? How much are they aware of each other? What is humans' attitude towards the magical creatures and vice versa? Or I would love to know what exactly the Guild and its diviners and protectors do. Or what Kate does as a mercenary.
And finally, the main character. Kate Daniels will appeal to you if you like your heroines tough, very gloomy, with no sense of humor and irresistibly appealing to all the males in the vicinity (to be fair, this is a common theme in urban fantasy). I would have liked her more if Andrews didn't write her so ever defiant and in constant need to get confrontational with every person (man) of power around her. She softens up a little bit towards the end of the book, but unfortunately too late in the game for me to change my opinion about her.
Overall, "Magic Bites" didn't quite work for me. The mystery kept me turning pages, but I finished the book without a desire to continue on with the series. It doesn't mean, however, that this novel will not work for you. It might, especially if you like your urban fantasy dark and gory and your sword-wielding heroines tough and defiant.
Rating: really liked it
The first book in the Kate Daniels series! It's pretty good urban fantasy, but the series definitely improves and builds on itself as it goes along, so keep your expectations tempered for the first couple of books, and don't give up, at least until you've read the third book.
3.5 stars, rounding up. In an alternative version of our world, technology and magic are at odds: when a "magic fluctuation" hits, most technological items (cell phones, cars, anything electrical) stop working, but sooner or later the magic wave ends and technology kicks in again. Smart people finds ways to get along whether magic or technology happens to be ascendant, like Kate Daniels, who carries a sword - fondly named Slayer - and is capable of kicking pretty much anyone's ass at any given time. Someone has killed Kate's friend and one-time mentor, Greg Feldman, and Kate is determined to find out who it is. But her investigation becomes increasingly dangerous to herself and those who are helping her.
Magic Bites is basically a detective story set in an urban fantasy world, complete with vampires and werewolves, but they're vampires and werewolves (or, more accurately, shapechangers, since many of them are not wolves but rats, leopards, lions, etc.) like I've never seen or read about before. I'm rounding up to four stars because the world-building with the fantasy part of the story is done so well here. It struck me as detailed, highly original, and very well integrated into the overall story. Vampires, for example, are near-mindless automatons controlled by humans who are trained to do so:
. . . the mind of a vampire died the moment vampirism took hold. The vampires knew no pity and no fear; they couldn't be trained; they had no ego. On a developmental level they stood close to insects . . . An insatiable hunger for blood ruled them and they slaughtered everything in their path in their urge to quench it.
Also this:
The thing followed me on all fours. It was a vampire, but one so ancient that no trace of it having walked upright remained. . . Its face no longer bore any resemblance to a human. . . Rows of fangs gleamed against the blackness.
Eeeek! Also eeeew!
There's a lot of snarky humor in this book, again kind of like a gumshoe detective story. When Kate is summoned to a meeting with the shapechangers she considers her options for self-protection:
I paused, considered the arsenal available to me, put on thin wristbands loaded with silver needles, and took nothing else except Slayer. To get clear of two hundred enraged shapechangers I'd need a case of grenades and air support. There was no reason to weigh myself down with extra weapons. Then again, maybe I should take a knife. One knife, as a backup. Okay, two. And that's it. Armed and dressed to kill--or rather to die quickly but in style--I went . . .
Overall, it's not terribly deep or insightful, but it's a fun read and I think it achieves very well what it's trying to be. And the series seriously improves by the third book.
Content notes: There are a fair number of F-bombs and some blatant sexual innuendos. And gory scenes. Also, rape trigger warning.
Rating: really liked it
4/5 ⭐
This was certainly more entertaining than I initially anticipated.
At first, it started kind of slow for me, but I've decided that I want to see where everything goes. So I switched to audio and even though I don't really like audiobooks, this one slowly sucked me in.
I really love Kate, she's the kind of badass female MC with a sassy mouth and sarcastic comments that you can't help but enjoy throughout the book. I liked the fact that even though she's afraid of things most of the time and she admits that to herself, she's always up for the challenge.
Also, the Beast Lord seems like one hell of a promising future love interest and I can't wait for them to get into it *hehe*
Forget that no-good piece of poop Crest, Kate darling. He's no good for you, trust me on that.
From the moment this book started to warm its way to my cold soul, I realised that it's actually fascinating. The unique creatures, the Slavic mythology and Russian language insertion in the plot just added to its flair. And also, it gave me one hell of a plot idea for the fantastic stories developing in my head 24/7...so, 100 points for that, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Book-styled)
Rating: really liked it
Sale Alert: This is one of my all time favorite UF series, currently on sale 08Mar20 at amazon $0.99
Kate Daniels Buddy Read/Reread starts April 27 with the gang at Ilona Andrews Addicts (IAA)Let the fun and games begin, Yes it is still only a 3.5 star read but I really enjoyed it all over again. There is a little plotting issue that is fuzzy but overall great start to one of my favorite UF series.
Only beaten just slightly by books 1-5 of Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series.
3.5 Stars Re-read 25Jun2014 before the release of Magic BreaksI forgot the entire plot to this book and it was like reading it all over again. Sure I remembered
ALL the interactions between Kate and Curran and I remember meeting Derek for the first time. But I had totally forgotten who the bad guy was and why. I guess we all know what I really cared about. I even forgot there was a Zombie Dragon!!!
A freaking Zombie Dragon and I had totally forgotten about it….bad Robin…Bad.
This was my first Ilona Andrews (IA) book (
I’ve read 14 now, including the novellas) and it is also my lowest rated IA book. It all just gets better from here. They have come a long way as a writing team and I enjoyed this book maybe even a little more the second time through.
I love the early Kate and all the posturing she and Curran do to prove who is top dog or cat as the case may be. The humor is still there but it gets so much better in the later books. I enjoyed the beginning a little more because I understand the magic or this world and I could focus on other details this time around.
The 7th book Magic Breaks will be out the end of July and it completes an entire plot arc so if you are looking for a fun PRN/UF series I highly suggest this one, cheesy Narnia-esk cover not-with-standing .
Initial Review 21Sept13 I’m going to admit that I put off reading this based solely on the cover for a long time. I saw the lion and thought, shades of Narnia, no thanks, I’ll pass. But, I was assured that couldn’t be further from the truth and was talked into reading it. So thanks to all those who peer pressured me, you know who you are.
Kate Daniels takes a different approach to solving mysteries and getting things done.
“Annoy principals involved until the guilty party decides to kill you.” Now in most books that
is how the story works but the characters never use it as an actual strategy. That was the first reason I liked this book. Warning: the world in this book is really different from any other UPF I’ve read and it takes a little getting used to. The author doesn’t ever succumb to the info drop and just trusts the reader to wait as the world is uncovered bit by bit. It takes time to do it this way but in the end I like the result a lot better.
This is a world where magic and technology sort of shift like the tides. When one is in full swing the other doesn’t really work. People have learned to live in two worlds that are together and separate all at the same time. Although somewhat confusing while you are figuring out the world that is being presented by the author it is fascinating and was almost as much a draw for me as the story line.
Kate Daniels is a girl shrouded in some mystery and I can see from this first book that she is going to kick some butt throughout the series. She is not a damsel in distress although she is vulnerable at times. Magic Bites has started to set up her character quite well and while we get a glimpse at who Kate Daniels is I do have a feeling we have only scratched the surface.
“So you admit to being a walking stereotype?”
“It’s safer that way,” I said honestly. There is plenty going on as Kate tries to figure out who killed her guardian. She has been alone for so long that it is difficult to play well with others. Even though she is defiant of authority and often does or says things she knows she shouldn’t, Kate remains very likable which not every heroine can pull off.
Diplomacy was never my strong suit and my patience had run dry. I crouched and called out, “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.” Teaming up with the local were-pack has some hardships of its own especially for Kate who can’t just lay down and show her belly to the alpha of the pack no matter how hot he is. A battle of wills at hand and Kate might just be in over her head.
Overall the story was entertaining, I enjoyed getting to know Kate, Curran definitely has some possibilities and the world captured my imagination. I will definitely be reading on in the series to see where the larger story arc goes.
Rating: really liked it
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Remember when the
Anita Blake series was good, back when she wasn't the Special Snowflake Queen of Sex'n'Superpowers™? (Seriously, have you read the new books? How is her vagina not permanently on fire from all that friction? Also, girl has more special moves than freaking Ditto.) Remember how the series was edgy and erotic and did not condescend to its female audience? Remember how Anita used to kick ass? Remember when there were just TWO love interests and not an entire Siouxie and the Banshees concert-worth of Gothic rejects in frilly shirts suffering from existential crises? Ilona Andrews remembers. Enter Kate Daniels.
Ilona Andrews has a huuuuuuge cult following. I got indoctrinated almost two years ago with the
Hidden Legacy series (BURN FOR ME was the book that got me back into urban fantasy). After speeding through the rest of the series like a cocaine addict burning through their stash, crying ecstatically over the series' rumored (and now
confirmed continuation), and frantically working my way through the rest of the Esteemed Ilona Andrews Hoard ™, I finally found my way to reading the much-hyped and very intimidating
Kate Daniels series. This series has freaking
fans with a capital F.
It's a little scary, because I was looking at the publication date and this book came out when I was still in high school. Despite being over ten years old, though, the book still feels fresh. Part of that is because it hasn't become dated like a lot of other older PNRs. This is because in Kate Daniel's world, magic and technology are in conflict (they short each other out), and currently magic is at its zenith, so technology has yielded to swords, horses, leylines, and magical abilities. Holy father, Batman.
Kate has decided to seek revenge for the murder of her Guardian, using her own magical powers and her trusty sword as tools. But revenge isn't simple. The murderer has covered their tracks well, and worse yet - they also appear to be responsible for the serial killings of several shape-shifters, humans, and vampires in the area. What seemed like a simple goal befitting the most basic of heroes' journey plots suddenly becomes a supernatural Gordian knot riddled with sexy shape-shifters and necromancers (oh my). Andrews doesn't hold back on the gore, either. This book packs a mean body count, and you, the reader, are sitting right in the Splash Zone. (And that ain't water.)
So, my Completely Unbiased and Possibly Unwelcome Opinion ™ on this book is... that it was good but not great. People were telling me that this series is
much better than Hidden Legacy (OMFG) , and maybe that's true for the later books in the series, but honestly, BURN FOR ME has a much stronger hook. And as fun as Kate Daniels is, she doesn't have the emotional depth and aching humanity that made Nevada such a treat (and made her gradual transformation over the course of the three books that much more addictive and investing, as a result). She tosses off some good one-liners, but I don't really understand what makes her tick. She's a stiletto heel in human form: pretty, sharp, but not very empathetic or intriguing. Also, Curran is no Rogan (don't @ me). There, I said it.
Still, I'm curious to see where the books go from here.
3.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
I reread this one with the girls at the Ilona Andrews Addicts group. And, strangely, I was slightly disappointed. Why? Well, I know this world and Kate so well now that I expected a magical wonderland when I read it again. But, there were problems that I didn't remember.
Problem 1: WorldbuildingThere were info-dumps galore. Pages and pages of them. But, we are never actually given a reason why the world changed from what we know now to a magic-infested one. There was no cataclysmic event, war, or virus that changed things. It just was.
Problem 2: The Alpha AssholeI've known Curran for umpteen books now and think of him as Mr. Awesome. But, I had totally forgotten that he started out as an insufferable asshole in this first book. I truly hated him and now I wish that Kate and him never get together. She deserves better. Like Hugh, for example. lol!
Problem 3: Overly Descriptive ScenesYou know how I feel when an author takes a full page to describe the sunset: Stabby. That's right. I read because I use this thing called my imagination, therefore I can imagine the sunset on my own. Also, I don't care what exact shade the wood is or what flowers are in the vase in a room that is simply a place that they will stand in and talk for a few minutes. It doesn't matter. It doesn't help build the scene. Get to the point, dammit!
ConclusionAll this is to say: maybe you can't go home again. It's never the way you remembered it.
Do I still love Kate Daniels and everything else written by Ilona Andrews? Yes. And, hey, I admit that I'm a critical bitch. That's my best quality. I am just saying that I now realize that the series started off a little rocky. It is still an amazing series and Kate is still my favorite girl. And, I still want everyone to read this series. Just, maybe give it a couple of books, and then the magic will happen.
Rating: really liked it
“The bravado is amusing, but it becomes tiresome.”
Sigh. Yeah. It’s fun and compulsively readable, but that quote is spot-on quite often.
When you think about it, our superpowered snarky mercenary Kate Daniels indeed is
90% defiant bravado, 5% long hair plait, 4% large amounts of alcohol and 1% irresistible hotness for every hot-blooded male, magical species nonwithstanding.
And it’s actually fun, in that trope-y “first book in an Urban Fantasy series” way where I can’t help but note all those big and little annoyances and yet get a kick out of it anyway. Maybe it’s because I’m not that well-versed in UF, or maybe that when I’m on vacation I’m easy to entertain, being already in a great mood, but hey - it’s fun despite everything.
“It's a reflex. Hear a bell, get food. See an undead, throw a knife. Same thing, really.”
The story is set in the world of alternate Atlanta where magic and technology come in frequently alternating waves which led to a cataclysm of sorts that left part of Atlanta in ruins. Basically, if tech is up, you can drive, but if magic is up you’d better take a leyline to your destination. That’s the part that is fascinating and the worldbuilding that I would love to see a bit more developed, but I assume it gets more fleshed out in the sequels because here it’s annoyingly vague.
“The Attorney General advises all citizens that any attempt at summoning or other activities resulting in the appearance of a supernaturally powerful being can be hazardous to yourself and to other citizens.”
“No shit,” I told the bottle.”
Of course, in this world multiple magical species coexist (tenuously, granted) in the usual fashion of UF.
To my relief vampires here, far from being fascinating super-sexy predators are reduced to mindless murderous corpses (I am annoyed by the usual sexy powerful vampire portrayals, in case you can’t tell from my remarkable subtlety here) — and our focus, other than magicians like Kate is really on
werewolves shapeshifters (oh please, can we have were-aardvarks???). Sadly, the annoying as hell trope that comes with that is that
damn alpha pissing contest (well, not literally, thank deity) and complete subjugation to the pack leader that werecreatures apparently by genre convention are obligated to have.
“What happened to the alpha-wolf?"
"LEGOs."
"Legos?" It sounded Greek but I couldn't recall anything mythological with that name. Wasn't it an island?
"He was carrying a load of laundry into the basement and tripped on the old set of LEGOs his kids left on the stairs. Broke two ribs and an ankle.”
This was Ilona Andrews’ first novel, and it shows. The writing, although fun, is a bit off at times, and the flashbacks are a bit clunky, and quite a few formulaic points are hit. It reminded me of the first Harry Dresden book which I inhaled when I first read it, and kept cringing on a reread a decade later. I do like the snarky humor, however (just look at the quotes I picked for this review!) which may say way too much about my emotional maturity level, I suppose. And I do like how Andrews manages to balance this humor and overall dark and often gory tone without it becoming incongruous.
But oh boy, that constant bravado schtick Kate does can become just a bit grating after a while. “You know anything about investigative work?”
“Sure. Annoy the people involved until the guilty party tries to make you go away.”
“What kind of a woman greets the Beast Lord with ‘here, kitty, kitty’?”
On a nagging side note, I can only presume that Kate suppresses her menstrual periods due to apparent significance of blood in that world — unless she chooses to spend a fair amount of time burning used menstrual products, of course. I hope that is addressed in the future as the public (well, me) demands to know. My Kindle note for the quote below simply states, “Periods must be a b*tch for you.”
“All my life I was taught to stay out of the way of the powerful. Don’t draw attention to yourself. Don’t show off. Guard your blood, because it will betray you. If you bleed, wipe it clean and burn the rag. Burn the bandages. If someone manages to obtain some of your blood, kill him and destroy the sample. At first it was a matter of survival. Later it became a matter of vengeance.”
Anyway, it was a bit rough, and often formulaic, and a tad silly (feeding oats to your sword, really?), and full of snarky humor — and yet I flew through it and remained overall satisfyingly entertained.
3.5 stars, and I may come back for the sequels at some point to see how this world shapes up. Harry Dresden series improved, so I hope this one does too as it finds its footing.
