Magic Bites

CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 5
Atmosphere: 9
Writing: 7
Plot: 6
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 6
Enjoyment: 9

A lot of people recommend this series and I was a little hesitant after the disappointment of Moon Called but this book was pleasantly surprising. Kate is a great main character who has so much sass and a mouth that can get her in trouble. I also loved the idea of magic in this book with the aspect of it coming and going. You have to always be prepared for the world to change in an instant. I'm super curious to see what else Kate gets up to in future books.

My second book in the paranormal/vampire romance genre. I tried 2 other books in the genre (Guilty pleasures, The Hollows) and they were also disappointments.

This books starts much more promising then Guilty Pleasure's vampire strip club first scene. The heroine is a kick ass girl, much like Anita Blake, but she is mourning the lost of her friend and town's Knight Protector Gabriel (?)

The thing i didn't like about the book was the poor quality of writing. Every person she meets has their clothes briefly described. “So I went to the police, the clerk was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. I asked him for information... On the way to the chief of police, a women in dark skirt and yellow shirt greeted me. The chief was a short fat men, wearing...“

She goes to the “police station”, or equivalent law agency, to ask information about her friend who died. It is a place who she scorns because even though she wants to fight evil, she is a free spirit (aka, vigilante).

They somewhat know about her, that she is a capable monster killing mercenary or something. But when she asks if she can investigate her friend's death, they not only agree with this (she is still just a civilian), but they give her an office and everything.

The protagonist also feels like an anti social, xenophobic, misandrist (dislike of men) idiot. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the author's intention, but in the scene she meets the police chief, she immediately dislikes him for

1) being a man
2) being short and fat
3) being a Texan

The chief barely gave any indication of being the stereotypical neanderthal one could expect, but I understood the intention.

Read 1:29/09:06 16%

The narrative voice is boring, the worldbuilding is really random... So many stereotypes... And my worst pet peeve: Villain monologue ranting about all their clever scheming instead of just finishing the job.

*sigh*

Obviously not my cup of tea. Maybe I'm too old. Or not hetero enough? Oh well, moving on to more book experiments...

Kate Daniels is a mercenary with a mouth as sharp as her sword. She lives in a world where magic and technology cannot co-exist. When magic is running rampant, almost all technology shuts down until it draws back. The city of Atlanta is falling apart. Buildings have collapsed from the constant struggle between magic and technology. And something is stalking the streets killing shapechangers and vampires, bringing the city close to an all-out war between the two groups of supernatural creatures. That same something killed Kate's guardian, and now she is on the hunt for whoever, or whatever killed him.

Kate might be small, but don't mistake her for being weak. She will challenge anyone who gets in her way to finding the truth. Of course, she doesn't always think before she speaks, and it can put her in some precarious situations. Especially with Curran, Lord of the shapeshifters. Being the alpha means no challenge can go without being met, and Kate doesn't hesitate to mouth off to him.

While Kate tries to navigate pack politics, she'll have to also deal with The People. Necromancers who pilot vampires. In this series, vampires are not walking around talking and charming the pants off unsuspecting mortals. They are nothing more than blood-sucking shells that must be controlled by a necromancer, or else be reduced to a blood-lusting rage. I enjoyed the creep factor brought in by the vampires, almost the polar opposite to any other urban fantasy series.

I read this series when it first came out, and never got around to finishing it. This time, I'm committed to the end. I can't wait to see how the series develops and what else this world holds.

I'm probably going to review this for Bureau42 or for a video (or both), but long story short, I enjoyed the book. Kate, the book's protagonist, is an interesting hardboiled urban fantasy detective. However, the way magic works in the setting, and how the cosmology of it works falls into some of the Magic Vs. Technology nonsense that I'm not particularly a fan of.

Magic Bites is a fun urban/contemporary(ish) fantasy that mostly consists of groundwork for the series, which makes sense since it's the first book. I think there are the makings for some really solid characters and an MC I could really root for. I love the magic system and find it's implementation to be incredibly unique.

3.5
I enjoyed reading this book but it would really have benefitted from some more editing. I feel like the pacing was a bit off and the plot had some holes in it.

Apart from that, Kate???s character seems rather flat to me and that may well be because she never actually builds a meaningful relationship with anybody else so all of her dialogue are snarky remarks.

To substantiate her ???not like other girls??? status she only ever interacts with men (excluding a maternal friend with little dialogue) and I???m just tired of action/urban fantasy/YA books that don???t even try to introduce a diverse set of characters who are driven by more than sex hormones and power.

In the same vein, the romantic interest is only ever portrayed as a sensual being with an emphasis on his primal nature and manly man body. At the same time we have a heroine that does not easily give in to lust, she is not one for one night stands (nothing wrong with that but it???s an old trope). As a result we have a juggle of sexual tension (to lure readers in) that cannot be released and a very innocent seeming romantic build up. The tension has to build up (to keep readers in) and reaches its climax (pun intended) only after some puritanical absolution - ie marriage or some other otherworldly bond that equals marriage. Bonus points if there are children.
This is a very American (and deeply conservative) approach to romance and sexuality (in media) and works on the premise of unfulfilled lust which is the only thing that keeps the characters interested in each other. In this way we never get to explore the true nature of their attraction to each other.

This was a very good paranormal fantasy featuring mercenary Kate Daniels who is not intimidated by anyone - not even the leader of the Shapeshifters. While trying to solve the murder of her friend and guardian, Kate manages to earn the trust and respect of various factions. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Magic Burns.

Buku ini benar2 membingungkan, penjelasannya gk tuntas, banyak hal2 yg diperkenalkan tanpa penjelasan lebih lanjut. Sebenarnya aku cukup murah hati memberi 3 bintang, sdh mempertimbangkan ngasih 2 bintang sj krn aku gk ngerti.
Tapi ak tetap mau memberi seri ini kesempatan jadi belum bisa memberi kesimpulan sebelum baca buku selanjutnya.

Wow! I think this was refreshing. I loved Kate and her snarky attitude. She isn't described as the gorgeous, perfect protagonist who can do no wrong. She makes mistakes and she admits to them. She has scars, she gets down and dirty, and she doesn't care how hot she looks. Romance wasn't a main part of the book, in fact I think it was barely there. I think most of the characters were portrayed well and were individuals. Definitely reading the next book!

I've read this book because it sounded a bit like [a:Jim Butcher 10746 Jim Butcher https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]'s “Dresden Files” which I like. And, indeed, there are similarities – the most important one for me was that I didn't really like either series' respective first book. “Magic Bites” was a confusing read much of which is due to the messy style of storytelling employed here. There's a knightly order that's supposed to help people in case of magic disasters which seem to happen due to weird alternating “cycles” of magical and technological “dominance” which in turn seem to have devastated the major cities but not everywhere (?). There's a mercenary guild that somehow plays a role as well and of which Kate, our heroine, is part of. Somehow Kate is obviously “special” due to her father (?) but at least in this first instalment of the series we never get to know what the big deal is. Lots of things aren't explained or so badly explained that I missed those explanation or promptly forgot about them – none of that being very likely. I often felt like I was missing crucial information. As if I had started not the first but a follow-up novel in the series. But from some other reviews, I don't seem to be the only one. As far as the story goes, it's simple, nothing new and, to be honest, rather boring: Kate's mentor Greg, one of the more important and powerful knights of the order, has been brutally murdered and Kate is investigating what happened. “Move over, Sherlock.” is how she puts it but that's really not how I see things because Kate doesn't seem to have much of a criminalistic sense or experience. At least, though, she's lucky and so she somehow manages to solve the case and (barely) survive. We don't really get to know Kate, though: We rarely “see” her in her “natural habitat”; yes, she does go out with a potential love interest but while it starts out nicely... “Would you go to dinner with me?” “I would,” I found myself saying. “Tonight?” he asked, his eyes hopeful. “I'll try,” I promised and actually intended to do so. “Call me around six.” I gave him my address in case the magic knocked the phone out.“ ... and I found myself smiling, what happens during that date feels artificial and shallow because Kate – who obviously really wanted to go – is suddenly greatly annoyed when they eat at a fancy restaurant and considers giving up on the guy entirely. Harry Dresden at least whines and complains and while I didn't exactly like him in the first “Dresden Files” book there was at least humour and cheesiness in a good way. At times there are attempts at humour here as well but they often fall quite flat: Like calling a mare “Frau” (German for “woman”). It's a small thing but it bothers me. There are tons of loose ends as well: “The fact that vampires weren't supposed to have existed two hundred years ago when the tech was in full swing bothered me a great deal” Ok, and what does Kate do about it? Does she follow up on this with anyone at all? No. She's greatly bothered but promptly forgets about it. Wow. In fact, who is Kate? Who was her father? What – apart from her mentor – was Greg to Kate? Why does everything miraculously fall in place during the epilogue? As if that wasn't enough, the writing isn't very good either: “There was something so alien in the way he moved, in how he sat, how he smelled, how he looked at me with the eyes brimming with hate, something so inhuman that my brain stopped, smashing against that inhumanity like a brick wall. He made me want to scream.” Sorry, what? Her brains stops but smashes itself... Sorry, I think mine is about to disengage trying to make sense of that. Ultimately, I'm confused by this book but I'm told the series “gets waaaaaaayy better!” so – just like “Dresden Files” that took 9 books till I liked it – I'm going to give this series another chance. Not like Kate who has the last word(s) in the book... “Tomorrow,” I said. “I can start tomorrow.” ... but once after I've recovered from my book-induced dizziness. ;-) Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Wow! I have read a few other books by this tag team author, and I have really enjoyed them. This particular title though, started off a little slower to pull me into the dazzle. I was reading the first 2 chapters wondering when the action was going to start. Then, BOOM, it was non-stop. I enjoyed the rest of this book SO much that I have already checked out the next book, [b:Magic Burns 1811543 Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2) Ilona Andrews https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1311280284s/1811543.jpg 1810889], and put book 3 on hold, even though I told a certain someone that I would read a bunch of docs first. I hate it when I know that there are a bunch of books out and I can be caught up in the series, because other people know things I dont know. Curran is a very interesting character, I almost think he is more interesting than Kate. The world building is a little confusing, but only because I think IA is packing a HUGE idea and trying not to simply spell everything out for you. This reviewer does a really good job explaining it.