Book Reviews of Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Bk 1)

I really enjoyed this book. I know it's the first in a series, but it could stand alone. I think a lot of times, especially when a series is "planned" before the first book comes out, an author does not take the time to fully "create" a character, instead letting them emerge over a series of books. I feel like I could have walked away from this book and been just fine. Although my one complaint is that you never fully understand the extent of Kate's power, or how she became so powerful; I hope it is fully explained in the next book. It was a great story with some original ideas. I liked this book much more than "Staying Dead" (Retrievers, Bk 1) by Laura Anne Gilman, even though they both have some things in common. So if you liked that one, I think you'll love this one! 5 stars!! (And I'm super-picky about my paranormal, so that's a huge honor!) Also, this is NOT a "paranormal romance;" Kate goes on some dates, but there's no sex or even heavy petting.

Kate Daniels lives on the outskirts of a futuristic Atlanta, where both magic and technology exist in "waves" (one crests, another falls, everyone goes on with their lives, but magic seems to be winning). She is a mercenary with some magic skills, rather a rule breaker and impulsive, she is loathe to join the Order (sort of the magic police, independent of the actual police) - their rules and code are too stiffling for her, no matter how much her guardian Greg tries to get her to join. Greg is the knight diviner in the Order, and one day Kate gets notified of his murder. True to her nature, her reaction is to exact revenge on his killer, even if she has never done detective work before. Her style is to shake things up and get people so mad they reveal themselves, which doesn't help her very much with certain powerful people. Examples include the necromancer puppetiers that control vampires, the Pack of shapeshifters, and the killer who is even worse than either of these. Very enjoyable novel, in a style that reminded me of Patrica Brigg's Moon Called and Blood Called. Kate is an intelligent and likeable heroine, a tough, no-nonsense girl, with maybe one major personality flaw - her mouth! Sometimes I was amused about what came out, other times I winced at her ability to get herself into trouble by speaking, especially with the Curran, Lord of Beasts. I am eagerly awaiting the second book of this series (coming out in 2008!), and will most likely pre-order it. Highly recommended. I read this book in a day, I couldn't stop.

This was a surprisngly good read. The heroine, though pretty bad-ass, has more trouble than suitors, gets depressed, is maligned by the world and though she is, of course gorgeous, she handles everything with grit and intelligence. Can I tell you this is rare in the paranormal/romance genre? Well, it is! I don't think I've ever read a book were the main love interest writes off the heroine as a liar and a psycho. it was...refreshing. the action is top notch and though the villain is a little convenient it's easily forgiven by the grippingly interesting world Ms. Andrews has created. I can't wait to here more about the Crusaders. And the Shapeshifter... all I can say is YUMMY! Enjoy!

Ok, when I started this book, I thought: Man, this has it all! Mystery, magic beasts, spikes of dark magic, great fight scenes, and a main character I can like and appreciate.

In all honesty, I wasn't wrong. The book delivered on all of those aspects, and kept me reading. I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but I wanted to see what would happen in the end.

Instead of picking up steam however, the closer I got to the end, the more the plot dragged. I became sick of never really seeing who the true culprit was. I always thought that would be the end of the book, but it never was. It just seemed to go on and on.

I finally had to put it down about a chapter and a half before the end. After all of that. All the plot twists, characters and wild magic things had my head spinning, and at the end I just didn't care anymore.

I was disappointed. For a book that started off so well it became cumbersome and anti-climatic. Three stars.

A quick read! I started this one and couldn't put it down until it was done. While the main character is a little too 'tough' for believability at times, she is interesting and engaging. I will be looking for the next book in the series.

I am currently very much into paranormal romance books. This book didn't really do much for me. I found some of the stuff she wrote about confusing. I read over it but didn't mean anything to me. I think there are better paranormal reads out there. I will give her next book a try though.

Im not sure I really liked this book. The writing was good and it was funny in a lot of places but theres too much that is left out of the book. A lot of things need explaining but the author never does. Thats surprising since the book is only 260 pages. There was plenty of room left for explanations of myths and world building. The characters are strong of personality but hard to get into because the author doesn't give them any back ground. I think she was trying to be cryptic and not give too much away but in the attempt she held too much back and I felt cheated. It gets a 3 out of 5

I wanted to like this one but reading it was like pulling teeth. I have to much to do to slog through something I don't enjoy.

i totally loved this book and i am looking forward to the other kate daniels books

This is the first book in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. So far there are three books in this series; on her website Andrews says that she is under contract for 4 books right now. I listened to this as an audio book and the audio book quality was wonderful; the lady who reads it really captures Kate's personality. It was a fast-paced great book.

Kate receives a message from one of The People asking her how her Guardian is. When she calls her Guardian she finds out he's been murdered. Kate is bent on vengeance and decides to join forces with the Order to investigate her Guardian, Greg's, death. She finds out that a number of shapechangers and vampires have also been killed and ends up on the track of a horrid legendary creature. Will the assistance of a crazy Crusader and the Beast Lord be enough for Kate to stop the evil threatening to rip Atlanta apart?

This was a very well done book and a great debut novel. The characters are creative and engaging; and you can't help but like Kate's down to earth attitude, toughness, and dark sense of humor. There are some unexpected twists and turns in the plot that keep you on your toes; and the fight scenes are numerous and well-done. The world is also very creative; it's a world where tech and magic ebb and flow like the tides of the ocean. Magic is gaining hold and whenever magic is up; all tech stops working. This interesting alternative version of Earth makes things interesting and forces Kate to come up with creative solutions sometimes as she never knows what weapons and accessories will work at a given time.

The descriptions in this book are not for the faint of heart; Andrews pull no punches when it comes to descriptions of gore, glistening intestines ooze and people are rended into pieces of meat. So if you don't like that type of thing I would stay clear. This book is also by no means a paranormal romance. Kate does go on some dates but that is about the little of the romance of the book; Kate just isn't that kind of girl. The biting humor in this book had me laughing out loud a number of times.

Overall Andrews has created a very interesting world with a lot of depth. Her strong points are her creative characters, her awesome fight scenes, and the fast clip of the plot. The world she creates, while intriguing, is never really explained all that well. The plot could benefit from some more explanation about why the tech and magic wax and wane. Also there is a feeling of dread hanging over Kate as Kate takes so much care to keep her blood from her enemies; Kate's over-protection of her own blood is never explained very well and it was a bit frustrating to try and figure this out as well...I imagine we will get more information about this in the next book.

A great series, I really enjoyed it. I am greatly looking forward to reading the next book. I liked it a lot better than some other paranormal series out there. For example I thought it was better than The Anna Strong Chronicles and the Mercy Thompson series. For me it was about on par with the Dante Valentine books or Jaz Parks series; although both of those series have more romance in them than this book did.

This is a great read. Couldn't put it down!

Loved everything about this book.Did not want it to end .

Very good book. Not too much romance, but very kick ass heroine and lots of sexual tension.

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.

Engaging. Once I picked it up, I could not put it down. Unique characters and unique world. Unique monsters. The author worked very hard on this and it shows.

This is a good book leaves a lot of unanswered questions which will hopefully be answered in next book. I guess the object of a book is to be so interesting you cant wait to read the next this is how it is.

This book is very hard to put down, I just had to see what was going to happen next. Our heroine, Kate, is a truly strong female; independent, tough as nails and taking little guff from anyone.

I am looking forward to Ilona's next book; Magic Burns. :)

Excellent novel where magic and supernatural beings are part of our everyday world---at least in Atlanta! The heroine is kind of dark and isolated, but she has a sharp sense of humor that keeps her from being too depressing. I look forward to reading the next in what is obviously meant to be a series. (It better be!)

Highly entertaining urban fantasy, with a very interesting take on mixing modern and magic elements. Magic has been getting stronger for the last 100 years or so, and when a magic surge hits, technology stops working. The main character is a magic-using mercenary who helps clean up after a magic surge.

This urban fantasy novel is heavier on the fantasy than many of these series-- being set in a world where technology and magic alternately work depending on the "weather." I found the heroine a bit too knee-jerky of a jerk at times (Why do strong women always get portrayed as smart a$$es who don't know that it's dumb to risk their lives just to say a wise crack?!!!) But, the world is interesting and the mystery is equally intriguing.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different from the normal stuff. There was alot of humor in it with a nice plot. I am going to get the 2nd one. I believe there is a third, too.

This begins like it's a series book but not the first one. Very confusing...like coming in on the middle of a conversation. Kate Daniels, is a magic mercenary, a lot like Anita Blake...(she has a boatload of power but doesn't let others know to what extent). Curran, the local Lord of the Beasts is a huge werelion.

Something is killing off vampires and were-beasts in Atlanta and Kate and Curran join forces to determine and defeat whatever is causing such destruction.

The world-building was fantastic, but the heroine wasn't anything unique or original and felt like any other urban fantasy, 1st person heroine out there. I'm not bothering with the rest of the series, because the characters just don't do it for me.

I enjoyed this book. It was recommended to me by a friend. I am very into paranormal type books. I thought there was a bit too much back story here that wasn't explained but i liked Kate enough to continue reading and to want to pick up the second book as well.

This was an enjoyable book. I look forward to more of this series.

Great book! Highly recommended!

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