Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
Another great book by Ilona Andrews. Kate Daniel's Atlanta is a world so alive and real, that the reader gets lost in it and doesn't want to return.
Andrea and Raphael are two of my favorite charactors from past novels and I was excited to see them in their own book, one of the joys of an Ilona Andrews
novel is that the secondary charactors are as real and interesting as the main charactors. In fact, I can't wait to see more of Roman in books to come.
Andrea and Raphael are two of my favorite charactors from past novels and I was excited to see them in their own book, one of the joys of an Ilona Andrews
novel is that the secondary charactors are as real and interesting as the main charactors. In fact, I can't wait to see more of Roman in books to come.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder
June 2015 Reread
I LOVE Andrea's book. I love the legitimate relationship drama. Everything feels perfectly mapped out and I can't imagine her happening any other way.
Original Read - Sept 2014
I LOVE Andrea's book. I love the legitimate relationship drama. Everything feels perfectly mapped out and I can't imagine her
Spoiler
eventual joining of the packOriginal Read - Sept 2014
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Andrea is trying to be over Raphael, truly she is, but a murder in one of his reclamation sites forces them to talk to each other after a long silence.
Andrea feels very different from Kate. Despite this being set in the same place with most of the secondary characters shared with the main series, Andrea's narration makes this stand out from the other books. Her focus is much more on the short term and her worries are distinct. She's also still affected from the torturous level of bullying which she endured as a child, and this deals somewhat with the lingering affects of that trauma.
I was all set to highly recommend this, but it has several instances of ableist language which comes out of nowhere and seemed very dissonant with the rest of the book. I do like the story a lot and this isn't enough to justify skipping the book, but it did dampen my enjoyment enough to affect my rating.
This is oddly positioned as a sequel, since it has a different protagonist from the main Kate Daniels books and is set directly after the fifth book (MAGIC SLAYS). Previous books established the turbulent state of Andrea's stalled relationship with Raphael and her attempts to avoid joining the Pack, and these two threads are continued and brought to a new status quo here. Because it's not directly in line with the main series, most of what it leaves for later is the question of what these changes will mean when Kate resumes narrating. In the main storyline Andrea begins investigating four mysterious deaths at one of Raphael's reclamation sites, this and its associated plot points are introduced and resolved within the book. Andrea has a very different narrative voice from Kate, something which is made obvious in the scene which appears from each of their perspectives in this volume: first from Andrea's side in the main novel, then from Kate's in the included novella (MAGIC GIFTS).
It wouldn't make much sense to someone who tried to start here without reading any of the previous books. It relies heavily on books four and five from the main series in terms of worldbuilding and Andrea's relationship with Raphael. It does a pretty good job of providing a refresher and to characterize already established events from Andrea's perspective rather than Kate's. There were several instances where the reader can know more than Andrea does because of what Kate conveyed in the first five books, and several more where Andrea provides more information on things which Kate either didn't know about or which the other books only lightly discussed.
The main plot forces Andrea to handle several stressful arenas of her life which would naturally have a lot of overlap, but which she was thus far attempting to compartmentalize (with varying degrees of success). Her relationship with Raphael is implicitly connected to her identity as a shapeshifter, and her attempt to treat those as two separate things contributed to their relationship's hiatus. Her work at Cutting Edge with Kate means that Raphael ends up as her client, further complicating things. I like how things are handled, the various solutions have a lot of synergy without feeling too neatly wrapped up. I wish the series gave Andrea more books of her own, but since this appears to be the only one I'll happily take it.
Andrea feels very different from Kate. Despite this being set in the same place with most of the secondary characters shared with the main series, Andrea's narration makes this stand out from the other books. Her focus is much more on the short term and her worries are distinct. She's also still affected from the torturous level of bullying which she endured as a child, and this deals somewhat with the lingering affects of that trauma.
I was all set to highly recommend this, but it has several instances of ableist language which comes out of nowhere and seemed very dissonant with the rest of the book. I do like the story a lot and this isn't enough to justify skipping the book, but it did dampen my enjoyment enough to affect my rating.
This is oddly positioned as a sequel, since it has a different protagonist from the main Kate Daniels books and is set directly after the fifth book (MAGIC SLAYS). Previous books established the turbulent state of Andrea's stalled relationship with Raphael and her attempts to avoid joining the Pack, and these two threads are continued and brought to a new status quo here. Because it's not directly in line with the main series, most of what it leaves for later is the question of what these changes will mean when Kate resumes narrating. In the main storyline Andrea begins investigating four mysterious deaths at one of Raphael's reclamation sites, this and its associated plot points are introduced and resolved within the book. Andrea has a very different narrative voice from Kate, something which is made obvious in the scene which appears from each of their perspectives in this volume: first from Andrea's side in the main novel, then from Kate's in the included novella (MAGIC GIFTS).
It wouldn't make much sense to someone who tried to start here without reading any of the previous books. It relies heavily on books four and five from the main series in terms of worldbuilding and Andrea's relationship with Raphael. It does a pretty good job of providing a refresher and to characterize already established events from Andrea's perspective rather than Kate's. There were several instances where the reader can know more than Andrea does because of what Kate conveyed in the first five books, and several more where Andrea provides more information on things which Kate either didn't know about or which the other books only lightly discussed.
The main plot forces Andrea to handle several stressful arenas of her life which would naturally have a lot of overlap, but which she was thus far attempting to compartmentalize (with varying degrees of success). Her relationship with Raphael is implicitly connected to her identity as a shapeshifter, and her attempt to treat those as two separate things contributed to their relationship's hiatus. Her work at Cutting Edge with Kate means that Raphael ends up as her client, further complicating things. I like how things are handled, the various solutions have a lot of synergy without feeling too neatly wrapped up. I wish the series gave Andrea more books of her own, but since this appears to be the only one I'll happily take it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexism, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Rape, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
“Magic Gifts” CW for grief (graphic), ableist language (brief), sexism, alcohol (brief), alcoholism (brief), blood, gore, violence (graphic), injury detail, suicide (brief mention), animal death, death (graphic).
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
I like Andrea Nash. I really do. I find her genuinely compelling, and she's got a fantastic backstory - tragic, but fantastic - which sets up all sorts of conflict in her present day life, as she tries to navigate her shapeshifter status through the lens of profound trauma. I am interested in that story. I want to see more of it, and I like to see her slowly claw her way to good mental health. As with nearly every other story in this series, however, I am consistently less invested in the romance. Boudas may live for romantic drama but I don't, and I honestly spent much of the book hoping that the incipient love triangle would end any other way than it did. Truthfully, I was rooting for Roman. Not because of any deep investment in his character or anything, but because he's open and laid back and doesn't seem that interested in creating drama for the sake of it with any potential romantic interest, even if he is a priest for the god of death. I would also have taken Andrea deciding that, no, she needs to work on herself a bit more and that relationships with people who try to hurt you are not worth fighting for, but of course she goes for the least appealing option of the three.
I will say, though, that Kate and Curran became significantly more tolerable once they got together and stopped that interminable squabbling. They still disagree now, of course, but it's less a feature of the book, so perhaps it will be the same for Andrea. I'd rather see more of her difficult relationship with Auntie B., though.
I will say, though, that Kate and Curran became significantly more tolerable once they got together and stopped that interminable squabbling. They still disagree now, of course, but it's less a feature of the book, so perhaps it will be the same for Andrea. I'd rather see more of her difficult relationship with Auntie B., though.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Set in [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg]' Kate Daniels universe, this novel focuses on Kate's best friend Andrea Nash and Raphael the Bouda and Clan Alpha of the werehyenas.
Though the book is a standalone story, it does continue on themes and references events from the previous books. You would also miss out on a lot of the world building if you skipped ahead. It's best to read the Kate Daniels Universe Books up to this point first to get the best from the story.
The plot is nicely paced, with great characters, good action and more myth expansion bringing in the ancient Egyptians. There's great interplay between Andrea and Raphael, with the young Bouda Ascanio providing some welcome laughs to the mix and a few scenes with Kate and Curran that are sweet, but don't detract from the main action. All round a strong read and well worth picking up.
A quick synopsis of Andrea and Raphael to date
There's a companion novella included - [b:Magic Gifts|13299211|Magic Gifts (Kate Daniels, #5.4)|Ilona Andrews|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1324799377s/13299211.jpg|18504471]. It begins just prior to the main novel and overlaps its ending with Gunmetal's beginning focusing on Kate and Curran dealing with Viking magic.
Spoiler
A hyena (Bouda) shapeshifter and rare/outlawed Beastkin and forcibly retired Knight of the Order of Merciful Aid as she's been outed as BeastkinThough the book is a standalone story, it does continue on themes and references events from the previous books. You would also miss out on a lot of the world building if you skipped ahead. It's best to read the Kate Daniels Universe Books up to this point first to get the best from the story.
The plot is nicely paced, with great characters, good action and more myth expansion bringing in the ancient Egyptians. There's great interplay between Andrea and Raphael, with the young Bouda Ascanio providing some welcome laughs to the mix and a few scenes with Kate and Curran that are sweet, but don't detract from the main action. All round a strong read and well worth picking up.
A quick synopsis of Andrea and Raphael to date
Spoiler
Raphael fell in love at first sight with Andrea, when Kate brings her to his mother, Bouda clan Alpha - Aunt B (females are the top dogs in the hyena clans) when she gets stuck mid shift. Over the course of the early books Raphael woos her in his Bouda way and they finally become a couple in [b:Magic Mourns|11027748|Magic Mourns (Kate Daniels, #3.5)|Ilona Andrews|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1362957568s/11027748.jpg|16633028]. They have a massive argument near the end of [b:Magic Bleeds|6479550|Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, #4)|Ilona Andrews|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407110429s/6479550.jpg|6670775] over Andrea seemingly choosing the Order over the Pack and Raphael by association. At the end of Magic Bleeds Andrea disappears and Kaye and Raphael get a short note several days after the end of the action. Andrea reappears, but is avoiding Raphael through [b:Magic Slays|8559047|Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, #5)|Ilona Andrews|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1288727226s/8559047.jpg|13427398]. So, at the beginning of Gunmetal, the lovers are firmly in the 'Ex' zone, but there's still passion and love between them. Unfortunately there's also hurt feelings, battered pride and jealous fury. Throw in an Egyptian Demigod, a serpent as large as a pyramid and venemous snake people and there's lots to deal with.There's a companion novella included - [b:Magic Gifts|13299211|Magic Gifts (Kate Daniels, #5.4)|Ilona Andrews|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1324799377s/13299211.jpg|18504471]. It begins just prior to the main novel and overlaps its ending with Gunmetal's beginning focusing on Kate and Curran dealing with Viking magic.