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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
3.5 stars
Since it's from Ilona Andrews and in the Kate Daniels world, it's not a surprise I enjoyed this one at least some. I dug the husband-wife team's writing style and the unusual world they've splashed on the pages.
This one focuses on Andrea as the heroine and her relationship woes with Raphael, trying to go on her own to solve a series of shapeshifter murders, and coming to terms with what she is and where she fits into the pack. I've always liked Andrea as a side character when the POV is Kate; her personality is strong, supportive, and creative enough. Being in her head just wasn't as enjoyable an experience as Kate. She comes across colder and harsher in way. Kate was a supreme bad-ass also, but she had humor in her thinking, making it easier and more enjoyable to follow. Andrea didn't have any of that and it seems Ilona Andrews missed making her be her own character that stands strongly enough in a way.
I've always truly dug Raphael in previous books. He had sarcasm, humor, flirty style, and a hotness that simmered. Here it's mainly absent. He doesn't flirt much besides the obvious scenes where they're teasing each other up, there's little to no humor from him like before, and the one minor sex scene is extremely abbreviated. A big bulk of the book is her feelings for Raphael and wanting to be with him, but in a distant kind of way sometimes, other times almost mopey and overwhelming.
A lot of people dislike Aunt B, and I thought maybe it was because of something that happened in this book. I don't see anything negative about her here compared to other novels. If anything she seemed a bit understanding and sympathetic (for the type of shapeshifter she is anyway.)
I thought Kate and Curran only had one minor scene, but I was surprised and delighted to find they had three. The book held more depth when they were there with their humor and seriousness blended. Asconio intrigued me with the last Kate Daniels book and works well again as a supportive character, but stands down a little. I was surprised with Julie. Usually I like the fourteen year old, but her scene here just made her seem like an unreasonable, annoying, and bratty character. Ugh.
Plot wise it's a slow buildup and start after the initial opening. Since Andrea is trying to come to further terms with herself as a bouda, more emphasis is placed on her fighting in her animal form than with the traditional bow and arrow and guns, although they are there too. Pacing and tension during fight scenes are tight. I enjoyed the villain as something unique and different with a bizarrely established presence. Snakes are creepy! Having them here heightened the suspense when they were around and as always Andrews has created a different sort of foe to battle.
Overall the book is certainly worth reading for Kate Daniels fans, but Andrea seems to lose some of her uniqueness for some odd reason and doesn't come off as enjoyable as Kate in my eyes. Her relationship with Raphael is much more serious than Kate and Currans fun arguments were as well, and the relationship angle takes up a huge amount of the story.
The ending has a novella of the Kate Daniels series, which fills in some gaps for the Andrea story and explains things more. I really dug the novella - Kate and Curran are in their usual fun form, the child's story is a clever and strange one that I enjoyed the journey and resolution regarding. Ghastek is finally shown a good amount. Andrews creates a unique vampire world with the people but they are seldom seem as it's more pack orientated. Here we get to see more interaction with them.
Since it's from Ilona Andrews and in the Kate Daniels world, it's not a surprise I enjoyed this one at least some. I dug the husband-wife team's writing style and the unusual world they've splashed on the pages.
This one focuses on Andrea as the heroine and her relationship woes with Raphael, trying to go on her own to solve a series of shapeshifter murders, and coming to terms with what she is and where she fits into the pack. I've always liked Andrea as a side character when the POV is Kate; her personality is strong, supportive, and creative enough. Being in her head just wasn't as enjoyable an experience as Kate. She comes across colder and harsher in way. Kate was a supreme bad-ass also, but she had humor in her thinking, making it easier and more enjoyable to follow. Andrea didn't have any of that and it seems Ilona Andrews missed making her be her own character that stands strongly enough in a way.
I've always truly dug Raphael in previous books. He had sarcasm, humor, flirty style, and a hotness that simmered. Here it's mainly absent. He doesn't flirt much besides the obvious scenes where they're teasing each other up, there's little to no humor from him like before, and the one minor sex scene is extremely abbreviated. A big bulk of the book is her feelings for Raphael and wanting to be with him, but in a distant kind of way sometimes, other times almost mopey and overwhelming.
A lot of people dislike Aunt B, and I thought maybe it was because of something that happened in this book. I don't see anything negative about her here compared to other novels. If anything she seemed a bit understanding and sympathetic (for the type of shapeshifter she is anyway.)
I thought Kate and Curran only had one minor scene, but I was surprised and delighted to find they had three. The book held more depth when they were there with their humor and seriousness blended. Asconio intrigued me with the last Kate Daniels book and works well again as a supportive character, but stands down a little. I was surprised with Julie. Usually I like the fourteen year old, but her scene here just made her seem like an unreasonable, annoying, and bratty character. Ugh.
Plot wise it's a slow buildup and start after the initial opening. Since Andrea is trying to come to further terms with herself as a bouda, more emphasis is placed on her fighting in her animal form than with the traditional bow and arrow and guns, although they are there too. Pacing and tension during fight scenes are tight. I enjoyed the villain as something unique and different with a bizarrely established presence. Snakes are creepy! Having them here heightened the suspense when they were around and as always Andrews has created a different sort of foe to battle.
Overall the book is certainly worth reading for Kate Daniels fans, but Andrea seems to lose some of her uniqueness for some odd reason and doesn't come off as enjoyable as Kate in my eyes. Her relationship with Raphael is much more serious than Kate and Currans fun arguments were as well, and the relationship angle takes up a huge amount of the story.
The ending has a novella of the Kate Daniels series, which fills in some gaps for the Andrea story and explains things more. I really dug the novella - Kate and Curran are in their usual fun form, the child's story is a clever and strange one that I enjoyed the journey and resolution regarding. Ghastek is finally shown a good amount. Andrews creates a unique vampire world with the people but they are seldom seem as it's more pack orientated. Here we get to see more interaction with them.
This is set in the Kate Daniels world but told from Andrea's point of view. I've been chomping at the bit to see what was going on with her and Raphael. She's kind of a mess, and really needs support, but Raphael's feelers were hurt so he acted like an ass. Then Andrea acted like an ass because he acted like an ass. At times they both frustrated me, but the plot was interesting and kept me invested in the story even when I wanted to knock them both upside the head.
I am going to be ranting a bit here 'cause Andrea was getting on my nerves, she got better by the end but yeah. Her damn stubbornness and her silly problems with Raphael in the first half were getting on my nerves. Actually all my problems were with the first half, because at least she does finally stop whining and actually manned up and joined the Pack, and did what had to be done. She was hiding and in denial for the whole first half, that's probably why she would end up in the closet. Raphael is to blame as well, he really shouldn't have brought that bimbo, and acted more like an adult, it's not like they hadn't had some time to cool off, they could have screamed, yelled, raged, fought, but no, they started being petty towards each other. Excuse for their behavior? Being bouda, that just doesn't cut it for me.
Asides from all that silliness, I did end up enjoying the book. Loved Ascanio, Roman, and the brief moments with Kate, Julie and Curran of course. I am not sure if I would pick up another that was in Andrea's POV, I might give it another chance.
Asides from all that silliness, I did end up enjoying the book. Loved Ascanio, Roman, and the brief moments with Kate, Julie and Curran of course. I am not sure if I would pick up another that was in Andrea's POV, I might give it another chance.
Very good. I LOVE Kate and Curran but Andrea was a good alternate. This book had some funny parts and some seriousness but nothing too heavy. Overall a good book.
SO GOOD.
I so enjoyed reading about Andrea. Through the main books she is such a supporting character to Kate it was a nice change to have this all about her and have Kate support her. Definitely some moments of frustration with her and Raphael - like just talk to each other!!!!!! But so good, absolutely loved reading this one.
I so enjoyed reading about Andrea. Through the main books she is such a supporting character to Kate it was a nice change to have this all about her and have Kate support her. Definitely some moments of frustration with her and Raphael - like just talk to each other!!!!!! But so good, absolutely loved reading this one.
“If you choose to leave, I will go with you,” he said.
I opened my eyes.
“Unless you’re just itching to take Curran on,” he said. “I suppose we could fight him. We’d lose, but it would be fun while it lasted.”
I opened my eyes.
“Unless you’re just itching to take Curran on,” he said. “I suppose we could fight him. We’d lose, but it would be fun while it lasted.”
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
An offshoot of the amazing Kate Daniels series? Heck yes! Getting to see things from Andrea's perspective was refreshing, and I enjoyed learning about this character who is so integral to the KD novels. It was fun to watch as Andrea and Raphael dealt with their issues, and I must say revenge (on both their parts) was hilarious! I had to laugh at the tension between Roman and Raphael. The research that must've gone into the legends this time around was astounding, and I loved that Egyptian gods got in on the party :) Sometimes the verb tenses got a little confusing, as it seemed like we were switching from past to something else every once in a while. There were quite a few errors, most of them grammatical (total, I found 29- 21 in Gunmetal Magic and 8 in Magic Gifts), but since it says "uncorrected" on the cover, I'm hoping those will get fixed :)Even though Kate and Curran showed up occasionally in Gunmetal Magic, it was nice that they got a little novella for themselves stuck in there. All in all, I must say, I'm very impressed with the authors' work once again. Keep it up, guys!
Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.