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magikspells's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this. I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
katieinca's review against another edition
4.0
I appreciate that the authors let these characters and their world evolve - this is DEFINITELY a series you don't want to read out of order. It's hard to balance that, giving the characters new challenges without escalating things to the level of absurdity. They're pretty successful, given that the stakes have more or less been all of humanity for a while now. Plus it's snort-out-loud funny, and there's a ghoul in this one.
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This was my least favorite of the series since the first book. I just wasn't feeling it.
shirewitch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
kmilnic's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kzimm2024's review against another edition
5.0
Original read in May 2018, 5 stars and no review
Re-read Feb 2024, 4.5 stars since I love it but the storyline wasn't as appealing to me (the Djinn aspect). Its still super interesting and I love to see the everyday interactions between Kate, Curran and Julie. It's impressive because man, IA does their homework! It just wasn't as exciting to me personally as some of the others.
These stories are all about the characters for me. 47 highlights for example, I love to take these slowly and savor the banter since the first time thru I rushed.
Ghastek:
“But still, I heard you were promoted. Don’t you have flunkies to do your bidding?”
The vampire twisted his face into a hair-raising leer. Ghastek must’ve grimaced.
“I thought you would be happy,” I said. “You wanted to be the head honcho.”
“Yes, but now I have to deal with you. He spoke to me, personally.”
He said “he” with the kind of reverence that could only mean Roland, my father. “He believes that you may hesitate to kill me because of our shared experiences,” Ghastek continued. “Which makes me uniquely qualified to lead the People in your territory.”
Curran:
“Hey, is there any of that apple pie left?” Curran asked.
“I think so.”
“Oh good. Let’s go home, baby.”
Our home. It still hit me like a punch, even after months of us being together—he was right there, waiting for me. If something attacked me, he’d kill it.
If I needed help, he would help me. He loved me and I loved him back. I was no longer alone.
Julie:
He stepped close to me and brushed a kiss on my lips. Mmm.
“That’s nice,” Julie said. “I still want a new horse.”
“Request denied,” Curran told her.
I flipped my pancake. This ought to be interesting.
“What? Why?”
“Because ‘want’ is not a need.” Curran leaned against the kitchen island. “I saw you in the pasture. You don’t want a new horse. You require a new horse. Lay your case out.”
----------------
Julie’s eyes narrowed. “If I keep getting hurt, it will cause both of you emotional distress and you will have to pay for my medical bills. If I lose control of him, he may injure another horse and you would be financially responsible for the damages. And if another child got hurt, you would feel terrible.”
Curran nodded. “Valid points. Bring it home.”
Dali:
I heard the door swing open. A moment later a tiny Indonesian woman with long dark hair and thick glasses swept into the kitchen and dropped into a chair.
“Dali!” Julie smiled. Dali waved at her. After we retired, Jim Shrapshire, Curran’s best friend, became the Beast Lord. That made Dali the Beast Lady. She now had my job with all the pain and trouble that came with it.
“Consort,” I said. “You honor us.”
“Fuck you,” Dali said. “Fuck your shit. I quit.”
I laughed and reached for a potato.
Jim:
“My paranoia is keeping us safe.” Jim brushed his face. Suddenly he seemed tired. “Dali, I just spent eight hours arguing with the Pack Council. Do you think you could postpone yelling at me until later?”
“No!” She sighed. “Yes. Fine.”
I reached into the fridge. We would need more sausage.
And the Pack comes to Curran with an offer for cashing him out. At first I was offended that Jim would do this but now I see how clever it is to get Curran a job where he rules over people other than the Pack. It's security for Jim's future, LOVE Currans response:
“This would make sense,” Curran said, “if I had no eyes to read it or no brain to understand it. Did Raphael write this?”
“He might have looked it over,” Jim said.
-----------
“What are you offering?” I asked.
“The Mercenary Guild,” Jim said.
What?” I must’ve misheard.
“The Mercenary Guild,” Jim repeated.
“That’s stupid,” I told him. “I have the business sense of a walnut and even I know it’s stupid.”
Then we are treated to several instances where people don't recognize Curran and refer to him as a dick and an asshole. I love Kates response:
Curran walked next to me. “So I am a dick?”
“I can’t help that you have a reputation.” He grinned.
---------------
“Does everybody think I am an asshole?” Curran asked.
“Only people who know you or have met you.”
He looked at me for a long second.
“You were a zealous advocate of the Pack’s causes,” I said. “The Pack’s interests are often at odds with human interests. I still love you. Derek still thinks you’re the stuff.”
Eduardo has disappeared and George wants help to find him. They meet some weird monsters that spawn in to more monsters:
Curran was breathing deep. The wound on his shoulder gaped with red. The edges had begun to pull together, but long brown bristles stuck out of it—the stiff “hairs” that had lined the giant insect’s leg.
“Do we have a flamethrower?” Curran asked.
No.”
“We should get a flamethrower.”
And they still struggle with their power dynamics as they are both used to being in charge:
“Fine. I’ll stay here with this thing, and you will drive yourself to the hospital.”
“No.” He hit me with an alpha stare.
I opened my eyes as wide as I could. “Why, of course, Your Majesty. What was I thinking? I will go and do this right away, just please don’t look at me.”
“Kate, get in the car.”
“Maybe you should growl dramatically. I don’t think I’m intimidated enough.”
“I will put you in the car.” (Spoiler she doesn't get in the car)
Luther gets more coverage in this story:
Luther looked at Curran. “Who is the male specimen?”
Curran offered Luther his hand. “Lennart.”
Luther grabbed Curran’s hand and smelled it. “Shapeshifter, feline, probably a lion, but not the run-of-the-mill African Simba. You’ve got an odd scent about you.”
He glanced at me. “Why do you always hang out with weirdos?”
“It’s her special talent,” Curran said. “She attracts us like bees to honey.”
And Christopher breaks our hearts:
“And Christopher?”
Barabas sighed. “Christopher wouldn’t stay in the Keep without you or me. Once he realized that both of us had left, he wandered the hallways crying and then went catatonic.”
I ground my teeth. “I told them to call me if there were problems.”
“They called me instead,” Barabas said. “So I came and got him.”
Not much of Andrea this book but a funny update:
There used to be only two desks, one for me and one for Andrea Nash, but now Andrea was busy running Clan Bouda. She was also pregnant.
We tried to have lunch every Friday, and the last time we went, she ate four pounds of barbecued ribs by herself. She wanted to eat the rib bones too, but I talked her out of it.
Then she pouted and called me a downer.
Curran plans to take over the Guild as they navigate the politics, attacks from giants and this sad set back/nightmare:
“S.”
I would make the goddamn word come out.
“St . . . stroke.”
Next to me Curran dragged his hand over his face.
“Yes,” Doolittle said. “You had a stroke. You had several microstrokes simultaneously.”
That’s me, the overachiever.
---------------
I struggled to say the words. “Don’t want . . . to die . . . here.”
“You’re just insulting me now. Nobody is dying today, if I can help it.” Doolittle said.
His voice faded, growing weaker and weaker. “You’re safe.
--------------
“What if she never comes home? What would I . . . I won’t have anybody . . .”
“You will have me. She will come home, but if she doesn’t, I will still be there,” Curran said. “We are family. You will always have a place in my house. I won’t abandon you.
If something happens to me, Andrea and Raphael will step up. Derek will always be there for you. You have people, Julie. You are not alone.” You are not
Thankfully Doolittle has the juice to help her heal, yet again:
“Are you back or are you not?” he asked quietly.
“Somewhat.”
“Kate.” The way he said my name made me want to reach out and touch him. “I need to know where we are.”
His gray eyes had grown dark, not angry but resigned. “Are we okay? Are we complete strangers, are we on a first date, or are we going home together tonight?”
Kate gives Ascanio shit for scaring Julie:
Do you have a car?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Go and do this for me. Don’t come back until you dig something up. I need a name.”
“Okay. And then will you remember me?”
“I don’t know. I have amnesia, paralysis, and a death wish, and they don’t go away just like that.”
He opened his mouth and froze. “Okay. I’m an ass. She wanted to know what could happen, so I told her. But I shouldn’t have.”
Good call. “Bring me a name. Then I’ll give remembering a shot.”
LOL- professionals:
“Where is Fluffy?” a woman asked.
“Jana took her on a job,” a man answered.
“Oh, come on! What good is a tracking dog if she’s never here to track?” Luther threw his hands up. A fireball tore over our heads and splashed flames onto the street.
“Garcia, will you stop setting things on fire?” Luther roared.
“Sorry!” the man from the window called. “It was an accident.”
I love Julie's instincts:
I pressed the speaker button and put the phone down. I wanted both hands free in case something jumped out of it and tried to rip out my throat.
“My night is brighter,” my father said.
Rowena froze, completely still like a statue.
Julie pulled a piece of chalk out of her pocket, drew a protective circle on the floor, and sat in it.
HUGE come-to-jesus moment between Mahon and Curran:
“Did you protect her?” Curran asked. “Did you help her? Did you do anything to support this future legacy?”
“She was not a proper mate. She will never be a proper mate. She is a human!” Well, of course.
“You don’t get to decide that.” Curran said. “It isn’t your place. I chose her. I led the Pack for seventeen years and it failed me when I needed it most. You failed me.” Mahon recoiled.
“My obligation to the Pack is over,” Curran said. “You failed to uphold your end of the bargain.”
Curran has a moment:
“It occurred to me that one day I will be a father,” he said. “And I have no idea how the hell I’m going to do that.”
“You’re already a father. Sort of.”
“Julie was already a good kid when you found her. Most of the hard work was done. I am talking about raising a little human from the first breath. I don’t even know what the hell I would do with a baby.”
“I think you will make an excellent father. I’d worry more about what kind of mother I would make.” LOLOLOL
Roland keeps pestering Kate so he can see her, love this Applebees dinner:
“Iced tea for me as well. That will be all,” my father said. The manager took off.
“Is there any way you could refrain from magicking our waiter?” I asked.
“I abhor poor service,” he said and smiled. “I took the liberty of ordering potato skins and onion rings. I’m so glad we could do this.”
------------------
“We consider it a threat,” Curran said. “If you want a war, you will get one.”
“I’m building a residence,” Roland said.
“Why?”
“So I can be closer to you, of course. I’ve come to dislike hotels over the years and I want to have a comfortable place to stay while I visit you.”
“I don’t want you to visit me.”
“Parents don’t always do what their children want them to do,” Roland said. “Sometimes they show up unannounced and nag you about your eating habits.
Kate: WALKED INTO my house to see the knight and the wizard sitting in my kitchen, drinking coffee. If you added in Julie’s thieving skills and my sword, we almost had an adventuring party. “It’s too bad we’re missing a cleric,” I said. They both looked at me like I had grown a second head.
They defeat the Djinn in a creative way with the help of Eduardo's absent father and some of the Pack. We are treated to some happy nuptials and the promise of more to come!
Re-read Feb 2024, 4.5 stars since I love it but the storyline wasn't as appealing to me (the Djinn aspect). Its still super interesting and I love to see the everyday interactions between Kate, Curran and Julie. It's impressive because man, IA does their homework! It just wasn't as exciting to me personally as some of the others.
These stories are all about the characters for me. 47 highlights for example, I love to take these slowly and savor the banter since the first time thru I rushed.
Ghastek:
“But still, I heard you were promoted. Don’t you have flunkies to do your bidding?”
The vampire twisted his face into a hair-raising leer. Ghastek must’ve grimaced.
“I thought you would be happy,” I said. “You wanted to be the head honcho.”
“Yes, but now I have to deal with you. He spoke to me, personally.”
He said “he” with the kind of reverence that could only mean Roland, my father. “He believes that you may hesitate to kill me because of our shared experiences,” Ghastek continued. “Which makes me uniquely qualified to lead the People in your territory.”
Curran:
“Hey, is there any of that apple pie left?” Curran asked.
“I think so.”
“Oh good. Let’s go home, baby.”
Our home. It still hit me like a punch, even after months of us being together—he was right there, waiting for me. If something attacked me, he’d kill it.
If I needed help, he would help me. He loved me and I loved him back. I was no longer alone.
Julie:
He stepped close to me and brushed a kiss on my lips. Mmm.
“That’s nice,” Julie said. “I still want a new horse.”
“Request denied,” Curran told her.
I flipped my pancake. This ought to be interesting.
“What? Why?”
“Because ‘want’ is not a need.” Curran leaned against the kitchen island. “I saw you in the pasture. You don’t want a new horse. You require a new horse. Lay your case out.”
----------------
Julie’s eyes narrowed. “If I keep getting hurt, it will cause both of you emotional distress and you will have to pay for my medical bills. If I lose control of him, he may injure another horse and you would be financially responsible for the damages. And if another child got hurt, you would feel terrible.”
Curran nodded. “Valid points. Bring it home.”
Dali:
I heard the door swing open. A moment later a tiny Indonesian woman with long dark hair and thick glasses swept into the kitchen and dropped into a chair.
“Dali!” Julie smiled. Dali waved at her. After we retired, Jim Shrapshire, Curran’s best friend, became the Beast Lord. That made Dali the Beast Lady. She now had my job with all the pain and trouble that came with it.
“Consort,” I said. “You honor us.”
“Fuck you,” Dali said. “Fuck your shit. I quit.”
I laughed and reached for a potato.
Jim:
“My paranoia is keeping us safe.” Jim brushed his face. Suddenly he seemed tired. “Dali, I just spent eight hours arguing with the Pack Council. Do you think you could postpone yelling at me until later?”
“No!” She sighed. “Yes. Fine.”
I reached into the fridge. We would need more sausage.
And the Pack comes to Curran with an offer for cashing him out. At first I was offended that Jim would do this but now I see how clever it is to get Curran a job where he rules over people other than the Pack. It's security for Jim's future, LOVE Currans response:
“This would make sense,” Curran said, “if I had no eyes to read it or no brain to understand it. Did Raphael write this?”
“He might have looked it over,” Jim said.
-----------
“What are you offering?” I asked.
“The Mercenary Guild,” Jim said.
What?” I must’ve misheard.
“The Mercenary Guild,” Jim repeated.
“That’s stupid,” I told him. “I have the business sense of a walnut and even I know it’s stupid.”
Then we are treated to several instances where people don't recognize Curran and refer to him as a dick and an asshole. I love Kates response:
Curran walked next to me. “So I am a dick?”
“I can’t help that you have a reputation.” He grinned.
---------------
“Does everybody think I am an asshole?” Curran asked.
“Only people who know you or have met you.”
He looked at me for a long second.
“You were a zealous advocate of the Pack’s causes,” I said. “The Pack’s interests are often at odds with human interests. I still love you. Derek still thinks you’re the stuff.”
Eduardo has disappeared and George wants help to find him. They meet some weird monsters that spawn in to more monsters:
Curran was breathing deep. The wound on his shoulder gaped with red. The edges had begun to pull together, but long brown bristles stuck out of it—the stiff “hairs” that had lined the giant insect’s leg.
“Do we have a flamethrower?” Curran asked.
No.”
“We should get a flamethrower.”
And they still struggle with their power dynamics as they are both used to being in charge:
“Fine. I’ll stay here with this thing, and you will drive yourself to the hospital.”
“No.” He hit me with an alpha stare.
I opened my eyes as wide as I could. “Why, of course, Your Majesty. What was I thinking? I will go and do this right away, just please don’t look at me.”
“Kate, get in the car.”
“Maybe you should growl dramatically. I don’t think I’m intimidated enough.”
“I will put you in the car.” (Spoiler she doesn't get in the car)
Luther gets more coverage in this story:
Luther looked at Curran. “Who is the male specimen?”
Curran offered Luther his hand. “Lennart.”
Luther grabbed Curran’s hand and smelled it. “Shapeshifter, feline, probably a lion, but not the run-of-the-mill African Simba. You’ve got an odd scent about you.”
He glanced at me. “Why do you always hang out with weirdos?”
“It’s her special talent,” Curran said. “She attracts us like bees to honey.”
And Christopher breaks our hearts:
“And Christopher?”
Barabas sighed. “Christopher wouldn’t stay in the Keep without you or me. Once he realized that both of us had left, he wandered the hallways crying and then went catatonic.”
I ground my teeth. “I told them to call me if there were problems.”
“They called me instead,” Barabas said. “So I came and got him.”
Not much of Andrea this book but a funny update:
There used to be only two desks, one for me and one for Andrea Nash, but now Andrea was busy running Clan Bouda. She was also pregnant.
We tried to have lunch every Friday, and the last time we went, she ate four pounds of barbecued ribs by herself. She wanted to eat the rib bones too, but I talked her out of it.
Then she pouted and called me a downer.
Curran plans to take over the Guild as they navigate the politics, attacks from giants and this sad set back/nightmare:
“S.”
I would make the goddamn word come out.
“St . . . stroke.”
Next to me Curran dragged his hand over his face.
“Yes,” Doolittle said. “You had a stroke. You had several microstrokes simultaneously.”
That’s me, the overachiever.
---------------
I struggled to say the words. “Don’t want . . . to die . . . here.”
“You’re just insulting me now. Nobody is dying today, if I can help it.” Doolittle said.
His voice faded, growing weaker and weaker. “You’re safe.
--------------
“What if she never comes home? What would I . . . I won’t have anybody . . .”
“You will have me. She will come home, but if she doesn’t, I will still be there,” Curran said. “We are family. You will always have a place in my house. I won’t abandon you.
If something happens to me, Andrea and Raphael will step up. Derek will always be there for you. You have people, Julie. You are not alone.” You are not
Thankfully Doolittle has the juice to help her heal, yet again:
“Are you back or are you not?” he asked quietly.
“Somewhat.”
“Kate.” The way he said my name made me want to reach out and touch him. “I need to know where we are.”
His gray eyes had grown dark, not angry but resigned. “Are we okay? Are we complete strangers, are we on a first date, or are we going home together tonight?”
Kate gives Ascanio shit for scaring Julie:
Do you have a car?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Go and do this for me. Don’t come back until you dig something up. I need a name.”
“Okay. And then will you remember me?”
“I don’t know. I have amnesia, paralysis, and a death wish, and they don’t go away just like that.”
He opened his mouth and froze. “Okay. I’m an ass. She wanted to know what could happen, so I told her. But I shouldn’t have.”
Good call. “Bring me a name. Then I’ll give remembering a shot.”
LOL- professionals:
“Where is Fluffy?” a woman asked.
“Jana took her on a job,” a man answered.
“Oh, come on! What good is a tracking dog if she’s never here to track?” Luther threw his hands up. A fireball tore over our heads and splashed flames onto the street.
“Garcia, will you stop setting things on fire?” Luther roared.
“Sorry!” the man from the window called. “It was an accident.”
I love Julie's instincts:
I pressed the speaker button and put the phone down. I wanted both hands free in case something jumped out of it and tried to rip out my throat.
“My night is brighter,” my father said.
Rowena froze, completely still like a statue.
Julie pulled a piece of chalk out of her pocket, drew a protective circle on the floor, and sat in it.
HUGE come-to-jesus moment between Mahon and Curran:
“Did you protect her?” Curran asked. “Did you help her? Did you do anything to support this future legacy?”
“She was not a proper mate. She will never be a proper mate. She is a human!” Well, of course.
“You don’t get to decide that.” Curran said. “It isn’t your place. I chose her. I led the Pack for seventeen years and it failed me when I needed it most. You failed me.” Mahon recoiled.
“My obligation to the Pack is over,” Curran said. “You failed to uphold your end of the bargain.”
Curran has a moment:
“It occurred to me that one day I will be a father,” he said. “And I have no idea how the hell I’m going to do that.”
“You’re already a father. Sort of.”
“Julie was already a good kid when you found her. Most of the hard work was done. I am talking about raising a little human from the first breath. I don’t even know what the hell I would do with a baby.”
“I think you will make an excellent father. I’d worry more about what kind of mother I would make.” LOLOLOL
Roland keeps pestering Kate so he can see her, love this Applebees dinner:
“Iced tea for me as well. That will be all,” my father said. The manager took off.
“Is there any way you could refrain from magicking our waiter?” I asked.
“I abhor poor service,” he said and smiled. “I took the liberty of ordering potato skins and onion rings. I’m so glad we could do this.”
------------------
“We consider it a threat,” Curran said. “If you want a war, you will get one.”
“I’m building a residence,” Roland said.
“Why?”
“So I can be closer to you, of course. I’ve come to dislike hotels over the years and I want to have a comfortable place to stay while I visit you.”
“I don’t want you to visit me.”
“Parents don’t always do what their children want them to do,” Roland said. “Sometimes they show up unannounced and nag you about your eating habits.
Kate: WALKED INTO my house to see the knight and the wizard sitting in my kitchen, drinking coffee. If you added in Julie’s thieving skills and my sword, we almost had an adventuring party. “It’s too bad we’re missing a cleric,” I said. They both looked at me like I had grown a second head.
They defeat the Djinn in a creative way with the help of Eduardo's absent father and some of the Pack. We are treated to some happy nuptials and the promise of more to come!
astrodish's review against another edition
4.0
I will follow this to the end. In love.
I'm getting close to the last few books and my heart is squeezing NOO don't let go. But 😍how I love everything about this world and the characters and oh well everything
I'm getting close to the last few books and my heart is squeezing NOO don't let go. But 😍how I love everything about this world and the characters and oh well everything
caitybell's review against another edition
5.0
There’s only so many ways I can say how much I love this series. If anything happens to my precious characters in the final two books I will riot.
leschroniques_delea's review against another edition
4.0
J’ai un peu moins aimé ce tome-ci mais ça reste une très bonne lecture et j’adore toujours autant cette saga.
J’ai trouvé que la narration était plus lente et plus axée sur la recherche étant donné qu’un membre de la meute a disparu et au début il n’y a aucune piste valable. Pendant les ¾ du roman Kate et Curran cherche à le retrouver et un ennemi très mystérieux leur met des bâtons dans les roues à chaque fois qu’ils ont une piste sérieuse.
Je suis un peu déçue du combat final qui a été vite expédié alors qu’il aurait mérité plus de développement étant donné l’ampleur des dégâts.
Cependant on découvre une nouvelle mythologie que je ne connais pas beaucoup : la mythologie orientale qui a été assez bien développée pour qu’on comprenne bien les choses.
Kate vers la fin du roman va apprendre quelque chose qui va certainement bouleverser la suite des événements et son avenir avec Curran.
J’ai trouvé que la narration était plus lente et plus axée sur la recherche étant donné qu’un membre de la meute a disparu et au début il n’y a aucune piste valable. Pendant les ¾ du roman Kate et Curran cherche à le retrouver et un ennemi très mystérieux leur met des bâtons dans les roues à chaque fois qu’ils ont une piste sérieuse.
Je suis un peu déçue du combat final qui a été vite expédié alors qu’il aurait mérité plus de développement étant donné l’ampleur des dégâts.
Cependant on découvre une nouvelle mythologie que je ne connais pas beaucoup : la mythologie orientale qui a été assez bien développée pour qu’on comprenne bien les choses.
Kate vers la fin du roman va apprendre quelque chose qui va certainement bouleverser la suite des événements et son avenir avec Curran.