cranberrytarts's review against another edition
3.0
People have been recommending this series for years. Several times it was suggested I skip this book and start with book two, because this wasn't an accurate representation of the series or the author. Recently a friend read the series and pushed me to try it. She said I should read in order because most of the world-building is done in this book. Let me just say..she lied. Ha! I should have taken the advice of others and started with book two.
The story moved very slowly. I had a hard time slogging through all the descriptions and, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really care for Kate. I didn't dislike her necessarily, but I didn't connect with her and her monologues were frustrating and, often, boring. I found the world to be a bit chaotic and kind of confusing.
I didn't dislike the story so much as I just didn't fall into it. Had I not had book two already waiting (and all those friends encouraging me to continue) I probably would not have continued on with the series.
The good news is, I did move on and really ended up enjoying book 2.
For those who are on the fence about the series after this book, I encourage you to continue. The series only gets better as the books go on.
The story moved very slowly. I had a hard time slogging through all the descriptions and, to be perfectly honest, I didn't really care for Kate. I didn't dislike her necessarily, but I didn't connect with her and her monologues were frustrating and, often, boring. I found the world to be a bit chaotic and kind of confusing.
I didn't dislike the story so much as I just didn't fall into it. Had I not had book two already waiting (and all those friends encouraging me to continue) I probably would not have continued on with the series.
The good news is, I did move on and really ended up enjoying book 2.
For those who are on the fence about the series after this book, I encourage you to continue. The series only gets better as the books go on.
carolsnotebook's review
4.0
Okay, the heroine is strong and a loner with secrets, which is kind of typical, but the world Andrews has built, a version of Atlanta, and the characters are great. I liked the heroine and am looking forward to finding out the extent of her powers and what her secret is.
judith_aline's review
4.0
3.5 stars
It took me some time to get into the story, but once I did it was really good. It was also so fucking funny??
And it had one of my favourite tropes ever: non-human characters who interact with humans and are absolutely unaware of human etiquette. Excellent
It took me some time to get into the story, but once I did it was really good. It was also so fucking funny??
And it had one of my favourite tropes ever: non-human characters who interact with humans and are absolutely unaware of human etiquette. Excellent
venhedish's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
Really neat worldbilding, likeable, if somewhat frustrating, main character. I will definitely read the next book in the series.
That said, man, this book took me like 2 weeks to get through. It was hard to read for more than an hour at a time and barely held my interest. Normally, they say you should show and not tell, and this book does that in spades. But so much of the scene writing, from conversation to action, is very ... declarative without any of the more inward-looking depth I like in fiction. Despite this book being written in the first person, I don't really feel like Kate did a whole lot of thinking. It was more, "I went to the place. The man I was looking for met me at the door. We spoke for a while and he laughed at me. I said something snarky and then we both drew our weapons and fought." There's more description than that, of course, but I never really felt myself transported or connected to the characters and events.
I did enjoy enough about this to continue on, and I hope my niggles get worked out as the series progresses and the writers have more time to practice and hone their craft.
Really neat worldbilding, likeable, if somewhat frustrating, main character. I will definitely read the next book in the series.
That said, man, this book took me like 2 weeks to get through. It was hard to read for more than an hour at a time and barely held my interest. Normally, they say you should show and not tell, and this book does that in spades. But so much of the scene writing, from conversation to action, is very ... declarative without any of the more inward-looking depth I like in fiction. Despite this book being written in the first person, I don't really feel like Kate did a whole lot of thinking. It was more, "I went to the place. The man I was looking for met me at the door. We spoke for a while and he laughed at me. I said something snarky and then we both drew our weapons and fought." There's more description than that, of course, but I never really felt myself transported or connected to the characters and events.
I did enjoy enough about this to continue on, and I hope my niggles get worked out as the series progresses and the writers have more time to practice and hone their craft.
realbooksandwine's review
4.0
I had my first foray into adult urban fantasy and y’all, I quite liked it. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews is the first of a series and actually was a great book to lose my urban fantasy v-car to. It’s got plenty of elements I really like from kick ass heroine to swears to fighting to the South ahhh and magic!
here FYI clicking will take you to my blog where you can read the rest of this review
here FYI clicking will take you to my blog where you can read the rest of this review
tajtherock's review
2.0
3.5
Would have been a solid 4 if not for the main bad guy's goal being to fuck the main protagonist. Like why?
Would have been a solid 4 if not for the main bad guy's goal being to fuck the main protagonist. Like why?
retiary_cactus999's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ornella711's review
3.0
I had a bit of a problem with this book. The problem being the 'plot' I already knew who the bad guy was as soon as they mentioned the upir papers. This being the first book, getting used to all the new lingo and the understanding this world also took away from the story. I thought Kate was incredibly slow on the uptake but at least she owned up to it. And since I have a natural aversion to all things shapeshifter that put a damper on the book as well, but I was willing to overlook it. I'll be reading the second see if it gets any better, if it doesn't I will most likely not read the rest in this series. The writing in and of it self is pretty good, so I might try out her Edge Series and see how that goes.
donigrl's review against another edition
4.0
I really like this female protagonist! Once I got past the book cover art, I enjoyed this very much. On to the next one!