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cmira2027's review against another edition
4.0
The four stories in this anthology are all good, though my personal favorite was Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews. I love everything this team writes, but this story is one of their best. Of the rest I liked the Allyson James story Double Hexed, I have not read anything else by her, but I intend to check out her other books.
morticia32's review against another edition
4.0
Got this book for one story,ended up loving the Allyson James story as well.
nola2london's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars..........My rating is only for Ilona Andrews part of the story.
jmmeyer's review against another edition
3.0
Two of the 4 stories were actually good. The Magic Dreams story was wonderful and worth 3 stars but I liked the Anna Strong one as well. I had never read an AS story and now I might check her out.
schomj's review against another edition
3.0
I quite enjoyed 3 of the 4 stories, which is pretty par for the course for me with this type of anthology.
Magic Dreams / Ilona Andrews - 4 stars
These authors are such otaku.
Anyway, my fangirl self says: squee! I'm now a confirmed Jim/Dali 'shipper. More, please!
My more analytical side noted more cultural/mythological info-dumping than I'm used to from IA. Also, if you haven't already read at least book 3 in the series (Magic Strikes), you're going to miss a lot of the characters' backstory.
Still, squee!
Ice Shards / Yasmine Galenorn - 1 star
I had like a two page diatribe about why this story bugged me, but the short version: it's boring and clunky. "tears of sisterhood"? FFS.
Double Hexed / Allyson James - 4 stars
Brain candy. Mmm, candy.
Features the normal cast of characters, this time with their impulses magically set on overdrive. You'll be fine with this even if you hadn't read any others in the series.
Blood Debt / Jeanne C. Stein - 4 stars
For some reason, I just noticed that this series is told in first person present, which normally bugs the crap out of me, but I'm ok with it here. Anyway, this particular tale is kind of a supernatural take on a courtroom drama, so there's a bit less action than there normally is. It's also less melancholic than the first few books in the series (which I'm ok with. There's even some humor this time - the Angel reference made me giggle like a fool). It did feel a bit rushed in places, though, which I'll blame on the shorter form. This would be a fine introduction for those new to the world.
Magic Dreams / Ilona Andrews - 4 stars
These authors are such otaku.
Anyway, my fangirl self says: squee! I'm now a confirmed Jim/Dali 'shipper. More, please!
My more analytical side noted more cultural/mythological info-dumping than I'm used to from IA. Also, if you haven't already read at least book 3 in the series (Magic Strikes), you're going to miss a lot of the characters' backstory.
Still, squee!
Ice Shards / Yasmine Galenorn - 1 star
I had like a two page diatribe about why this story bugged me, but the short version: it's boring and clunky. "tears of sisterhood"? FFS.
Double Hexed / Allyson James - 4 stars
Brain candy. Mmm, candy.
Features the normal cast of characters, this time with their impulses magically set on overdrive. You'll be fine with this even if you hadn't read any others in the series.
Blood Debt / Jeanne C. Stein - 4 stars
For some reason, I just noticed that this series is told in first person present, which normally bugs the crap out of me, but I'm ok with it here. Anyway, this particular tale is kind of a supernatural take on a courtroom drama, so there's a bit less action than there normally is. It's also less melancholic than the first few books in the series (which I'm ok with. There's even some humor this time - the Angel reference made me giggle like a fool). It did feel a bit rushed in places, though, which I'll blame on the shorter form. This would be a fine introduction for those new to the world.
laurla's review against another edition
magic dreams by ilona andrews. kate danies #4.5 Shapeshifting tigress Dali Harimau finds herself in deep waters when she must challenge a dark being to a battle of wits or risk losing the man for whom she secretly longs.
ice shards by yasmine galenorn. otherworld #9.5 Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house sprite, journeys to the frozen Northlands to confront the crazed shadow of her former lover and break the curse that is keeping her from marrying the man she loves.
double hexed by allyson james. stormwalker #2.5 Stormwalker Janet Begay and her friends are trapped by a powerful curse. It will take every bit of magic simmering beneath her skin for the Stormwalker to survive being double hexed.
blood debt by jeanne c. stein. anna strong #7. bounty-hunter-turned-vampire Anna Strong is visited by three witches who ask her to right an old magical wrong. Anna will have to live up to her last name to make it through alive.
ice shards by yasmine galenorn. otherworld #9.5 Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house sprite, journeys to the frozen Northlands to confront the crazed shadow of her former lover and break the curse that is keeping her from marrying the man she loves.
double hexed by allyson james. stormwalker #2.5 Stormwalker Janet Begay and her friends are trapped by a powerful curse. It will take every bit of magic simmering beneath her skin for the Stormwalker to survive being double hexed.
blood debt by jeanne c. stein. anna strong #7. bounty-hunter-turned-vampire Anna Strong is visited by three witches who ask her to right an old magical wrong. Anna will have to live up to her last name to make it through alive.
easolinas's review against another edition
4.0
Magic! It's pretty much a requirement for urban fantasy, whether it's subtle and ethereal, or big and flashy. And "women with magic" is also the unifying theme for "Hexed," a collection of four novellas by Ilona Andrews, Yasmin Galenorn, Allyson James and Jeanne C. Stein -- two are excellent, and two are pretty good but not brilliant.
In Andrews' "Magic Dreams," four shapeshifters are missing and werecat alpha Jim is mysteriously suffering from amnesia. So awkward weretiger Dali Harimau sets out to not only find a cure for what is slowly killing Jim, but discover what has been causing the trouble -- and uncovers a secret horror that she cannot possibly defeat except with her brains.
Galenorn's "Ice Shards" focuses on Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house sprite/ex-priestess of some ice goddess. Long ago, Iris was accused of killing her lover and binding his spirit to a shadow, so she was stripped of her powers and her fertility. Now she's returning to the scene of the crime, hoping to find out if she actually DID kill him -- and to either accept punishment or be free to marry her fiance.
Then comes James' "Double Hexed," in which Stormwalker Janet Begay and her buddies find themselves stuck in a hotel which has apparently been hit with a megahex -- faucets running blood, electrical failures, and even the loss of Coyote's magic. And finally there's Stein's "Blood Debt," in which vampire bounty hunter Anna Strong is called upon to kill an evil witch, but ends up in over her head.
Quite honestly, you should buy this book right now. Why? Because Ilona Andrews' story is absolutely brilliant, weaving together urban fantasy settings with Asian folklore (including yokai and Indonesian fairy tales), and also giving us a solid story of an "ugly duckling" whose brains must be used to save the man she loves. It's funny, wrenching, and its ending reminds me of JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit."
As for the other stories, they're a mixed bag. Galenorn's story has a predictable twist, but it's a very nice story that fleshes out a side character well, and explores her traumatic history. James' story is pretty entertaining but it drags a bit at first, with one crisis piling on top of another, but it picks up in the second half. Stein's is a bit fluffy, but a decent piece of work with a likable heroine, and a pretty good introduction to her world.
"Hexed" is a pretty decent collection of novellas -- Andrews' is easily the best of the pack, and the others are a pretty decent read as well.
In Andrews' "Magic Dreams," four shapeshifters are missing and werecat alpha Jim is mysteriously suffering from amnesia. So awkward weretiger Dali Harimau sets out to not only find a cure for what is slowly killing Jim, but discover what has been causing the trouble -- and uncovers a secret horror that she cannot possibly defeat except with her brains.
Galenorn's "Ice Shards" focuses on Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house sprite/ex-priestess of some ice goddess. Long ago, Iris was accused of killing her lover and binding his spirit to a shadow, so she was stripped of her powers and her fertility. Now she's returning to the scene of the crime, hoping to find out if she actually DID kill him -- and to either accept punishment or be free to marry her fiance.
Then comes James' "Double Hexed," in which Stormwalker Janet Begay and her buddies find themselves stuck in a hotel which has apparently been hit with a megahex -- faucets running blood, electrical failures, and even the loss of Coyote's magic. And finally there's Stein's "Blood Debt," in which vampire bounty hunter Anna Strong is called upon to kill an evil witch, but ends up in over her head.
Quite honestly, you should buy this book right now. Why? Because Ilona Andrews' story is absolutely brilliant, weaving together urban fantasy settings with Asian folklore (including yokai and Indonesian fairy tales), and also giving us a solid story of an "ugly duckling" whose brains must be used to save the man she loves. It's funny, wrenching, and its ending reminds me of JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit."
As for the other stories, they're a mixed bag. Galenorn's story has a predictable twist, but it's a very nice story that fleshes out a side character well, and explores her traumatic history. James' story is pretty entertaining but it drags a bit at first, with one crisis piling on top of another, but it picks up in the second half. Stein's is a bit fluffy, but a decent piece of work with a likable heroine, and a pretty good introduction to her world.
"Hexed" is a pretty decent collection of novellas -- Andrews' is easily the best of the pack, and the others are a pretty decent read as well.
hollie313's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
sonyakdr's review against another edition
3.0
Rating is for Magic Dreams. Good story, I know it is a short story, but I wish it could have been longer. Looking forward to more Jim and Dali.