Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

5 reviews

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a relatively successful first outing with Andrews. I've heard really good things about this series, and I can see why people love it so much. I had been warned that the first book was the weakest, and I can also see how that could be the case. There's a lot of info-dumping in this book, as well as just some general clumsiness surrounding world building. However, the world itself is quite interesting and unique, and Kate is a very compelling main character with a strong narrative voice. There are aspects of this that are very dated (specifically the use of some language that would not go over well if written today), and the plot is relatively predictable and tropey. However, if you enjoy urban fantasy like I do, this is still a good time, and I have confidence based on what I've heard about the series overall that things will only improve from here. 

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This is a re-read.

It's a solid start to the series.  I had forgotten how gruesome some of the content can be but it effective paint the picture of apocalypse adjacent times.

The mystery was exciting though knowing the culprit made it a bit frustrating when they were trying to figure out who the baddie was.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

MAGIC BITES follows Kate Daniels, a mercenary in magic-riddled Atlanta who tries to stay clear of the major powers in the city but tends to be too stabby for that to work all that well.

Kate is a loner by necessity who finds herself getting more entangled than she intended when she investigates her mentor's murder. She has a sword that's excellent at killing undead and needs to be fed if it doesn't get the opportunity often enough. 

I wish we had a bit more of her dynamic with Jim, though maybe that's me thinking they were closer than they actually are when this starts out. If the point is that she's kept even her most frequent battle partner at a distance, this conveys that pretty well by treating him as an afterthought except when necessary. Her dynamic with Curran, Jim, and the Pack lays the foundation for many things later on in the series, but, focusing on this book specifically, I like how both she and Curran are so wrapped up in violence as a language that their every interaction is tense and has the possibility of blood, even things that ought to be innocuous.

When starting out a series that seems to be mostly the contemplation of violence, actual violence, and then some romance, it's still a bracing start to kick things off with cannibalism, necrophilia, bestiality, and a murder dungeon. These are balanced with less stressful elements in the narrative, with the most upsetting topics tending to get the barest descriptions, but in combination they make it clear that this city isn't kind to its residents, and Kate will have plenty of things to stab even when this particular murder spree is (hopefully) halted.

MAGIC BITES is a book I've read and re-read for years; it's the start of one of my favorite urban fantasy series, and I enjoy it tremendously. Reading it for this review, I'm impressed with how it holds up for me, but it was never my favorite book in the series. Every time I read it I intensely dislike what happens with Crest. It mostly fits the plot, it enables a truly fantastic related plot beat, but the moment where Kate shows up at his apartment always devastates me because I just wish she'd put other things together earlier. I don't think it breaks the book or anything, it's just a very stressful scene that serves to change who Crest is and can be in the series to make room for someone else. 

I love the twist itself, and I appreciate how the groundwork is laid from the very start of the book. The plot works well (even that one scene I don't like has a pretty important purpose), and this sets up a lot for the series to draw upon as it gets going.

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xaixexai's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0


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angelareads's review against another edition

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3.0

It would have been a 3.5, but there's an offhanded comment about inhuman creatures looking like concentration camp victims, and that really stuck with me. I'm hoping this was a one time mistake on behalf of the authors. 

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