Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

21 reviews

amylynn44's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Rape

space_bandit's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Body horror, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: Fatphobia and Racial slurs

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

I've found that I really love urban fantasy, and Magic Bites is no different. It's gripping and it made me want to pick up book two immediately after I put it down. Kate is an interesting protagonist. Having a mystery about her parentage and the strength of her magic hinted at but not quite explained left me wanting more. The world building is extensively, but not excessively explained. We're shown how things work throughout the course of the novel. Curran and the pack are interesting. Kate's issues with authority combined with current position of authority make them curious allies. They work well together, though. The end to this novel was satisfying, but I'm excited to read the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol and Medical content

raen99's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Gore, and Body horror

Minor: Kidnapping, Torture, Sexual violence, and Fire/Fire injury

nicoleme1212's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Intriguing enough for the start of a series and an interesting world but not enough revealed about the Meta plot to know if it’ll be a new favorite. Also leans more horror than some urban fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Gore, Body horror, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm

Moderate: Death

nofixedaddress's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

One of my favourite urban fantasy series. (To note: this was published in 07, and there are some comments that have not aged well. The authors have certainly done better in that regard in their later books.) But overall - fast-paced action, beginnings of romance, interesting characters, intriguing backstory. It's the whole package. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

mortonsspoon's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence

angelareads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma

welshreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Hmm, this was fine but I'm a little disappointed that I don't think the execution of the world building held up to the potential. The magic vs technology angle could have been utilised more and I think it would have been way more interesting.

The investigation was okay, it started off strong with the mystery and intrigue but towards the end I felt like a lot of things just swooped in from out of the blue. It didn't help that a lot of the side/minor characters were pretty forgettable with little personality so when they popped up again I had already forgotten who they were.

I would have liked more explanation of how exactly magic works or the significance of some rituals, because a few things seemed a bit convenient.

I liked Kate well enough. She was capable with a zingy one-liner sarcastic humour and some okay chemistry with a few of the other secondary characters. I did like one of the twists, it made the plot less predictable, but then the reveal of the bad guy was like... wait, who are you? I prefer my villains with more substance beyond terrible person does heinous acts of physical and sexual violence just because. The reveal really wasn't that satisfying of a moment within the story for me.

The action was enjoyable and I did like where the story ends off and the potential relationships and friendships that could be developed further. I'm tempted to carry on in the series, or at least read the next instalment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, and Sexism

Maybe I'm alone in this but honestly, Alpha Male macho bullshit can be left behind in Urban Fantasy going forward. This giant homo is so over the posturing and toxic masculinity but I'm afraid it's a staple of the genre.