Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

14 reviews

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

3.0

This is a step up from book 1; however, several of my issues with the previous book remain. In both case the world building felt clunky and the ending felt rushed. There's also a general problem in this series so far of the relationships feeling a little forced (like, everyone cares about each other way to fast and for no discernable reason), though I do see that improving a bit, and I'm hopeful it will get better as time goes on. The middle of this was stronger than the start and finish, but I had good time and still plan to continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gore, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

rorikae's review

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

‘Magic Burns’ by Ilona Andrews is the second installment in the Kate Daniels series. 

This installment further delves into the world first introduced in Magic Bites. Kate discovers a young girl who has lost her mother. While attempting to help her locate her mother, Kate discovers that a flare is imminent and that gods are gearing up to take advantage of the flare to manifest and wage war. 

In this second installment, I feel that the world of Kate Daniels is really coming into focus. We get to spend more time with Kate and the rest of the cast of characters that were first introduced in the initial installment. Their characters are coming into better focus as well as the world. I can already tell that this series is likely going to thrive in its worldbuilding and the character growth that happens over multiple books. The first book made me interested, but I can definitely feel my investment in the series and the characters growing in this second installment. I’m excited to continue to book three. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Toxic relationship, War, and Death

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

And so I continue my re-read of the series.

It's surprising how much a long series can blend into itself and warp when you think things happen.  This is furthered by the offshoots and novellas for different POVs.  This time around I'm going to try reading everything in chronological order rather than publication order.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Medical content, Murder, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Grief, and Kidnapping

kristen1994's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Grief, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Animal death

relin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I love this series and the world, I've reread this so many times over the years. Always a joy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Murder, Gore, Sexual harassment, Death, Blood, Racism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Animal death

Moderate: Outing, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism, Sexism, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

Racism is fantasy racism where a new group of people are being discriminated against, just in case that helps. Animal deaths - one off screen but discussed, one on screen but magical animal.

beccaand's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping and Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape, Death of parent, and Child abuse

rbash2391's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

Liking this series more as I go. I am interested in the overarcing character development that I'm sure we will see as the series progresses. I'm heavily invested in the multi-book, slow burn romance, despite my usual aversion to this trope. I also hardly enjoy procedurals, but this being a shapeshifter, vampire, magical beings, urban fantasy makes the cop/mercenary stuff fine for me. Some of the plot stuff can be confusing, especially the Celtic lore in this book in particular. I try not to dwell on those details too much and am just along for the ride with the extremely sarcastic, badass FMC slicing dudes apart with her magic sword.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Rape

space_bandit's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

This series is really fun. I Love the addition of Julie to the cast of characters. Kate immediately starts referring to her as "my kid", and the dynamic of the pack and they're protective nature around children is really nice. I like that Kate doesn't try to replace Julie's mom, but offers up the role of weird aunt. This is a really interesting storyline, and I look forward to seeing how the plot twist that was revealed in this book about Kate's parentage plays into future novels in the series. I also really enjoy the addition of Andrea into the series. I love a good female friendship, and the two of them are really good for each other. Curran's reactions to learning about Kate's words of power is very funny. It feels a little bit like a sitcom to have him psych her out of a kiss. The one thing that really messed me up for a while is the death of the dog in the honeycomb.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, and Body horror

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-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

Kate starts watching over Julie, a young girl whose mom has vanished while worshipping in a coven who can't keep their crows straight (a dangerous thing in a world alternatingly drenched in magic and tech). Julie is one of my favorite characters in the series and her first appearance here sets the tone of their relationship for the next few books. This also is the first book to feature Andrea, an excellent markswoman who loves the Order and guns. The dynamic between Kate and Curran is emotionally charged in a way that currently is tilting towards mutually consensual violence but Curran seems to be making subtle (and not-so-subtle) moves in a more sexual direction that Kate hasn't yet reciprocated. 

This picks up on the last known status of a bunch of plot threads but isn't trying to wrap them up, really (except for Crest). It continues Kate's entanglements with the Pack and the People, and shows her involvement with the Mercenary Guild and the Order but isn't focusing on them as much this time around. There's a new storyline featuring some new characters (a few who won't continue past here and some who will be series regulars), but even that has a connection to a minor character who appeared in MAGIC BITES. That storyline has a major thing that is both introduced and resolved in this book. There are several things explicitly left for later which involve changes to the status quo. The main character is still Kate, her voice is consistent with the previous book. It might make sense to start here because this is laying so much groundwork of its own, but the dynamic between Kate and the Pack (specifically but not only Curran) definitely benefits from being read after the first book, since otherwise Curran's strong personality can be a bit off-putting when it lacks the context of Kate's opening salvo to their interactions in MAGIC BITES.

This book begins with a map theft and stays pretty focused on the characters important to that initial incident, while building out the world in specific ways. This introduces the witch covens as an important power in the city, shows some factions within the Pack, and deals with a different set of gods that are upsettingly more relevant during the Flare. Bran, Andrea, and Julie provide three completely different sets of problems and opportunities, keeping this from feeling like just a stepping stone to later books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, and Animal death

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Ableism, Cursing, Excrement, Murder, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Cancer, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content