A review by smuttea_matcha
Magic Stars by Ilona Andrews

4.0

I never cared for Julie as a character, but Magic Stars certainly made me appreciate her much more. It's cute that she's a mini-Kate in progress, but I want to see more of her own character (more than that she can see people's magic). Also, I find it interesting that she's able to use a power word at 16 and only get a nose bleed plus some fatigue. I don't know if Andrews is gearing Julie up to be more powerful than Kate, but I'm not sure how I feel about that considered I worship Kate as my #1 superheroine in the UF world. Also, incantations are an interesting mix since we've never seen Kate use them. Julie is definitely being taught the finer points of magic in comparison to Kate strong arming everything. I think Andrews was really ambitious in Julie's skill because Julie has been training for 4 years now (give or take) and it sounds as though she's beginning to surpass Kate (magic wise).

Anyway, I thought this was an incredibly well written short that really shows us how deep the friendship (and more) between Julie and Derek runs. Can't wait to see how their relationship develops!