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Mar 11, 2009

Julie (jjmachshev) rated it:

New (to me) author Devon Monk has imagined a world where magic exists--but extracts a serious price from its users. The more magic you use, the bigger the price in pain, blood, or loss...unless you're rich enough, or ruthless enough, to transfer that price to someone else.

Allie knows all about magic's price. At least she would, if she could only remember. After all, her father and his wealthy corporation have their fingers in all the magic 'pies' in the world. And she was all s More...

4 comments like (17 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

~♥*Marianna*♥~ rated it:

This book had such a nice ending. There are many questions yet to be revealed and answered in this story but the book didn't leave me feeling cut off with a cliff hanger. That is a nice change. I've gotten to expect the cliffhangers in series books, especially first in series.

This one left me really, really wanting to continue reading Allie's story but it also gave me a sense of renewal and fresh start; like a whole new chapter of her story will open with the next book.

I re More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2010

Blodeuedd rated it:

In this world people discovered a way to harness magic 30 years ago. By trapping it in glass pipes for an instance it can be used. But it always takes something from you, pain, a memory, and Allie knows this. Still she hounds. She hunts people who does not use magic right, they do not take the pain, they give it to someone else. Her father is one of the richest men around but she has cut all ties, and she does live in a rathole and really suffers.

This is not a nice world, it feels di More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2011

Hallie rated it:

I enjoyed a lot about this, but a lot felt as if it was really pretty standard urban-fantasy-with-a-*unique!*-element stuff. The characters were fairly interesting, though I sometimes feel I'm getting a bit sick of the trope of characters keeping secrets tightly hidden from each other and the reader (except Polly's secret-keeping in All Clear, for which I make complete and inconsistent allowance!)

I'm also clearly getting older and crankier by the second, because I'm finding more and More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 12, 2008

Angie rated it:

Is it weird that I kind of got a kick out of the main character's name in this book being Allie? It's not my name. I do have a dear friend by that name. But I think the main reason was that I just haven't read a book in a long time that featured an Allie, and it seemed to lend the story a certain appealing freshness. The other names in the book are equally appealing. Zayvion Jones. Violet Beckstrom. And the idea for the story is undoubtedly intriguing.

MAGIC TO THE BONE is set in an a More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

I couldn't finish this. It wasn't interesting or well written. I read the first few chapters, then the last chapter, and didn't feel I missed anything in between. I like this genre, so it is rare for me to buy a book at full price at the bookstore and then not finish it. It felt like the usual murder mystery without a great plot or engaging characters. This book and author just weren't interesting to me.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 07, 2009

Kim rated it:

In between grading papers, and after spending weeks reading Inkdeath, I needed something fast-paced and exciting to read. Urban fantasy is good for that, but I have been feeling a little bit burnt out on vampires, werewolves, and fey---so what's an eager fantasy reader to do? Along comes Devon Monk's Magic to the Bone, which blends many of the tropes of urban fantasy (kick-ass heroine with daddy issues, sexy man of mystery, gritty urban setting) with an original and promising take on magic. In More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 07, 2009

Rhianna rated it:

Allie Beckstrom is a Hound, the best damn Hound running around Portland, Oregon. Magic use has a price to all who use it. Maybe something as simple as a week long sore throat but maybe something far more painful and potentially deadly. When someone isn't willing to pay the price an illegal Offload onto a stranger can prove useful. That's where Allie comes in and finds out who has done it. Tracking down the Offloader and making sure they get prosecuted for their crimes can be a dangerous line of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 24, 2008

Cameron rated it:

I will freely admit to being a snob with my urban fantasy; as hypocritical as it may be considering the genre, I just cannot stand the paranormal romances that increasingly bulge off of the bookshelves. I found Monk's title in my old Waldenbooks where genres are a tad more fluid and took the chance that it was not of the paranormal romance ilk, trusting in Roc's growing reputation as the leader in urban fantasy. I was intrigued by her description of magic use. In reading the novel, I was not More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Holly rated it:

Allie is a Hound, she is hired to find out who has done certain magic. Her skills allow her to scent out a person's magical signature. When she is called by an acquaintance to do a hounding job she discovers theperson who did harmful magic was her own father. She hasn't seen her father in 7 years but decides to confront him about his heinous magical act against a little boy. But she is not alone because her father has hired Zayvion to follow her. Just after confronting her dad he is found dead, More...

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Nov 27, 2011

Rita rated it:

After avoiding her father for 7 years, Allie discovers that her father attempted to kill a 5-year-old boy with a hex, storms into his corporate office, and threatens to sue him for all he is worth. He swears he didn't do it, even submits himself to a Truth Charm which requires blood magic, and she still doesn't believe him. She knows his magical signature.

Angry, she departs with the promise that she will make him pay. But the next day, after visiting her father, he was found dead in More...

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Nov 27, 2011

Mlle. rated it:

This is a spoiler free review of the first FIVE books in the Allie Beckstrom series.

So there are two things to know about Allie Beckstrom: the first is that she's a Hound, someone who makes a living tracing magical residues back to their source. The second thing to know is that she's the only child of Daniel Beckstrom, a fabulously wealthy innovator and tycoon. You might think that her profession, Hounding, is the more important fact - but there are books in the series where she only More...

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Jun 03, 2011

Christine rated it:

Magic to the Bone has a strong female lead; Allie Beckstrom is tough, stubborn, witty, and determined to do the right thing. She is protective of children and kind to little fuzzy kittens. The book also has the required love interest, a love/hate parental relationship, lots of bad guys and tons of mysterious characters. The plot is marginally interesting and, as this is a series, there is plenty of room for the story to expand. In other words, it has almost everything needed to make a good read. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Ithlilian rated it:

Finally, an urban fantasy book with intriguing characters, a believable magic system, and a great mystery! I've been reading my way through plenty of so-so urban fantasy books, opening the next one with trepidation, bracing for the worst, and hoping to find a gem. This is what I've been waiting for!

Allie is a Hound, she traces magic back to it's caster. In this world, each time magic is cast someone must pay a price. The wealthy usually pass those ill effects onto a proxy, someone that More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 01, 2010

Marcia rated it:

Nothing about this book feels fresh or interesting. It's yet another tough-ass heroine who chases bad guys, and while I am fine with that if the book is a fun read, this one doesn't qualify. The lead character confuses attitude with personality, and financial woes and daddy issues substitute for actual conflict. Seriously, if you're so damn broke, stop taking cabs everywhere, especially in a city with great public transportation. The love interest is supposed to be mysterious, but instead is jus More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 14, 2010

Alexis rated it:

At first glance, the Allie Beckstrom series seems like so much of the fluff that crowds the paranormal genre these days - distanced from her family, with magic powers that are oh-so-slightly off from even 'normal' magic users, making her living as a Hound, a.k.a private eye. It's so formulaic you could just snort and toss the book aside.

But don't. Seriously. Devon Monk took a tired trope and ran with it - and it was awesome. Instead of finding out she was a magical fairy princess, s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 05, 2010

Sandy rated it:

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Apr 19, 2010

Lexie rated it:

There's something vexing about reading a novel where at any moment the narrator, in this case Allie, will lose a memory. Its one thing to second guess a memory, but whenever Allie would lose a memory completely--of something happened only chapters before--and then do the exact opposite of what she should have done (if she had kept the memory) I wanted to tear my hair out. We're not talking minor things, but entire relationships or traumas are just...gone suddenly after she uses magic. Half th More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2009

John rated it:

I met Devon Monk at Orycon last weekend. She was on an Urban Fantasy panel, and she's sharp and sounded like she knew what she was about. And she sets her Urban Fantasy in Portland.
I'm writing an Urban Fantasy set in Portland.
So out came my Kindle and 42 seconds later I had Magic to the Bone.
It's a fun, fast read. Allie Beckstrom is a Hound, a person who uses magic to track down other magic users, like the person who almost kills a young boy in Johns Landing. She runs into Zayvio More...

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Jul 28, 2009

Brownbetty rated it:

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0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2009

Kate rated it:

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0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 06, 2009

Lisa rated it:

I didn't really enjoy this book I'm afraid. The chapters were too long and the story surged along like an out of control roller-coaster, leaving me feeling dissatisfied. There was no time to process events. This is why it's important for writers to create sequels or reaction scenes as well as scenes with action in them.

The main character herself, Allie, is a bit too snippy for my liking as well. Sarcasm and narkiness are not to be confused with wit and repartee. Rudeness is rudeness, More...

0 comments like

May 14, 2009

Michelle rated it:

With the recent discovery that magic actually does exist technology has advanced so that it’s available to everyone for whatever – green lawn, less wrinkles - presto it’s done. But magic isn’t all pixie dust and faeries, oh no, it’s available to everyone but it comes with a price: each time inflicting bruises, sore throats or even headaches depending on how much magic you used. Consequently, there are lots of folks taking advantage of the system (and others around them) by offloading their magic More...

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Feb 05, 2009

Chessa rated it:

I liked this book, and I really didn't know what to expect. I picked it up on a whim because the author is local to Portland, where I lived and my parents live close to now (and it was at a tiny used bookstore in a tiny town, where the proprietor is really into paranormal, blah blah blah.)

Set in a universe where magic was "discovered" 30 years ago and is used in all sorts of functions, magic also has a darkside - magic users pay a price for wielding it, in illness, sorenes More...

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Oct 30, 2011

Treedee rated it:

Pros: Fast pace. Interesting plot and premise. Enjoyable characters.

Cons: Overuse of annoying expletives. Excessive corny sex scenes.

Review: Magic to the Bone opens with a call to danger that unfurls a story of twists and turns that keeps up interest throughout. The author takes a refreshingly different twist on the world as well – direct consequences for every action of magic.

Pain and memories are sacrifices for magic use, so the main character Allie ref More...

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Feb 13, 2009

Calamity rated it:

Monk's approach to Magic is refreshing. She built a new way for magic to work and it works a lot like drugs. It uses you and it can get you easily killed. It's a dangerous thing and yet Humankind is eager to use it all and the consequences be damned.
I liked the way this book was written, the plot was nicely developed and the underlying mistery kept me wondering until the end.

*-*-*SPOILERS*-*-*

I don't usually like the protagonists and Allie More...

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Jan 02, 2012

Pikachu rated it:

I really liked this! A lot!! Why?
-The main protagonist is smart; she's a Harvard grad. Sure, sure, that's what they all say -- but they tend to be all talk and no substance. Not Allie Beckstrom. She has excellent street smarts and book smarts and I loved the way she reasoned out her problems. It was like being inside her head for reals, and not pedagogical at all (I hate how some authors LECTURE at you to prove their cred. It doesn't work, folks...)
-The love interest is yummy. He's d More...

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Apr 12, 2011

Honour rated it:

3.5

There is that breed of writers who now dominate the urban fantasy market and who bring to the readers a gritty, dark, often disappointing world of supernatural beings and magic.
Like Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs, Devon Monk has created a tough heroine who takes care of herself, has had a rough childhood, makes friends despite herself and stumbles into world-domination plots that make her groan!
I like Allie Beckstrom and as a heroine who suffers from partial amnesi More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2011

Novels On The Run rated it:

MICHELLE'S REVIEW:

RATING: 4 MYSTERIOUS ZAYVION STARS!

This is a most awesome, refreshing, original, Urban Fantasy series.

Allie Beckstrom is a 25 yr old Hound. No, she doesn’t turn into a dog, she is all woman . Magic has apparently only been around for thirty years, or has it? Everybody can use magic, some better than others. There are rules, there are politics and there are murders. Hounds are needed to use their magic to help put away the rule breakers.
More...

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May 06, 2011

Ami rated it:

It is rare that I immediately like an urban fantasy series from the 1st book. Usually, the first book is like a set-up for me to prepare myself for the world building and characters introduction ... but this one, I definitely enjoy from the get go.

I did struggle a bit at first chapter, as I tried to understand the world and the terms (Hounding, Grounding, etc). However, I soon found myself immersed with the story, especially with the "Cody" chapter, which was darker than o More...

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