Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1) in Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group

Feb 12, 2010 Zeek rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: alpha-hero, chick-fantasy, favorite-heroine, favorite-hero, kick-ass-heroine, favorites-uf, fantasy-modern, urban-fantasy, post-apocolyptic, uber-alpha-male

More of a 3 and half star really. Although I did like Magic Bites, it suffered from freshman-itis. The world building was a bit convoluted and difficult to nail down, but that's mostly because its an intricate world Andrew's building and one like no other. (I also get the feeling the book was reedited for page count with, unfortunately, world building becoming the bloody casualty.)

Still the tale of Kate Daniels and her search for the being that not only killed a beloved friend but also is cutti More of a 3 and half star really. Although I did like Magic Bites, it suffered from freshman-itis. The world building was a bit convoluted and difficult to nail down, but that's mostly because its an intricate world Andrew's building and one like no other. (I also get the feeling the book was reedited for page count with, unfortunately, world building becoming the bloody casualty.)

Still the tale of Kate Daniels and her search for the being that not only killed a beloved friend but also is cutting a bloody path thru magical beings to set himself up for some mighty twisted power intrigued me.

Kate is a strong UF lead with a clear voice. I like her but the one I'm truly curious about is the Beast Lord Curran.

I think this little display taking place between Kate, the Beast Lord and a young wolf shifter under his authority pretty much sums why I dig him. (Derek, a wolf shifter and friend to Kate, has been healing from a bad wound and needs to eat because of the energy it takes to heal. Kate sets some left over fried rice in front of him and wants him to eat right now- pack rules says he doesnt eat till his alpha is thru....)

"The Beast Lord scraped the bottom of his container, licked the spoon, reached over and took away Derek's rice replacing it with the brown paper sack he had brought. Derek glanced into the sack and retrieved a bundle of waxed paper tied with a chord. He snapped the chord and unwrapped the bundle. A five pound shoulder roast looked back at him.

Curran jerked his head toward the hallway. "Dont make a spectacle of yourself."

Derek rose, gathering the roast and disappeared into the depths of the apartment. I glared at Curran.

"I like fried rice," he said with a shrug. He slid the spoon under the paper flaps of the other small paper box, forced them open, and proceeded to pick out the peas.

The low rumble of a predator feeding came from within the apartment.

"Keep it down," Curran said without raising his voice.

The snarling died.

"So what do you have?"~ Magic Bites , Ilona Andrews

So many authors, well non-authors too, think a person who bullys and belittles, ruling with fear is the sign of an alpha leader. I've always maintained A true alpha doesnt have to raise his/her voice or use fear to get people to follow. Looks like Andrew's thinks so too.

Oh yes I'll be reading on in this world. ...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Lisa Kay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-by-me, m-library-sj-audio-oda, m-audible-dot-com, authors-a, m-kindle, setting-usa-georgia, its-magic, genre-urban-fantasy, genre-post-apocalyptic-world, bom-nbrc

I listened to the Magic Bites via a downloadable audio file from my public library. It was narrated by Renée Raudman, who I thought gave an above average reading.

I would strongly suggest anyone interested in this series who, like myself, is not a frequent reader of urban-fantasy, have access to the internet when starting Magic Bites. Here is the link to the vital website: http://kate.ilona-andrews.com/ One can safely navigate the site without running across spoilers. There are many wonderful thi I listened to the Magic Bites via a downloadable audio file from my public library. It was narrated by Renée Raudman, who I thought gave an above average reading.

I would strongly suggest anyone interested in this series who, like myself, is not a frequent reader of urban-fantasy, have access to the internet when starting Magic Bites. Here is the link to the vital website: http://kate.ilona-andrews.com/ One can safely navigate the site without running across spoilers. There are many wonderful things on there that helped me understand the interesting world Ms. Andrews and her husband created. You can read more about the different factions: The Order of Merciful Aid (of which, our heroine, Kate Daniels, is an agent), The Pack, The Neo Cult, The Mercenary Guild (Kate is a member), The Covens, and The People.

In all honesty, I was a little confused at the beginning; however, I do not usually read this genre. I actually thought I had somehow jumped to the middle of the book. After two chapters, I started the book over again and I'm glad I did. I totally enjoyed Andrews’ post-apocalyptic Atlanta and, of course, Kate, who is imperfectly perfect as written.

Basically, our old world changed into this new world due to the overuse of technology and therefore Magic pushed back. The first thing I would have appreciated understanding is that vampires are essentially mindless zombies who are operated by necronavigators. The second thing is what exactly “flare” entails. The website posted this:

Flare is a magic tsunami, a wave of terrible magnitude. It starts as a series of shallow magic fluctuations. During those short waves, the magic never completely falls, coming back stronger and stronger until it finally drowns the world in an enormous surge. Weird things happen during the flare. The magic lasts for three days straight and some really nasty critters come out of the woodwork. The upside to this whole mess is that after the flare, the magic takes a while to return. Weeks if not months.

Ahhhh. So that explains why things are so strange. The world we, the reader, are experiencing is constantly in flux.

This book is fun, horrific, and violent. And a good read – or listen.

My favorite line is when Kate first meets Curran. She calls out: “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!”

P. S. Also at the website is a collection of scenes written by Gordon Andrews as a companion to our Kate Daniels series; they are from the POV of Curran, the Beast Lord of Atlanta, the ruler of the South-East Pack of shapeshifters. Pretty cool. Always nice, when a book is written in the first person female POV, to see what the male was thinking.
...more

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Sep 02, 2013 Lisa Kay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-kindle, authors-a, setting-usa-georgia, challenge-2014-rlftci, buddy-read-rlftci, genre-urban-fantasy, genre-shapeshifters, buddy-read-nbrc, xyzcover-weapon, authors-i

★★★★☆ I enjoyed this much more on my second read of this extended edition, now that I understand Kate's world a little better. Plus, I read the FAQs at the back first. ...more

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Dec 28, 2014 Keri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015s-read, ntm-author, urban-fantasy-action

I get why people have such mad love for the series. I struggled at the first of the book visualizing Ilona's world, but the last 1/2 of the book was awesome. Looking forward to the next book and where her and Curran are going. ...more

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Aug 04, 2010 Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-cravings, read-in-2010, really-liked

I liked this one. I didn't know what to expect but I was surprised at how much I liked it.

Kate is a mercenary (merc) who is trying to find out who killed her guardian, Greg. We go with her on her quest to find the killer and along the way we learn about post-apocalyptic Atlanta. Magic and other beings are pretty much the norm. I didn't really catch how normal "humans" are, but there are some mentioned in the book. I guess Kate is human, but not quite normal.

She was actually likable and funny. Sh ...more

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Aug 24, 2010 Quinn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book, urban-fantasy, series

This was a 3.5 star read for me. Not 3. Not 4. 3.5. I hear that the series keeps on getting better, so I'll round this down and give myself room to move.

Since I am one of the few people left on the planet who hadn't read this one, I won't do a full review, just briefly cover a few of my thoughts.

Magic Bites suffers a little from being the first book in the series. Ilona Andrews has created a complex world and one I struggled a little to keep straight. I settled into it as I read further, but I' This was a 3.5 star read for me. Not 3. Not 4. 3.5. I hear that the series keeps on getting better, so I'll round this down and give myself room to move.

Since I am one of the few people left on the planet who hadn't read this one, I won't do a full review, just briefly cover a few of my thoughts.

Magic Bites suffers a little from being the first book in the series. Ilona Andrews has created a complex world and one I struggled a little to keep straight. I settled into it as I read further, but I'm still not sure I understand everything. Whether that is the fault of the author, the piecemeal way I read this, or my own feeble brain I couldn't say.

Still, I feel I only achieved a basic understanding of the whole tech/magic fluctuations; and I certainly didn't get enough insight into the Guild/Order/People factions, and who the players are in each. I'm sure this will come as I read further into the series.

Kate Daniels is a protagonist who I ended up enjoying. Go figure! She is mouthy and brash - traits that usually don't work for me (hello, Merit), but I didn't mind it from Kate because she has a firm grip on her reality. She is realist - she knows her limits, she makes mistakes and she admits to being scared, but she just keeps going and does the best she can. There is mystery surrounding her which provides a good pull for the reader and I'm looking forward to discovering her secrets.

I've heard much about the Kate/Curran partnership, which was my reason for finally reading this book, and while I can see great potential in Curran's character, I didn't find him overly endearing in this one. And that's a good thing. It will be nice to learn more about him and watch his character evolve in the readers eye.

There's quite a bit of horror in this one, which I wasn't expecting, but also didn't mind. I really, really appreciated the author's take on vampires. Let's face it - her version of a vampire is much more likely than the hot, sexy vamps we usually see and it added some gritty realism to the book.

Although this instalment didn't quite meet my expectations given the buzz this series receives, I'm relieved to hear they get better and I'm looking forward to learning more about the world and seeing the development of one of urban fantasy's favourite couples.

...more

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Feb 17, 2017 ☘KathyD☘ rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-romance-series, pages-200-299, genre-fantasy, genre-romance, audio-audible, book-kindle, genre-paranormal, character-vamps, genre-erotica, character-shifters

I have been meaning to start this series for a while, but kept putting it off for some reason...I’m really sorry I did that! Kate Daniels is a bad ass and the world Ms. Andrews created is amazing. There is some amazing politics within the various factions that I look forward to see play out in future books. As for Kate, I am ready to dive in to the next chapter of her life to see where she’s headed. The only reason I couldn’t give this a five-star rating is because there were a few plot points t ...more

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