Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Dec 25, 2010 Thenia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: shifters, reviewed, magic, r-ab, series, 2011, paranormal, vampires, 2018, 2021

Magic Burns on Books On Track

Kate is in over her head this time, when she is asked to protect Julie, a young girl as payback for a favor and it proves a lot harder than she expected.

Magic is going haywire, with a flare, a very strong magical wave, on the way, causing everyone to be on edge and giving a chance for very dangerous creatures to breach this side of the world.

Turns out that (view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Alisha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Whoo! I probably should've reviewed this book before having continued onto the next book, because they're all so dense, full of information and action galore.

With the huge chunk of world building done in Magic Bites, this installment was able to get right off to a fun and satisfying start. There's a few months' distance between books one and two, so Kate is able to process and go through a few stages of grieving over her late mentor, Greg. This means she's a bit more light and bouyant in tone; n ...more

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May 16, 2012 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: what-modern-fantasy, how-audiobook, where-grr-mine, what-shifters, what-paranormal-romance

This was a little slow to get started, or rather slow to get to the point where I was enjoying it, maybe a couple of chapters. But once it got there, I was hooked and stayed that way until the very end. The characters are real to me and each is their own person, not the same old same old.

My favorite part about these books is that the tall dark and dangerous man who would always get the girl in another book, scares the hell out of Kate. She freaks when she finds out she may have given him to thi This was a little slow to get started, or rather slow to get to the point where I was enjoying it, maybe a couple of chapters. But once it got there, I was hooked and stayed that way until the very end. The characters are real to me and each is their own person, not the same old same old.

My favorite part about these books is that the tall dark and dangerous man who would always get the girl in another book, scares the hell out of Kate. She freaks when she finds out she may have given him to think she was interested in him. True, she's oblivious to the fact he is if. Purse in love with her and misinterprets his actions around her frequently. But the beauty is that she's the one in control and he is the one who's confused and exasperated. Cool role reversal!

Kate is a kick ass heroine. She is a match in combat for King of the Beasts Curran and in the last book she even beat him in one fight. He doesn't rescue her, nobody does except once when she has won the battle and someone finds her to provide medical aid. She doesn't worry about makeup or shoes. She wears t-shirts and other clothes that give her a large range of movement. Style just doesn't even come up.

She so reveals a LOT more about who/what she is but not enough. Andrews better tell us in the next book or I'm going to scream. (Not that she would care if I did...) we also learn about what it's like to live her life and how lonely that can be.

There is a lot of emotion in the book which I like but it isn't over the top. These characters feel it when their comrades are hurt or lost. They get jealous and angry and feel guilt. They also smile and laugh. And they feel grief. Andrews describes grief and loneliness so well I felt emotionally drained when I was done.

The main issue I had with the book is that I don't think the author knows any teenagers and certainly not ones that live on the streets. The youth in the book are the same caricature that I see in genre books all the time: scared and needy kids who trust fairly easily, never mouth off and just need someone to show them some love and they'll be okay. Um, no.

The more kids are hurt, the less their needs like food and shelter are met they less trusting, the angrier, the mouthier they get. The more they suffer the less they believe in anything getting better. They don't believe the next adult won't let them down and so they try to push the kind hand away partially so they won't be hurt again and partially to make the grown-up prove they'll stick around. Unfortunately it's very hard to do enough to prove it. I'm speaking from my nearly thirteen years working with kids like this and my own experiences in group care as an adolescent. Sure there are exceptions but the characters here did not come across as exceptions. The girl was way too weak-willed to have overcome her situation. I just didn't buy it. (At one point Andrews implies that the girl's mother has just disappeared but later we find that she's been either on the streets or hanging with street kids for at least two years.)

Oh, which reminds me: Kate's goal in the first half of the book is resolved in a sudden, after-the-fact sort of explanation. But I didn't really care about that storyline that much. Instead, the intensity and non-stop action of the other plot lines satisfied me a great deal. ...more

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Apr 04, 2010 Samantha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, 2010

I'm kinda PO'd that the synopsis on the back of the book bascially gave away most of the story (at least for me, who's not the most clever at solving whodunits) and it took me about half of the book to get past it.
I definitely didn't hold it against the story, which was awesome. It was an interesting premise and I loved following Kate on her adventures this time around! The worldbuilding is one of the strongest aspects of the story for me and getting to explore Kate's Atlanta in this installmen ...more

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Sep 01, 2010 Lee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This entire series is awesome! Love it!

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Sep 30, 2011 Kimberly rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Episode 2: Magic Burns. It burns hard.

It's Saturday afternoon again and my new story's coming on. This time, I'm ready for it to show and I have snacks.
I'm so disappointed in Crest. I was ready to make t-shirts and bags saying Team Crest, but nooooo. He had to go chicken shit and not face anyone. Instead he sends his fiance to ask for permission. Bleh. I'm done with him. Besides, there's a new guy named Bran that sounds like fun.
I was smacked up side the head just like Kate when Andrea and Aunt ...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Adele rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

yet another exciting adventure with Kate at the helm.
I think I liked this adventure better than the last.
I hope Julie shows up in later books...I liked the whole Kate looking after Julie thing. I was thinking something like what happened to her with Greg might happen here. you know the whole mentor/guardian thing.
as for Curran....my judgment is still reserved for him.

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Aug 26, 2010 AmandaG rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, audio-book, series, ereader, 2010, 2012, challenges, 2017

Great. I blew through this one so fast. Can't wait to get started on the next. This one reminded me a bit of Patricia Briggs' Mercy series. Not because things are similar per say, but more because of the tough chick, first person POV and a character named Bran. ...more

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