Welcome to Babylon! (Opening Thoughts on Dirty Magic)

[Chelsea]

Welcome to the readalong for DIRTY MAGIC! Who's started the book? Who's reading it for the first time? Post your opening thoughts (and any other thoughts you have along the way) here!

[Kimberly]

I've read it before, and so far today I'm up through Chapter 8. I'm noticing two patterns piling up quickly.

Pattern 1: Kate's life is complicated by bad choices she makes.
Example A: Not trusting her "nearly a man" 15-year-old brother to be home alone without a babysitter.
Example B: Her stalkerish "field trip" at Volos Towers after meeting with LM.

Pattern 2: Kate's life is complicated by bad choices other people make:
Example C: Eldritch chewing her out for doing her job with the Gray Wolf hexhead
Example D: Gardner, who has only interacted with Kate while wearing a suit, cautions her to "dress for the part" without explaining that she meant casual.

[Kimberly]

Kim wrote: ...Pattern 1: Kate's life is complicated by bad choices she makes

Is it bad form to respond to my own post? :) I just reached the point in Dirty Magic where Volos describes the "calcinatio" phase of alchemy as "baptism by fire." Having learned from Jaye's YouTube page that each book corresponds to a phase, then I think the patterns I see are two ways that Kate is, indeed, being thrown into the deep end of the pool. Very clever, that Ms. Wells... :)

[Chelsea]

Kim wrote: "Kim wrote: ...Pattern 1: Kate's life is complicated by bad choices she makes

Is it bad form to respond to my own post? :) I just reached the point in Dirty Magic where Volos describes the "calcina..."

Great observations, Kim! Kate's definitely a bit of a mess, in part because of her actions and in part because of others, but I think it makes her really relatable as a character.

She is overprotective of Danny, though I'm sure that has to do with her own rocky upbringing. I really like their relationship because even though it's tense at times, I think Danny keeps Kate grounded and reminds her of what she's fighting for out there on the streets.

And good catch about the "calcinatio" phase of alchemy! (In case anyone missed it, Jaye just explained this theme for Dirty Magic in the "Ask Jaye" discussion board so be sure to go check that out.)

[Chelsea]

So here's a question for everyone... If you could join the MEA, what job would you want? Would you want to be an agent out on the field like Kate and Morales, or would you want to be a lab wiz like Mez and get to tinker with potions all day?

[Sarah]

I think my favorite part about Kate is that she is so flawed. Its real. We aren't perfect and we make bad choices. Another thing that I enjoy about this series (same as the Sabina series) is the abundance of great supporting characters. There's a combination of eccentric and seemingly normal and it blends really well.

Also, I definitely would want to be pounding the pavement and getting to the bottom of things like Kate and Morales.

[Chelsea]

Sarah wrote: "I think my favorite part about Kate is that she is so flawed. Its real. We aren't perfect and we make bad choices. Another thing that I enjoy about this series (same as the Sabina series) is the ab..."

Same here, Sarah. I'm not at all like Kate in real life (as in, I'm no badass cop. I can definitely relate to the flawed part) but so long as I'm dreaming, I'd want to be out there taking down the bad guys and saving the day the way Kate and Morales do. I totally agree that Kate's flaws make her that much more relatable and I also love the supporting characters that add so much color to the world of Babylon (Little Man, anyone?).

[Aging Phoenix]

I think Kate's struggles with Danny are mostly driven by her fear of communication honestly (or, more specifically, openly) with Danny.

Her experiences with magic and her rejection of it fuel a sort of denial that magic can be anything but a terrible experience. This makes it difficult with Danny because
1) he's naive about magic,
2) He's naive about the motivations of those who exploit magic, and
3) He's not wrong when he says magic use doesn't have to be a horrible thing.

[Chelsea]

Dave wrote: "I think Kate's struggles with Danny are mostly driven by her fear of communication honestly (or, more specifically, openly) with Danny.

Her experiences with magic and her rejection of it fuel a s..."

Great observation, Dave. I was just talking with a friend today about her struggles with her daughter and it kind of reminds me of what you see here with Kate and Danny. This friend was a single parent who had a rough life growing up so when her daughter was born, she did everything she could to shield her and keep her from making the mistakes she did when she was younger--kinda like how Kate tried to keep Danny in the dark about magic since she had such a disastrous experience with it in her own life. The problem with that, however, is that, like Danny, her daughter was so sheltered that now she's starting to question and push the boundaries that her mother put up to protect her in the first place.

I don't think Kate was wrong for wanting to protect Danny from magic and her history with it, but had she had an open dialogue with him about it, he probably would have been better off in the long run.