Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Mercenary Kate Daniels cleans up urban problems of a paranormal kind. But her latest prey, a pack of undead warriors, presents her greatest challenge.

3 1/2 stars

Full Review

CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 5
Atmosphere: 9
Writing: 7
Plot: 6
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 6
Enjoyment: 9

A lot of people recommend this series and I was a little hesitant after the disappointment of Moon Called but this book was pleasantly surprising. Kate is a great main character who has so much sass and a mouth that can get her in trouble. I also loved the idea of magic in this book with the aspect of it coming and going. You have to always be prepared for the world to change in an instant. I'm super curious to see what else Kate gets up to in future books.

My second book in the paranormal/vampire romance genre. I tried 2 other books in the genre (Guilty pleasures, The Hollows) and they were also disappointments.

This books starts much more promising then Guilty Pleasure's vampire strip club first scene. The heroine is a kick ass girl, much like Anita Blake, but she is mourning the lost of her friend and town's Knight Protector Gabriel (?)

The thing i didn't like about the book was the poor quality of writing. Every person she meets has their clothes briefly described. “So I went to the police, the clerk was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. I asked him for information... On the way to the chief of police, a women in dark skirt and yellow shirt greeted me. The chief was a short fat men, wearing...“

She goes to the “police station”, or equivalent law agency, to ask information about her friend who died. It is a place who she scorns because even though she wants to fight evil, she is a free spirit (aka, vigilante).

They somewhat know about her, that she is a capable monster killing mercenary or something. But when she asks if she can investigate her friend's death, they not only agree with this (she is still just a civilian), but they give her an office and everything.

The protagonist also feels like an anti social, xenophobic, misandrist (dislike of men) idiot. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the author's intention, but in the scene she meets the police chief, she immediately dislikes him for

1) being a man
2) being short and fat
3) being a Texan

The chief barely gave any indication of being the stereotypical neanderthal one could expect, but I understood the intention.

Read 1:29/09:06 16%

I think this book had a massive case of overhyping, and I expected better than what I got. This world is exciting, and an intriguing concept, but the characters fell flat. I can easily see it getting better, but this book was not exceptional.