Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Pages: 260
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: April 1, 2007

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings—and the death of Kate's guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she's way out of her league—but she wouldn't have it any other way…

My Thoughts: I didn't plan on writing a review for this book. All I wanted was to read something NOT for reviewing purposes. I couldn't help it though. I had to write a something, anything! Because I just couldn't stop thinking about the world, the story, and the characters found in this AWESOME series.

Before I started Magic Bites, I heard a lot of readers say that although they love the series to pieces they weren't impressed with this book. I feel like I'm one of the few who loved it right away! And I loved Kate Daniels as soon as I met her too. She's sarcastic and honest and so freaking hilarious! One thing that I completely admire about Kate is her deep compassion. She's willing do whatever it takes to protect people. And even when she's acting all tough and badass, she shows the readers through her thoughts that she's scared and vulnerable on the inside. I love a character who is brave and stands her ground but willing to admit to herself when things are hard and impossible. It makes her easy to sympathize with and very relatable.

Kate's past seemed like a vital aspect of the story. It's the main reason why she chooses to stay alone and not get close to anyone. However, we didn't learn much about her past by the end. Kate may be the main character, but she still has quite a bit of mystery surrounding her. I wasn't put out by it at all, since it's quite obvious we'll learn more in the next books. Plus, I was too busy enjoying everything else!

Something I couldn't wait to happen was the very first meeting between Kate and the Beast Lord Curran. I've heard such good things about Curran and his relationship with Kate. It took a couple of chapters for him to make an appearance, but once he did I was grinning like crazy. The banter between Kate and Curran was so much fun to read about, and he sounded so damn FINE. They definitely shared some chemistry. Even with the handful of scenes he appeared in, he managed to leave an impression with me and especially with Kate. And just like with Kate's past, I knew there would be more of Curran to come in the other books in the series.

Magic Bites was a wonderful and kickass start to the Kate Daniels series! It's set in a fascinating world of the future and filled with such likeable and fun characters. As soon as I finished, I wanted to immediately start book two, Magic Burns. Even if you don't end up loving Magic Bites, don't stop reading the series! The story and the characters continue to get better and better. You don't want to miss out on that!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars