Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Title: Magic Bites
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: 1st in the Kate Daniels series, 2nd is Magic Burns
Published: March 2007
Genre: urban fantasy
Pages: 260
Cover: Not a big fan. I like the crumbling skyscrapers in the background, but both she and the lion have a weird gray tint, and the stance is rather cliche-urban-fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended for: Fans of Night Life, Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Briggs, Jeanine Frost
Planning to read more by this author?: Yes, I'm getting the sequel to this and am interested in reading some of her other series (I've heard they're good, too)
Review: structured, spoilers for the romance element
First off, what I liked: I thought the heroine Kate was excellently portrayed. She has the, at times annoying, bravado and bluster that so many heroines in this situation have (yes, she's another detective/mercenary/woman-solving-paranormal-crimes-by-herself) -- but she realizes it's just a facade to help her in her job. It was done well enough that I really enjoyed reading it from Kate's perspective. I think she could have limited the cute/obnoxious sarcastic quips a little more, but for the most part, she wasn't bad.
The world-building in this was very interesting. About two hundred years before the story took place, an unnamed incident took place that caused most of the technology in the world to fail and be replaced with magic. The book doesn't go into much detail about what happens, but the world is revealed quickly enough to make sense, but slow enough to keep the reader interested and not overloaded with background detail. There's some very interesting theories on belief and magic woven in well, too. The typical werewolf-vampire scene is unique and interesting; the politics of the situation are inserted subtly without overpowering the reader.
What I didn't like: I felt like this book was two shorter books smashed together. The characters (all except for Kate, really) seem to have two different characterizations, one at the beginning and one at the end, with a confusing transition. The plot got rather convoluted after about halfway (though I was reading it quickly), with some pretty gaping plotholes. The most disappointing, however, was the romance element. I was really excited when Kate got together with a normal guy and they actually had chemistry. Yes! One against the classic/cliched woman-meets-super-dominant/powerful-werewolf/vampire-and-they-have-tension-filled-love! But no. About halfway through, the dominance issue comes up (where oh-noes the woman's more powerful than the man), but I thought she'd actually make it work, maybe even have an underlying theme of equality or something. But no. After her work comes up, the guy is suddenly just interested in sex, she suddenly (and for no apparent reason I could make out) thinks he's a horrific monster, and they don't work out. Instead, she starts to fall for the super-dominant werelion man that's alpha/King of the Pack. Huge letdown.
Overall, a choppy read, but one with a strong heroine that I'm interested in continuing.