Magic Binds (Kate Daniels, #9)

by Ilona Andrews

[booksandcats]

Amazing book, one of the best in the series, which is impressive when it's the 9th book and not a final one. You will see many side story lines to a satisfying and quite surprising point, that ties in greatly with the main plot (looking at you, Christopher).

I really like how we can see Kate's development over the whole series(and the other Characters as well, but mostly her because her development is the biggest I think), how she has grown in Power, how she has to deal with it, with the implications, with her new social rank (so to speak) and with her new Relationships. It is amazing how she has changed so much and the authors have still managed to keep her Charakter, to let her stay "herself". If you read book 1 again, she is so different in how she leads, how she interacts with other People, and how she uses her Powers, but at the same time, you can still clearly see her, her Character and everything that makes her Kate. That is an impressive thing to master as an author.

Aside from that, I absolutely adore Kate anyway, just her sarcasm and wit and how she can see the biggest catastrophe and the first thing that goes through her mind is a sarcastic, snarky comment. This book could be very heavy and dark, with her having to fight against a future where her husband and/or her baby get killed, all whilst feeling overwhelmed and alone due to her new rising Powers. But with her comments and thoughts it is assured that it never gets to heavy, which I admire.

As said above, I like how they handled the side Characters and subplots, I greatly adore both Christopher and Roman and like where things are going with them. The only thing I did not like is how Jim was acting, but since it was in Character with how he was acting throughout the whole book I'm mostly alright with it. He has always put Pack and his interests first and to be honest, he was always a pretty crappy friend. Kate said it in this book, and it was said in Jims novella as well, he cares only about Dali, he isn't able to trust anyone else. I did like how Mahon finally came around, he was so annoying and judgmental in the last book (again, fine with it cause it was in character), but I guess the whole drama finally made him think and correct his ways. I also like that there seem the be more room for Ghastek in the future, he is an interesting Character, with so many different sides that can be explored still.

I enjoyed how the situation with Roland was handled, how Kate was able to deepen her relationship with her father and how it was made clear that he really did care about her in his own way, but that he just couldn't change (or didn't want to). I loved Erra, how she was also able to put so many things that he did into perspective a bit, and mostly not for the better. Everyone is always picking on Kate, her father included, saying how she should know this, or do that and her responsibilities, but she has never been taught anything. Roland should have done that. What he is doing, letting her claim such a huge territory, claim the land next to her, challenge her is basically torture to Kate, driving her mad. And it is Erra who shows her that shows her how to overcome it. I really really liked her character, I'm not even mad that she came back from the dead. I like how she is equally as sarcastic and snarky as Kate and how she never sugarcoats anything, but also how she protects Kate and stands up for her. That is the one thing I get mad at so often in these books. Kate let's people offend her, talk shit about her and takes it so often. I get that she was trained and conditioned to do exactly that, to never show her true Power and status, but it gets infuriating when she doesn't seem to see that she has the right to defend herself, when people talk shit about her or directly to her face. There are several scenes in this book where Erra calls them out and it is glorious.

So, I know many people didn't like the book where Curran and Kate go to Europe, and I get why, but seriously, don't give up on this series just because of that one book, it gets better than ever before!

Ps: the only thing that really really bugd me: Dali was Kate's maid of honor? Did I read that right? DALI? How the f*** did Dali end up as Kate's maid of Honor and not Andrea? WTH?