Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)

by Ilona Andrews

Ilona Andrews invites you to experience the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring the intriguing fantasy world of mercenary Kate Daniels…

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...

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

5 of 5 stars

Share

I have been an Ilona Andrews fangirl from the moment I picked up Magic Bites. Despite this, I have somehow never written a review for it. Or a large chunk of the series, for that matter. While I cannot recapture my original thoughts on this series, I can write down how I currently feel about it.

Magic Bites is the first novel in the Kate Daniels series. This is, without a doubt, my favorite urban fantasy series of all time. It's also one of my favorite series – top five at a minimum. So, my review of it may be a bit biased.

It follows Kate Daniels, a sassy merc with a mouth (wait, wrong franchise). She's down on her luck and about to deal much worse. With her guardian recently murdered, Kate has lost one of the last ties she had.

To make matters worse, Kate has a deep, dark secret to hide, and her quest to avenge her lost guardian will certainly increase the odds of that secret getting out. It will also open up her social circle. As they say, you win some, you lose some.

Magic Bites is such a strong start to this series. It also contains one of my favorite Kate quotes ("Here, kitty kitty"). If you haven't already read the series, I strongly urge you to give it a try. Especially as Ilona Andrews has recently revived it in their Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years series (which I also adore. Shocker, I know).

Graphic Audio Review:

So, I have recently fallen in love with the magic that is Graphic Audio (you can thank the MuderBot Dairies for that). Since I'm currently waiting for the next installment of MurderBot, I thought I would try one of my all-time favorite series: The Kate Daniels series.

Now, Graphic Audio isn't done with this series, but I'm hoping I won't end up waiting too long between installments. Because I have to tell you – this adaptation is EVERYTHING. It's perfect. No, really.

Magic Bites is the first in an amazing series, and the Graphic Audio version does a fantastic job of capturing that magic. I loved most of the voices I've heard thus far, and they nailed Kate and Curran's (which are really the most important).

The best part? The Graphic Audio version includes Magic Bites, the bits of Magic Bites from Curran's POV, and A Questionable Client.

You Can Also Find Me On:
Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 January, 2013: Finished reading
  • 7 December, 2023: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • 12 August, 2015: Finished reading
  • 7 December, 2023: Reviewed