Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)

by Ilona Andrews

[Angie]

Magic Bites is a book that I've wanted to read for a long time, but just never got to it until now. And now, I'm sadly disappointed. It jumps straight into the action, which normally isn't a bad thing, but in this case I needed some build up. Kate's guardian has just been murdered and she's dead set on discovering who did it and then killing them. But I don't know Kate. I don't know Greg. And I certainly don't know the nature of their relationship. How am I suppose to care about what happened to him?

I wanted to like Magic Bites, but I just never got into it. Kate is a down on her luck mercenary who takes care of magical problems. She's also not what she seems, even to herself. She's also no wilting flower and won't let anyone get in her way in solving this murder. But like I said, I didn't care. This was an emotional thing for Kate, but I had no attachment to her after five pages. I still didn't feel anything for her by the end either. I was just reading to be reading.

What I did like about Magic Bites, but didn't get enough of was the world building. I love this idea of magic surging and overtaking technology. However, I was quite confused about it for much of the book. All we really get about the situation is that "magic is up, tech is down." I kept imagining magic as a solar flare that just destroyed whatever tech got in its way. I wanted to know more about why it happens and how long its been going on. It's obviously a huge deal, since there's suddenly all kinds of magical beings roaming the earth. I didn't really understand anything until I read the bonus material, which should be supplementary, not the entire explanation.

I'm just disappointed in Magic Bites. I absolutely love the idea of the base of this world, but there's not enough world-building for me to make up for the boring plot. I do want to know more though, so that might be enough for me to at least pick up the second book.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.