Reviewer: Holly Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Narrator: Renee Raudman
Series: Kate Daniels #4
Also in this series: Magic Shifts, Magic Shifts, Magic Binds, Magic Bites, Magic Strikes, Iron and Magic, Magic Triumphs, Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes , Magic Slays , Gunmetal Magic , Magic Rises , Magic Strikes, Magic Mourns, Magic Bleeds, Magic Dreams, Magic Slays, Gunmetal Magic, Magic Gifts, Magic Rises, Magic Tests, Magic Stars, Magic Shifts, Magic Steals, Magic Breaks, Magic Breaks, Iron and Magic, Magic Binds, Magic Triumphs , Magic Triumphs, Magic Claims
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: May 25, 2010
Format: Audiobook, eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 349
Length: 13 hours and 6 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating:
Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.
When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.
This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family…
Magic Bleeds is the 4th book in Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series. The world was once ruled by magic, until technology forced it away. Now tech has become too predominate and magic is forcing its way back in. It comes in waves, killing all tech, destroying buildings and allowing magical beings to dominate. Then it recedes, leaving tech in control once again.
For Kate Daniels, life is decidedly different than it used to be. She was trained to live alone, to hide herself and avoid friendships at all costs. Now she’s become the liaison between the Mercenary Guild and the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, and has Friend of the Pack status – and what she thought was going to be the start of a relationship with Curran, the Beast Lord of Atlanta.
When Kate is sent out by the Order to deal with a new case, a whole new can of worms opens. Because this new enemy is older and more powerful than any she’s dealt with in the past…and this time it’s family. Between her song and dance with Curran, cleaning up magical messes and trying to keep her past and family ties secret, Kate has a full plate.
This series is so wonderfully drawn, I feel like I’m right there in Post-Shift Atlanta with Kate, Curran and all the rest. Kate is such a badass. She’s quick-witted, super smart, a font of magically related knowledge and, most notably, a trained, highly efficient killer. Every time she comes on page, warming up her sword, Slayer, I get excited. I have the biggest girl-crush on her.
This book shows us the best of Kate so far in the series. She’s strong and kickass, but also vulnerable and open in a way she hasn’t been before. As she opens her heart to more people, she has to make some hard choices about following the path her father set her on when she was a child, or choosing instead to live a fuller life. I love how she changes through the series, yet remains the same at her core.
Her relationship with Curran is complicated, and often frustrating throughout this book. The first few chapters made my heart hurt, but I loved the way things were resolved in the end. Still, I wanted to smack both Curran and Kate upside the head more than once.
I’d believed him. He was supposed to be different, to be more. He’d made me hope for things I didn’t think I’d ever get. When hope broke, it hurt. Mine was a very big, very desperate hope, and it hurt like a sonovabitch.
Though the overall tone of this series is dark and serious, there’s a surprising amount of humor. I laughed out loud on several occasions. It’s also heartwarming, and heartbreaking.
Derek nodded at the vehicle. “Who is that?”
“Your replacement.”
He led me away from the front gate to a narrow side door. “You replaced me with a shaved poodle?”
“He’s got mad skills.”
Derek’s eyebrows crept up.
“He can vomit and urinate at the same time and he doesn’t make fun of my car.”
We learn a lot about Kate’s past in this book, and her relationship with Curran really progresses. We also meet new characters and spend time with some old favorites.
“When I got there, Miss Nash was standing by the hot tub in a small bikini, pointing the business end of a SIG-Sauer P-226 at her fella and concerned members of the hotel staff, while dunking the scantily clad female’s head under the water and asking, ‘Who’s diving for clams now, bitch?’ ”
All-in-all, Magic Bleeds is an excellent novel, even after the umpteenth reread.
4.25 out of 5
Kate Daniels
Leave a Reply