Kate Daniels Series (1-3) ~ Ilona Andrews

This isn’t going to be a review. More like a set of reactions. Or even just a few rambling thoughts. And I should probably kick it off by admitting that I tried this series out once before with no luck. That just goes to show how the wrong mood can effect your reading experience. Because when I tried Magic Bites again just a few short days ago? I didn’t look back, and when I was done I moved right to Magic Burns, then Magic Strikes. One after the other. And if I could have gotten my hands on Magic Bleeds I would have consumed that right away, too.

So what prompted me to even try this series again? Well, as usual, Angie had a lot to do with it. But a co-worker also recently read it; the way she talked about Magic Bites got my mind working, thinking a second chance was in order. And I wanted to “meet” Curran.

It looks like I owe Angie and my co-worker a big, fat thank you.

I’ve made no bones about the fact that I read first and foremost for character. But with this series, it wasn’t a single character, or even a few, that I found so satisfying. Rather, it was the dynamics between the characters. For instance, Kate thinks she doesn’t want or need friends. Training, instinct, her entire history demands that she slam on the brakes before anyone gets close. But when she finds herself being drawn into a tight circle of people who’d do anything for her, she accepts it even as she acknowledges that she shouldn’t. I liked Kate even more for the choices she made regarding those people, for the relationships she forged in blood and sweat, the friendships that are mutually bound by worry and fleeting flashes of happiness. It helped, too, that the secondary characters are wonderful, fully realized individuals who enhance varying aspects of the books in their own way. Put simply, I love how rich the characters are, but even more I love how they interact, their barbs, their care, all of it.

As for Curran…All I’ll say is that he is everything I expected him to be and more still.

Moving on. The pacing of each book was fantastic; the storyline warranted a fast, keep-reading pace, and all three delivered. Each plot felt true to the characters and world. And the world-building was really, wonderfully solid. I loved how magic and tech were woven together, neither completely reliable, neither entirely predicatable. That single aspect really set the series apart for me.

While I loved all three books, I have to say that Magic Strikes got under my skin the most, owing, probably, to how taut the development of a few key relationships was. (Notably, Kate and Curran, but there were a few others, as well.) To say that I wanted, needed, more right that minute after finishing would not be an understatement. And I’m thinking I did myself some serious mischief by reading the excerpt for Magic Bleeds because, good grief, even the short wait that I have till it’s release is tormenting now that I know what I know.

I’m so glad that I came back to this series! And if you haven’t read them yet, what are you waiting for? Go forth, get Magic Bites (just make sure you have the rest of them handy when you do. Seriously.)

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