I like a bit of balance when it comes to protagonists, a mix of the masculine and the feminine.Īnd in my opinion, Kate Daniels fits the bill. Or worse, an aggressive brute who behaves more like a caveman with a gun than a woman on a mission.ĭon’t get me wrong I love when female protagonists step outside societal expectations and bend gender norms, but I’m not a fan of a female character crafted to be, well, a man with tits. I went into Magic Bites expecting Kate to be whiny, annoying, and love-struck at the first sign of interest from male characters. It’s been a million lifetimes since I’ve genuinely enjoyed a female character as much as I have Kate Daniels. It was everything I used to love about urban fantasy novels it was everything I didn’t know I was missing in my life until I took a chance on it. Despite all its weirdness and imperfections, Magic Bites is pumped with delicious snark, refreshing takes on monsters, and a city at the mercy of the battle between magic and technology. There are parts where the pacing sucks, the exposition is vomit, and the themes aren’t rocket science. It sometimes slips into those little PNR tropes we love and despise. It has all the usual quirks and flaws of a first novel in a series.

That is, until a few weeks ago, when I cracked open Magic Bites and found myself oddly hooked. And you know how that goes: out of sight, out of mind. But then it got buried under the TBR tower. It was sometime after I devoured the Night Huntress series and was on the prowl for something else to sink my talons into. I bought the book a couple of years ago on a whim. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews was an unexpectedly addictive page-turner.

Magic bites book