Review: Magic Bleeds, Ilona Andrews

This is book four in the Kate Daniels series.  For the first book, check out my review of Magic Bites.

Nothing ever goes right for Kate Daniels.  Not only has Curran, the Beast Lord, stood her up after an agonizing wait, right when she thought she might be ready to surrender her heart, but her family connection is finally coming back to haunt her.  Facing down a relative is Kate’s worst nightmare, especially when her shapeshifter friends prove especially vulnerable, but with every step she begins to realize that her father might find her and destroy everyone and everything she cares for.

The husband and wife writing team of Ilona Andrews didn’t slack at all with this book.  It truly feels like the series is building up to a climax – Kate’s confrontation with her father, the famed Roland.  The battles are ratcheting up in intensity as Kate learns what she can and can’t do and similarly what her famed family can do to make her life miserable.  The intensity and epic feel of the book still surprised me; for a slim volume, it truly does feel like Kate is battling for the world, which is something I enjoy greatly in fantasy especially.

I loved the romantic angle in this one as well.  Kate and Curran have been alternately at loggerheads and in lust for some time now and I think all fans of the series are eager for something to happen between these two.  The initial setup here has the couple again opposing one another, as they both believe different stories about what happened on their designated date night.  What happens after that I won’t spoil, but in this aspect as in so many others, Magic Bleeds is far from a let down.

There is plenty more to love about this book, like Kate’s wicked sense of humor, numerous cultural and literary references, the fantastic and well-described world (with a few more details about the mythology here), the exceptional and realistic character growth of all the characters, and so on.  Probably the only thing I’d say wasn’t perfect was the sheer number of fight scenes, but it fits in with the mythology and with the previous books, so it’s hard to complain.  This is now by far my favorite urban fantasy series – something I’d never have predicted with the first book.

If you enjoy urban fantasy, you should be reading this series.

I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased this book.