Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

8 reviews

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I think I would die of shock if I didn’t enjoy a book in this series. From the moment the book started I was reminded of why Magic Bites appealed to me so much.

To start, Graphic Audio always does a great job. It adds so much to the story and really elevates my enjoyment. Especially as an audiodrama fan. These productions really help me get invested and keep focus.

The consistency of the characters and world building was also wonderful. I loved seeing characters from Magic Bites and hearing all the tidbits dropped again as reminders of past events. This consistency also helped my OTP, Currin and Kate. I was FERAL for them. I need them together now. Yesterday, even.

I also loved Kate’s character and growth in this book. Her dynamic with Julie especially was adorable. I was so delighted every time she called Kate her kid. I’m dying to see how that relationship develops. This book also had a wonderful insight into the greater mystery of her past and magic.

Also the way this book wove mythology and folklore into the plot was so good. Every reference I got made me so excited. Despite the variety of cultures and stories, everything fit so well together.

However, despite everything I loved, there were some issues that just barely knocked the book from 5 stars.

The prose were generally very repetitive and it took me out of the story a little. I don’t remember if it was a problem I had with the last book, but it’s possible. This issue in part carried over to the fight scenes as well. It felt clunky and didn’t move as quickly as I would have liked. There was also Bran’s ending. It was cliche and that disappointed me a little, but it wasn’t an awful ending. Those things aside, the only other issue was my main problems with Currin, as mentioned in my book one review. He’s just too “Alpha Male” at times and it throws me a little.

Overall an absolutely amazing book, I’m dying to continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol

wickedgrumpy's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

And so I continue my re-read of the series.

It's surprising how much a long series can blend into itself and warp when you think things happen.  This is furthered by the offshoots and novellas for different POVs.  This time around I'm going to try reading everything in chronological order rather than publication order.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kristen1994's review

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Death of parent

space_bandit's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

librarymouse's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This series is really fun. I Love the addition of Julie to the cast of characters. Kate immediately starts referring to her as "my kid", and the dynamic of the pack and they're protective nature around children is really nice. I like that Kate doesn't try to replace Julie's mom, but offers up the role of weird aunt. This is a really interesting storyline, and I look forward to seeing how the plot twist that was revealed in this book about Kate's parentage plays into future novels in the series. I also really enjoy the addition of Andrea into the series. I love a good female friendship, and the two of them are really good for each other. Curran's reactions to learning about Kate's words of power is very funny. It feels a little bit like a sitcom to have him psych her out of a kiss. The one thing that really messed me up for a while is the death of the dog in the honeycomb.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

booksthatburn's review

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Kate starts watching over Julie, a young girl whose mom has vanished while worshipping in a coven who can't keep their crows straight (a dangerous thing in a world alternatingly drenched in magic and tech). Julie is one of my favorite characters in the series and her first appearance here sets the tone of their relationship for the next few books. This also is the first book to feature Andrea, an excellent markswoman who loves the Order and guns. The dynamic between Kate and Curran is emotionally charged in a way that currently is tilting towards mutually consensual violence but Curran seems to be making subtle (and not-so-subtle) moves in a more sexual direction that Kate hasn't yet reciprocated. 

This picks up on the last known status of a bunch of plot threads but isn't trying to wrap them up, really (except for Crest). It continues Kate's entanglements with the Pack and the People, and shows her involvement with the Mercenary Guild and the Order but isn't focusing on them as much this time around. There's a new storyline featuring some new characters (a few who won't continue past here and some who will be series regulars), but even that has a connection to a minor character who appeared in MAGIC BITES. That storyline has a major thing that is both introduced and resolved in this book. There are several things explicitly left for later which involve changes to the status quo. The main character is still Kate, her voice is consistent with the previous book. It might make sense to start here because this is laying so much groundwork of its own, but the dynamic between Kate and the Pack (specifically but not only Curran) definitely benefits from being read after the first book, since otherwise Curran's strong personality can be a bit off-putting when it lacks the context of Kate's opening salvo to their interactions in MAGIC BITES.

This book begins with a map theft and stays pretty focused on the characters important to that initial incident, while building out the world in specific ways. This introduces the witch covens as an important power in the city, shows some factions within the Pack, and deals with a different set of gods that are upsettingly more relevant during the Flare. Bran, Andrea, and Julie provide three completely different sets of problems and opportunities, keeping this from feeling like just a stepping stone to later books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

brennaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Alcohol

hanz's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder