Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.
But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games - an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament - she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community…
If I were to sum up MAGIC STRIKES into one word, it would be a sigh*, swollen with contentment but edged with restless longing. Because that's how I felt after reading it. It's that most magical of stories where you feel absolutely fulfilled--it's everything you want and need it to be, and more--and at the same time edgy and restless because you need more of the world and there isn't anymore to be had at the moment.
I'll give you the traditional review info first. The gladiator-based plot of MAGIC STRIKES provides an interesting backdrop for the interactions between Kate, Saiman, Andrea and the Pack. We learn things about the characters, deep vulnerabilities, that would have been difficult to draw out in another context. The resulting character growth (in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm big on that) is skillfully accomplished, snugging the entire cast of characters, not just Kate, closer to the reader's heart.
Ilona and Gordon have always written excellent fight scenes, but the ones in this book struck me as particularly well written, with an extra attention to detail that gave the violence a darker edge. I read a lot of Urban Fantasy, which means I read a lot of fight scenes. I've become a bit jaded and I tend to skim for the details of who's winning and who's getting hurt where. The fight scenes in this book didn't allow me to do that because several of them really called attention to the willing sacrifice Kate makes when she steps in front of an enemy. Each blow she dealt and each wound she took meant something, cost something, proved something, avenged something.
We also gain a satisfying handful of new pieces to the puzzle of Kate's heritage and some of the history of the Andrews' Atlanta which, if I may repeat myself for the billionth time, is some of the best worldbuilding out there, period. It's unique, well thought out, and (thank you jesus) consistent.
Now for the not-so-traditional review info... Just a collection of tidbits about my personal reactions to the book that I hope will reinforce my profound love for it and will make you go buy 40 or 50 copies of it immediately. Because, yanno, this is all I can do, short of jump up and down and shriek, "ZOMG THIS IS, LIKE, THE BEST THING EVAH PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S UNHOLY JUST BUY IT AND READ IT AND LOVE IT THE END!"
1. This series is now on my Deserted Island list (as in, if you had to live on a deserted island for the rest of your life and could only bring...yadda yadda). The top 5 ediiton.
2. I cried about a third of the way through the book. This is significant. I barely even cry over real life things that happen to me or people who are actually living and breathing among my circle of family and friends. But there was a particularly devastating situation in this story with a particularly devastating decision to be made and Kate made it between one breath and the next without a synapse's worth of hesitation over what it would cost her. Because it just needed to be done and if she could save someone else the pain of doing it, then she would. It was just that simple. I don't know many people like that and I wish I did. I wish I was that person, to be honest.
3. I folded down a page because there was a sentence on it that was so perfectly, beautifully written, it made me hurt inside from the pain of wanting to master the craft.
4. This is the kind of book that makes me want to send presents to the author because, for me, it's like a gift. I squirm for days as the afterglow fades, wishing I could find a way to repay the author for stirring the passion and emotion within me.
Go. Buy. Love.
*Okay, I know a sigh isn't technically a word. Shush. I'm trying to do something here!
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