Review: Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk (Allie Beckstrom #2)

Publisher - Berkley UK
Publication Date - 5th January 2012
Paperback - 368 pages
Genre - Urban Fantasy

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3.25 out of 5 (because I'm stingy)

Reviewed by - Ally

Book Info - Allie Beckstrom knows that there's a price to pay for using magic...

She's suffered her fair share of migraines and gaps in her memory during her time working as a Hound, tracing spells back to their casters. But now Allie's been visibly marked by magic with a mysterious iridescent tattoo. She's not only lost all memory of how she got it, but also of the man that she's supposedly fallen in love with. Oh, and as usual, she's completely broke.

So when the criminal magic enforcement division of the police asks her to consult on a missing persons case, things start to look up. At first, it seems to be a fairly straightforward way of earning some money - but like most things in Allie's life it soon turns into a dangerous mix of underworld criminals, ghosts and blood magic. This time Allie is going to discover it takes more than magic to survive...

My Thoughts - Wooh! This series is awesome (I’m on the 4th book in exam season that should tell you something). Ms Beckstrom is the best trouble magnet there is!

So we left off with her losing most of her memory and well I thought I would be frustrated during this book knowing something she didn’t. I wasn’t but I was….waiting. This book is well written and kept my interest but after reading the first, to…. Well, this I was expecting more. Maybe I’m greedy but this book felt like more of a filler book leading on into the next one (which it does perfectly). We’re introduced to a whole bunch of new characters from the Oh so secretive AUTHORITY! *cue breaking glass and screaming* to Maeve (awesome character with a story that I’m sure will shake our bones).

I don’t want to go into too much detail, because we sort of enter a whole new section of Devon Monk's incredible world. But the story starts off slow, well written but slow, and then picks up.

There’s a lot more world building as we transition to the world of the AUTHORITY! With Lon Trager - blood magic priest/grave robber -, creepy ghosts and possession by your dad (that can make a date uncomfortable), this one is endless bubbles of fun, well ….till the bubbles popped: your magic is being sucked out of you, you’re always losing memories and you’re starting to look like a dirty sidewalk. The plot was well thought out and it was well written. I really like this book, maybe because I had the third book ready to read straight after so there wasn’t a wait.

Speaking of wait …. Mr Zayvion Jones *ME and Mr, Mr Jones! We got a thing going ooooon* Ok Allie and Zay have a thing going on but by proxy me too! What?*shrugs* my name's Ally too! He makes an appearance (in my dreams) no magical “bow chick-a-wow-wow” (in the book!) but well, just being in his presence ok, -reading a page or even a chapter he’s in- is exhilarating.

A few things I though you should know-
1. Her dad's a monster (there’s no saving him, he’s icky)
2. Allie Has awesome immense Allie-licious power
3. Mr Jones is a sexy hunk of a man! Awesome
4. The world and the way this book is written is really good and different from my -somewhat limited- experience of books in this genre.
5. I really liked this book

Summary - A great addition to the series, I can tell you that it gets better! More Zay a few interesting friends and just Well Ally Allie Awesomeness. 3 .25 stars because I’m stingy, and I know how good this series gets so *shrug* sue me!

Other books in this series:
1. Magic to the Bone
2. Magic in the Blood
3. Magic in the Shadows
4. Magic on the Storm
5. Magic at the Gate
6. Magic on the Hunt

Other reviews of this book:
Feeling Fictional / Reading Diva / Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks