Publication Date - 13th October 2011
Paperback - 384 pages
Genre - Urban Fantasy
Source - Purchased
Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it.
Reviewed by - Ally
Book Info - "Using magic, meant it used you back. Forget the fairytale hocus pocus, sparkles and pixie dust crap. Magic, like booze, sex, and drugs, gave as good as it got"
Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user, maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allie Beckstrom is the best there is.
Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic...
My Thoughts - I’m torn, this book on the one hand was awesome it had industrial espionage! Not quite assassins but close enough…right? New to me Devon Monk builds a gritty world where everything has a cost, more specifically magic. With lost memories, magical sex, murder, a damn hot mysterious hunk of a man and a cute little kitty this book is bursting at the seams with action.
I really liked the characters in the book, Nola is awesome. The story itself was well paced and kept me on my toes. There were some points where there was a lump in my throat I couldn’t swallow, the story has some pretty intense child abuse …. I don’t know how to explain it really but it made me tear up the way ….*swallows* Every few chapters there would be alternate point of view from Cody a little kid who was once an adult but no longer remembers and when he’s manipulated and abused he refers to the “older smarter part of himself” telling him he was doing it wrong it all seemed very NSPCC to me, protect a child, save a life *30 second ad in black and white, kid curled in a corner*. Very sad. BE WARNED.
This book had a lot going on and it seemed that Monk has a very bright future ahead for Allie (almost like my name Ally, she even reminded me of me!).
What I really disliked about this book was the memory losing thing as a magical side effect of using magic. The HEA (Happily ever after) part of me wanted her to be able to use her power as much as she wanted and the only side effect would be raining marshmallows, it really pained me to see her have to sacrifice so much and see her handle it so well (I must admit I’ve developed a little attachment to our head strong heroine).
*SPOILER ALERT* I also did not like the ending, at all. How can she not remember any of it, however I am very intrigued to see how Devon Monk works it out in the next book (though a can see myself being frustrated knowing something she doesn’t) The awesome hunk I might also add is forgotten, EVERYTHING you know that crazy intense magical sex part I mentioned earlier? YUP forgotten, which annoyed and frustrated me to no end, if you’ve ever watched the Vow and saw how it ended welcome to Magic to the Bone. I don’t care how cute it was!
For me the end made the book lose a lot of marks, as well as Allie’s stubbornness at the end, *grits teeth* I. Wanted. To.Kill.Her! Whether she was doing it by herself or not.
Summary - This book really, really was good I loved the characters, the plot was well written and paced and well it was funny and witty and not in that over the top (at times) trying too hard kind of way. I really liked it though the realness of it all was at times difficult to handle (can’t a girl have a happy ending?) The ending also lost a lot of points for me.
Other books in the 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:
Book Addicts / Book Chick City / Dear Author / SFF World
3 comments:
I really love this series and I'm so sad it's already the end. I hope your feelings will improve with the other books. nice review.
Ah...I remember the days when I was primarily a romance reader and started reading UF. My brain screamed too. But most authors are romantics at heart and that just means you have to wait a bit before you get your HEA. I really loved how this book was written because I found it so different from anything else I read. Remember this though: it is completely different than the rest of the series. This was an introduction book. The rest of them are true UF books. I think this series is great and I quite enjoyed your review. :)
Mellanie- Thank you! I hope my feelings change too! My awesome partner in crime Chrissie just sent me the second book!!
Julie- Oh yeah my HEA part was screaming days after I finished this book and I will trust you that We (Allie and I) will get the hunk we want! I'm reading the 2nd one now (quite excited!) And thank you I think this series will be totally awesome!!
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