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

Review: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk (Allie Beckstrom #1)

Publisher - Berkley UK
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

Review: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk (Allie Beckstrom #1)

Publisher - Berkley UK
Publication Date - 13th October 2011
Paperback - 384 pages
Genre - Urban Fantasy

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3 out of 5: I liked it.

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 must admit to finding Magic to the Bone a bit difficult to get into at first. I had difficulty really grasping the way magic works in Allie Beckstrom's world and this left me feeling slightly confused at times. And there are some areas where the author's style of writing confused me slightly too. For example, the book is written in first person style from the point of view of Allie (apart from a few short chapters written from another character's point of view) and her thoughts would often move directly from a very relaxed conversational style to almost poetic descriptions of her surroundings. These two styles placed so closely together just didn't work for me.

However, after the first couple of chapters the magical ways of Allie's world had finally managed to sink in and I was better able to concentrate on (and enjoy!) the storyline. The plot is fast moving and, for the most part, kept me on the edge of my seat. Plus there were some good twists in the story that I didn't see coming.

I really enjoyed finding out about all of the characters in this book. Allie is a strong and independent woman who has obviously lived a life of loneliness. Apart from her best friend Nola she doesn't have anybody else to depend on, and this loneliness jumps off the page at you and really makes you feel for Allie. This loneliness is reflected on in her relationships with men. According to Nola, Allie often jumps into bed with men she hardly knows, then regrets it soon after and starts making excuses for why the relationship won't work. And we see a perfect example of this behaviour in Magic to the Bone in her relationship with Zayvion. Allie longs for companionship but she is scared of the pain and rejection that may come with this intimacy. This vulnerability made her a much more realistic character in my eyes.

 Zayvion is certainly a very intriguing character and I would really like to get to know more about him in future books in this series. I didn't like him much at first, although not for any reason I could put my finger on, but he did grow on me and by the half-way point of the book I had a pretty big crush on him! He is very much a mystery man (which I love!) and he really looks out for Allie and does all he can to keep her safe. The plot twist at the end involving Allie and Zayvion really knocked me for six and I can't wait to read book two to find out what the future has in store for these two.

Summary - Despite having some difficulties with the first few chapters of this book, I found Magic to the Bone to be an action-packed, romance-filled read that kept me turning the pages until late in the night. I am very glad that I persevered with this book and I am looking forward to reading book two of the series.

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
(If you would like your review of Magic to the Bone included here, please leave a link to your review in the comments and I will be sure to add it)