"Magic Rises (Kate Daniels #6)" by Ilona Andrews

This review features a book that is the sixth in the Kate Daniels series, and may have spoilers for those who have not read the first five books of the series. My review of the first book can be found here.

Alternate Title: Magic Rises: the Panacea Panic! (at the Disco Castle)

As you may have noticed from my alternate title, the focus of this book is almost strictly on Pack business, until it isn't. The panacea, the cure to youngins and others 'going loup', is a miracle dispensed and controlled by the packs of Europe, who rarely hand it out and don't plan on sharing the recipe. Due to one of Julie's friends going loup, the Pack has run out of the miracle cure and are desperate for more, but at what cost?

The Plot: (As Seen on Goodreads)

'Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.

'Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

'Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap…'

Lovers of the Kate/Curran dynamic may be a bit disappointed in this book. Not that their relationship isn't awesome and banter-y any longer, because it is, but there is a certain degree of pressure and stress on it (even more so than usual). I wasn't upset with it, but there were some romance-ish tropes in the book, which aren't the focus of the story, yet may frustrate some of those who want a fairy tale romance with no clouds lingering overhead. 

There comes a stage in almost every series I read where the author(s) start introducing new characters that I couldn't care less about: once I'm hooked on the main crew, I will take no substitutes. However, Magic Rises makes me recant some of that usual intolerance of change. The new characters we meet in this book quickly become some of my favorites, which makes me wonder more about the authors who produce new characters I hate: are they slacking, or does it really take two people to make a renewing cast of awesome characters? (Ilona Andrews is the title of a husband/wife writing team, in case you didn't know).

I added roughly 25,000,000,000,000 stars because of this quote:

"I'd managed to find a hobbit in the Caucasus Mountains. I wondered what he would do if I asked him about second breakfast."

 

    ~Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews, page 253 Kindle edition

Magic Rises represents the one book in the Kate Daniels series where the tide turned me, the oh-so-eloquent Litha, into a rabid fangirl. Although there were parts of this book I balked at, the hobbit quote more than made up my expectations for a 5 star read and mended my crushed heart. I suggest you not read this book, unless you're willing to be a Ilona Andrews fangirl for life.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars for an extraordinary series continuation that made this soul a fangirl!

Content: Ages 18+ for the usual Kate Daniels content (in other words, badassery).

Page Count: 355 pages