Review: Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk

Title: Magic in the Blood (Allie Beckstrom, Book 2)

Author: Devon Monk

Genre: Urban fantasy

Reason for Reading: As with many other books, I began by validating the first book for Bookshare. Having enjoyed the first book, I laid claim to the second book when it was submitted for validation, too.

Synopsis:

Working as a Hound—tracing illegal spells back to their casters—has taken its toll on Allison Beckstrom. But even though magic has given her migraines and stolen her recent memory, Allie isn’t about to quit. Then the police’s magic enforcement division asks her to consult on a missing persons case. But what seems to be a straightforward job turns out to be anything but, as Allie finds herself drawn into the underworld of criminals, ghosts, and blood magic.

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My Thoughts:

If you haven’t read Magic to the Bone, the first book in this series, please proceed with caution. I don’t want to ruin anything for you.

I read the first book in this series, Magic to the Bone, because I was intrigued by the premise behind the use of magic. Magic exacts a price for every spell you cast; it may take its toll in the form of lost memories, a serious bout of the flu, or even a coma. In Magic to the Bone we learned that some spellcasters offload this cost on someone else. There are those who make their living by serving as the target of this magical price, but when the cost is too high, such as that exacted by death magic, an unwilling target may be found. Allie is a hound, investigating such criminal off-loading, and in Magic to the Bone, she investigates her father because his magical signature links him to just such a criminal act. I found the first book interesting, though I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the romance between Allie and Zayvion. Looking back, though, I suspect it was because Allie forgets Zayvion at the end of the first book, which made it all feel futile; yet this is exactly the danger that she brings upon herself whenever she casts magic.

This second foray into Allie Beckstrom’s world absorbed me from beginning to end. It felt as though the setting, the characters, the plot all grew up from one book to the next. The world felt more fully fleshed-out. We learned, for instance, that there’s a magical grid to supply power for electricity when the main grid goes down. Organizations such as the Magical Enforcement Response Corps, a branch of the police department, and the Authority, a somewhat shadowy organization that Allie’s father belonged to, have each taken it upon themselves to monitor the use of magic, and respond appropriately to magical threats. And Lon Trager, the kingpin of drugs and blood magic, has just been released from jail after serving only three years of a thirty-year sentence.

The characters we encounter are also much more fully realized. We begin to see how Allie copes with the price of being a magical practitioner. She must maintain a journal of the daily events in her life, because both large and small events can be swept clean from her memory by spellcasting. We witness the impact as she encounters friends she has forgotten, and as she struggles to rediscover the love she felt for Zayvion, a love she has no recollection of now. Watching Zayvion suffer with the knowledge that Allie can’t remember the love they shared and the experiences they underwent together, and how he responds to that loss, gives him a depth and sympathetic side that made him much more enjoyable for me this time around. We also meet several more hounds, and we learn that each of them has developed some form of addictive behavior to help them cope with the impacts of magic on their lives. Finally, we learn a bit more about Daniel Beckstrom, Allie’s father, and those revelations make him a much more complex and interesting character. His motives become more complicated, and it is decidedly uncertain what his intentions are toward his daughter.

One of the most interesting additions to the magical landscape are the “watercolor people.” These ghostly images haunt Allie whenever she attempts to cast spells, leeching her magical energy from her with a touch. I won’t tell you what we learned about them, but I found the discovery fascinating, a welcome addition to Ms. Monk’s already fairly original interpretation of magic.

I enjoyed the way the plot unfolded. Allie is run ragged by the press of events, affording us a real glimpse of how she practices her art, what a hound must know and do in order to survive in this dangerous world. And the final magical confrontation was well-choreographed and delightfully diabolical; it was well worth the journey.

The end of the tale makes it clear that there is more to come, and the creepy implications of it all left me eager for the next installment.

Final Thoughts:

I’m still struggling with the distinction between paranormal romance and urban fantasy. For me, this novel feels more like urban fantasy. Although romance was present, we were also gifted with a fair bit of world building and character development that made this book enjoyable on several levels. It was a bit bloodier than the first story, and if there was any failing in the plotting, it seems to me that Allie really didn’t address how she felt about some of the things she had to do in order to survive the threats she faced. Regardless, I have the sense that there is still time to address this and many other aspects of her character and the world, so I can be patient. I definitely recommend this series to anyone, whether you lean toward urban fantasy or paranormal romance. The next book, Magic in the Shadows, will be released on November 3, and I look forward to it.

Final Grade: A