Review: Magic Triumphs

Kate and her father, Roland, currently have an uneasy truce, but when he starts testing her defenses again, she knows that sooner or later, a confrontation is inevitable. The Witch Oracle has begun seeing visions of blood, fire, and human bones. And when a mysterious box is delivered to Kate’s doorstep, a threat of war from the ancient enemy who nearly destroyed her family, she knows their time is up.

Kate Daniels sees no other choice but to combine forces with the unlikeliest of allies. She knows betrayal is inevitable. She knows she may not survive the coming battle. But she has to try.

For her child.

For Atlanta.

For the world. 

For the entire year leading up to this book’s release, I was both ecstatically excited and dreadfully depressed. I began reading Kate Daniels years ago, when the newest book released was Magic Strikes, book 3. I have been in love since page 1. 

Magic Triumphs is the final book in this series. Picking up this book reminded me a lot of how I felt when I was standing in line to purchase Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Desperate and distraught. Perhaps it’ll turn out that this isn’t the end entirely; there are plenty of possible stories to continue to tell in Atlanta if Ilona and Gordon so decide, but it definitely is the end of this story. I can easily say that it ends just as amazingly as it began, for me.

Kate Daniels is my favorite heroine, and I think she always will be. She’s strong, not just emotionally like so many female heroes are in books, but physically and magically she’s almost without par. She kicks ass of people and beings that think they’re the top of the food-chain. Routinely, Kate throws herself up against the worst that post-shift Atlanta, or elsewhere, has to offer and comes out on top.

Magic Triumphs kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire book. It wasn’t just the plot – which was fraught with tension – it was the relationships. I’ve spent so much time with these characters, and Kate especially, that I’m entirely invested in their lives. I appreciated seeing Kate own her power, and regret the loss of the personal friendships that power sometimes costs.

This overall story has always been about Roland and Kate. That’s been the driving factor for Kate’s entire life. For several books now I’ve been wondering how Kate was going to really deal with Roland. He’s too powerful, even for Kate and the killers she collects. Having it end with peace would have been out of character for Roland.  

I shouldn’t have been nervous. Ilona Andrews finished it brilliantly. I couldn’t be more satisfied in the resolution.

But now it’s over. I can’t be sure that there will be more. Though I’ll continue to live in hope. Until then, there are always re-reads.