Review: Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels World)

Alpha Pack leader Jim Shrapshire has always been the strong, silent type. But something has come over him--a magic force currently residing in one of the Pack's headquarters. Were-tigress Dali Harimau has always wished she could get Jim's attention--but now he needs her help. 

Stricken with a magic-sickness, Jim needs Dali's flair for magic. And to save him, she must challenge a powerful, dark being to a battle of wits. 

Magic Dreams originally appeared in the anthology Hexed.

eBook

Novella.

First person.

No, although if you are familiar with the Kate Daniels world you'll probably enjoy this more.

Not really. It's more of a happy beginning.

Yes. Milder than the Kate Daniels books though.

What I Liked: 

Dali and Jim... They're such an odd not-a-couple but absolutely adorable. Dali is as whacky in this book as she is in past books and I kinda love her for it while Jim is as badass as ever.

Despite it being a novella, Magic Dreams has a good satisfying story to it, packed full of action and a fair few giggles; I really enjoyed the Japanese mythology angle.

What I Didn't Like: 

Despite enjoying the novella, I missed Kate, Andrea and the gang. I like Dali but I wasn't as riveted to her POV as I am with Kate and Andrea's (whose pov we get in the Magic Mourns novella). 

I'm also really disappointed that this could be all we get on the Dali and Jim front. I mean, sure it ends with a kiss - so to speak - but where do they go from here? I hope we see them develop more in the main series of books.

Other Thoughts:

I think you can read this book without having read the others in the series but you'll be missing a lot of background information on the characters. I felt like the novella was written with a certain level of assumption that the reader would know the characters already so the character development took a backseat to the action of the story.

“Butterflies were small and light, and very magic sensitive. For some reason I made them feel safe and they gravitated to me like iron shavings to a magnet. They ruined my ferocious badass image, but you'd have to be a complete beast to swat butterflies.”