Liviania’s review of Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk
Urban fantasy released by ROC 4 Nov 08
I love all sorts of urban fantasy, but I definitely have a soft-spot for the currently ubiquitous female solving crimes. Due to that ubiquity I’m constantly afraid when I start reading one of those books because there’s a strong chance it might be terrible. When I first learned protagonist Allie Beckstrom’s magic worked different from most, I winced. Fortunately Devon Monk assuaged my worries with an excellent story.
One of the coolest parts of Magic to the Bone is the worldbuilding. Allie’s world recently discovered magic and the people believe they have most of the rules figured out. But Monk begins developing a larger picture for the series, and there’s apparently quite a bit hidden from mainstream knowledge.
What Allie does know is her magic comes with a heavy price. Not only does she pay the physical price like other magic users, she also loses bits of her memory. It’s an interesting device that comes into play most effectively at the end of the novel. Until then I thought it was a just a nifty idea, but the finish made me curious about how Allie’s memory loss will play out through a series of novels.
To be honest, I think that’s one Monk did best: arouse my curiosity. Magic to the Bone, on its own, is a good mystery/adventure with a likeable heroine, a mysterious hero, and cute supporting characters. Allie solves the cases she set out to solve: who hurt Mama’s Boy and who killed her father? Along the way, she begins to deviate from what she knows about her world’s magic to how it is whether people know it or not. The set-up for a larger structure doesn’t overshadow the standalone story, but does provoke small questions once the book is finished.
I think I also like Allie because Monk provides a good reason to make forgive her when she makes dumb decisions. She’s often suffering from backlash and it’s quite difficult to make good decisions when you’re in pain. She’s a little bit over-trusting but really has no reason not to be. She lives in more difficult conditions than she has to, but she’s still not as tough as she thinks she is. It’s endearing because she has a good work ethic as well as good intentions.
Zayvion, as the hero, hasn’t entirely won me over. He remains a little too mysterious at the moment, which makes his motivations a bit murkier than I like. But Monk did offer some insight to his past and function, so I don’t think she’ll be overly coy and prevent Allie from finding out more to the point where the question gets boring.
The reason I keep picking up the female protagonist urban fantasy books is the hope I’ll find something new I enjoy like Magic to the Bone. My only real issue is I can’t already pick up the sequel to see if I like it as well. I hope I do since I enjoyed the debut quite a bit.
Grade: B+
Summary:
Using magic means it uses you back, and every spell exacts a price from its user. But some people get out of it by Offloading the cost of magic onto an innocent. Then it’s Allison Beckstrom’s job to identify the spell-caster. Allie would rather live a hand-to-mouth existence than accept the family fortune—and the strings that come with it. But when she finds a boy dying from a magical Offload that has her father’s signature all over it, Allie is thrown back into his world of black magic. And the forces she calls on in her quest for the truth will make her capable of things that some will do anything to control…
Read an author’s essay on the book.
Other books in the series:
