Thank you, Netgalley for sending me the book of my dreams! (And by dreams, I mean my favorite series ever- and I get to review it- what is life?)

In Magic Binds, Kate has come a long way since we first met her, eking out a crappy living as a mercenary and reluctantly heeding the call of justice when Greg is murdered. Now she has become the Guardian of Atlanta, protector of everyone she loves, and has officially been “outed” as her father’s daughter.

Roland, Kate’s biological father, is the maker and breaker of cities and a proud parent that wants to see what Kate is really made of. When he kidnaps Saiman, friend of Kate and past god,  outside of city walls, she has no choice but to find way to get him back while preventing the war that no one is ready for. All the while, her and Curran have decided to marry and have two weeks to plan, invite, and make it to the altar, all before Kate can stop the prophecy showing Curran dying if they decide to make the plunge. Roman, the priest of Chernobog (“The Dark God”) is officiating their wedding, all while his god is trying to make Kate give him power. Will Kate be able to get married, defeat her father, defeat her own internal dark side (come to the dark side, we conquer cities!), potentially make babies, and not let any of her loved ones die in the process? She is Kate Daniels, and by golly, if anyone can find a way, she can.

This is definitely a series to read in order. Through the course of all nine books, there is a clear and definite character arc that really can’t be described in one review, but for those that have read the series, you will be extremely pleased. Kate grows into her powers and her birthright by leaps and bounds in this installation. Her and Curran are more equals than ever before. Julie, their adoptive daughter, has made an even bigger leap in her arc- a strong suggestion: Read the short story written prior to this book called Magic Stars. If you don’t you will have your socks blown off by some of the revelations in here. All of our other favorite characters are here, and some MAJOR character changes are made.

The family dynamics are ridiculously fun in here too. Kate has to deal with her father more than ever, and we get to see the twisted ways that Roland loves, is proud of, and despises his daughter. Kate’s own daddy issues are also out on the forefront, fun times! We get to see Roland and his mother, Kate and Julie, and so much more. Family has never been stronger in the Kate Daniels universe.

One thing that I want to especially commend the Andrews writing duo is how masterfully they write in the first person tense. Kate is going through a lot of internal conflict, some of which she doesn’t even recognize right away, and we get to see it play out before the narrator even sees it. This can be tricky since we are trained as readers to trust a narrator of their own story, but they wrote it so well that we can sit back and say, “No Kate!” before she even realizes something is wrong. Brilliant.

I can’t find anything to comment on that I didn’t like about this one, which is astounding- not because this series isn’t amazing, but because I am picky. The last two books were kind of fillers for me, but man am I happy where they led to! Anxiously awaiting my physical copy coming in September, and book 10 *gasp!* Five waves!!! September isn’t too late for beach reads!