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...

Thoughts: In Magic to the Bone, Devon Monk has created a unique, magical world filled with mysteries I have a feeling will take books to sort out. Plot literally pours out of this book; I feel as though Monk knows her universe inside out and is already laying groundwork for books long to come. Seriously, this woman can plot like nobody’s business.

Although I am usually a character-driven reader, it was the plot twists-and-turns that kept me up all night. I tried to put it aside for a few hours – and then actually came home early because I needed more! Monk used a few great techniques that had me turning pages at break-neck speed: for example, she switched over to a mystery!POV every few chapters giving us just a bit more information than our narrator. Usually that drives me up the wall, but instead I was reading on tenterhooks trying to work out what was going on! Really great stuff.

My only complaint is with the characters. While I liked Allie and Zayvion just fine, I wasn’t too in love with them. Allie wasn’t always the brightest – not to mention that for someone so poor, she took an awful lot of taxis – while Zayvion… well, we never got know him. And their romantic tension was… lacking. You know that twisting feeling you get when your favourite couple finally kiss? Or the way you just want to clutch your chest and jump off a bridge because they just aren’t getting that they are friggin’ soulmates? Well, I get that a lot – even in books I don’t really like. But I got none of that in Magic to the Bone. There were some scenes that I knew were supposed to be heart-wrenching – but left me rather apathetic.

Still, this was a really good first book. I certainly plan on get the next book in the series, Magic in the Blood, and I am hoping that I learn to love Allie as much as I love the verse!

Bottom line? Magic to the Bone is a solid addition to the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance shelves. If you are looking for a brilliant universe with plot-twists that will keep you up all night, look no further!

I read this for the Battle Royale New Author Mini-Challenge – Team Deadline Dames!