** spoiler alert ** 
 Magic Rises is now my favourite book in the Kate Daniels series, equally with Magic Strikes. This book was amazing for different reasons. The principal is of course Hugh d'Ambray. He isn't at all like I had imagined him base on his brief apparition in Magic Strikes as I was seeing him as someone more formal and distant, probably because of the way he spoke to Kate - his politeness and calling her a Lady. In fact, he is more direct and in a way more open - he even shows a sense of humour! Nevertheless, my first impression may not be completely false and he may just behave like that because it's Kate and they have a strong connection to each other (because of the identical childhood they spend with Voron), in addition to his infatuation. Because of his sense of humour, his teasing and wooing of Kate, he is a very fascinating character. He also plays a really important part in the plot as he allow us to learn more about Roland and the way he views Kate, even if Hugh words are to be taken with a pinch of salt as he is clearly trying to manipulate Kate. As for the sparring between him and Kate, it was just fantastic :) I always love to see Kate's sword fights and it's great that she has such a worthy opponent; I could totally feel their elation and their connection: 
 "You're lying to yourself. Voron made us into serial killers. We can be okay without violence for a few weeks, but after a couple of months, the hand starts itching for the sword. You start looking for that rush. You get irritable, life turns stale, and then one day some fool crosses your path, attacks, and as you cut him down, you feel that short moment of struggle when he leverages his life against yours. If you're lucky, he's very good and the fight lasts a few seconds. But even if it doesn't, that short moment of triumph is like getting an adrenaline shot. Suddenly color comes back into life, food tastes better, sleep is deeper, and sex is rapture." 
 I knew exactly what he was talking about. I lived it and I felt it." 
 It's such a shame that they are enemy. Or maybe not. After all, there wouldn't be as much tension between them otherwise :) I also like how Hugh organizes the hunt just to be able to speak with Kate and how he admires her spectacular strike :) 
 In fact, I largely prefer Hugh to Curran in this book. Indeed, Curran spends his time flirting with Lorelei and even if he thinks he has a good excuse - protecting Kate - I don't agree and I find his reasoning ridiculous. As for Lorelei, she was an interesting character and she was very well drawn. I think that her name was a great choice, as she spends her time trying to seduce Curran. Indeed, the Lorelei is "a sort of siren who, sitting on the cliff above the Rhine and combing her golden hair, unwittingly distracted shipmen with her beauty and song, causing them to crash on the rocks" according to Wikipedia. She is mentioned in my favourite poem by Apollinaire, La Loreley in the collection Alcools." 
 The packs try to use Curran flirting to insult and hurt Kate. While I have no problem with that, it accentuates the fact that there is no satisfying resolution to the matter. In my opinion Kate forgives Curran far too easily when he tells her she would have done the same for him. As I've previously said, I don't accept that his actions were necessary as people still try to kill Kate in order to be able to blackmail Lorelei after and I also don't agree that it was the only possible solution Curran could have come to. I think that Kate would have shown jalousies and anger toward Lorelei even if she had been told the truth. And as I was saying, Kate didn't get to punch the packs for their insult and to show them how much better than them she is. If she had the opportunities to do that and if she had really made Curran understand how wrong his choice was and not forgiven him so easily, I think I would have loved this trope a lot more. 
 However this trope was good for one thing; it allows everyone to show Kate their support and even Mahon get to tell her how much he respects her. That was a good thing as there was enough drama without adding to it. 
 Desandra was a great character, I like her personality and how she isn't the doormat everyone is taking her for. Now that she has joined the pack, I expect that things will change among the wolves and that she won't obey meekly to Jennifer. In the same way, I expect some change to happen in the boudas clan in the next book now that Aunt B is dead. It's great that characters can die in this series as it would be too unrealistic otherwise, but I would have preferred it to be someone else. Aunt B was a great character; she always knew what she wanted and never hesitated to do what was necessary to get it, it was fun to read about her plots... 
 Normally, I love Doolittle. Knowing that important characters were going to die in this book, I had given up on him when he was hurt; it was a great surprised when Hugh healed him. The fact that he stays paralysed is realistic and I have no problem with it. What annoys me is his reaction to Kate, his fear of her despite the fact that he knows her and should know better than think she would order him around if she could. It was well done in the plot as it gives some credence to Hugh's words, but I expected better from Doolittle. 
 As for the ending, I didn't appreciate it; it was too deus ex machina for me. The Sheppard and the hobbit were unnecessary imo, they should have been cut out of the book. The iron dogs were a nice surprise (though not something unexpected if I had thought of it) and it was great to see everyone push in a corner, that's why it was extremely frustrating to see how they get out of it. I was worried about Hugh at the end and was relieved that he manages to survive. What annoy me is that it seems that it's always Curran who defeats the bad guy, even when it logically should be Kate: he defeated Morfran, he saved Kate from the rakshasas and from Erra, allowing Kate to kill her. Despite all her power, Kate always end up on the side line or being rescue, couldn't it be the other way around for once? 
 Despite those problems, I love Magic rises and will wait impatiently for Magic Breaks which promises to bring lots of change in the dynamic of the back and between Kate and her father.