{Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway} of Ordained by Devon Ashley

Ordained by Devon Ashley
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

GENRE: Urban Fantasy
THEME: Vampire, Demons, Magic
RECEIVED: Received for review for Tour
AUTHORS BLOG: Devon Ashleys Site

BLURB:

Normally, the school creates the hunters - not the monsters.

Abby Sorrensten likes to play rough. Ripping the horns off the foreheads of demons, manipulating lightning and setting things on fire with the flick of your wrist can give you a serious rush. So she probably wasn’t the best choice for the Order’s experimental training program. Thirteen years of isolation, lack of affection and a bruised and broken body from horrendous training sessions creates more than just an exceptional fighter. It creates an evil within - an evil responsible for several deaths the night she left.

Two hundred years later Abby resurfaces as the very thing the Order trained her to kill: a vampire. A mythical demon has set his sights on the school and only the ordained hunter has the powers to face it. Unbeknownst to the Order, Abby’s their precious ordained one and their only chance for survival. As much as she would love to leave them hanging, she’s not willing to risk the life of Emily, a fellow friend and hunter also fed up with the organization.

But for Abby, locking herself away in a fortress with angry descendents of those she killed causes suspicions and tensions to run high. Abby must learn the demon’s weaknesses for battle before the Order learns hers.

REVIEW:
I’m always looking for the next new twist when it comes to vampire stories. Ordained ads a touch of everything from myths, magic and demons that make it original and full of action.

Ordained follows, Abby Sorrensten, who is one tough girl and has been through a lot of hell growing up after loosing her mother tragically. Abby is raised to be a huntress but used as an experiment for the Order that pretty much breaks her and sets her over the edge and dangerous. Thus bringing out an evil that lies within her. Hundreds of years later an extremely deadly demon arises and Abby is the only one who can stop it, luckily she surprising is still alive.

Abby is one tough cookie; overall she is the only one who can stop the evil demon Morhpus. They are pretty much each other’s equal in strength and when Morhpus and Abby have their battle its one heck of a great scene. I really enjoyed her character, she can be beaten to a pulp and survive, but luckily she has Noel the only person who truly understand her by her side. At points of the story I sometimes felt Abby was too powerful, but her true weakness isn’t just herself having a dark side but the people she cares about, I felt that made her character more “human”. Abby also struggles with not remembering her past and I liked learning about what happened to her. In the end I loved her unique magical abilities, which was a nice touch away from the vampire element.

Emily at the beginning I thought would be the lead character but she becomes Abby’s true friend. She is a hunter as well and through the book learns about how Abby came to be and what she truly is. I enjoyed there somewhat of a sister bond and that the readers learn along with Emily the story of Abby and Noel. She has changes a lot through the book and I can’t wait to see what happens next with her character.

Noel is Abby’s husband and in a way just like her, together they have lived a very long life. They have seen the Order for what they really are and get stuck helping to stop the demon Morphus. I really liked his character; he equaled out Abby’s intense nature with his more calm and caring side. He is tough as well but no matter what wants to help and be by her side.

Overall my main issue was the amount of information that the reader gets. It’s a lot of history to learn about Abby, plus the addition of Emily who I felt had a second story next to Abby’s. For me it was a bit overwhelming at times and it took me a lot longer to connect to any of the characters. But nonetheless I loved the action, suspense, mythology and of course the vampire twist. Devon Ashley created a very exciting world; with an ending that was perfect and a great beginning for the next installment.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel with minor but intense violent action scenes. Fans of authors Megan Duncan of Savor and Angeline Kace of Descended by Blood will enjoy Devon Ashley’s Ordained.

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1st Giveaway: Click Here

Devon Ashley will be giving away 3 paperback 10 ebooks and signed bookmarks

2nd Giveaway: 1 ebook copy

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