Ordained, by Devon Ashley

Ordained (The Immortal Archives #1)
Devon Ashley

Publisher: N/A
Release Date: April 15, 2011
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Pages: Paperback, 332 pages
Source: Author
Rating: 5/5 (Avg 4/5)

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.

I'll have to admit, this book pretty much has everything that I love about paranormal books. Lots of paranormals, some kick-ass action and intense emotional scenes are jam-packed in this book, snagging you from the beginning and not releasing you until the very end.

The characterization in this book is not only amazing, but something that I haven't seen in a while. Abby is the main character and we see a lot of her, watching her grow over the course of the novel. But there are also several other characters that get their own time in the spotlight to shine, telling us their story as we go. One of these characters is Emily, who I also enjoyed very much - she might possibly be my favorite character of the entire book.

There are plenty of vampires, witches and demons in this book to satiate any paranormal lover's thirst, along with the hunters - who are just as interesting to observe in this book as the supernaturals. The story itself is a little familiar in certain ways, but very unique in so many other ways. It flowed well, never dulling for a moment, chock full of unexpected twist and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. This is an incredible beginning to a very promising series and I cannot wait to get my hands on the second book in the series, Metamorphosis.