Review: Demons and Destiny

Title: Demons and Destiny (Angels and Avalon #2)
Author: Catherine Milos
Page Count: 314
My Rating: 3 TURTLES: An enjoyable read, but I suggest check out if you like the topic before adding it to your to-read list.
Amazon
*I received this book in exchange for an honest review


Description:
What else are friends for, but to rescue you from a deranged reincarnated dark Viking shaman serving a lazy lesser Celtic god? Ex-Angel Tyrel Hanson is cursed. He must send all demons back to Hell before he can be with the woman he loves. The mission is enough to drive him to darkness. Elizabeth McAllistar discovers she is magic-blind. A dangerous condition which could end up killing her and her best-friend Madison. Madison Porter is a scientist. When she suddenly discovers she has magic and a past-life with Tyrel her world is thrown into chaos. Her magic might be the only thing that can free Tyrel from his cursed destiny and keep them all alive.

Review:

When the author first reached out to me to review this book I was really excited. Angels and demons, Vikings and reincarnation? It sounded totally up my alley! And while I loved the use of mythology and the world-building around how magic worked in this story, this book never really clicked for me.

I think one of the bigger issues that contributed to me not really getting into Demons and Destiny was that it is the second in a series and I hadn’t read the first one. I don’t normally read series out of order like this, but the author assured me that they could be read out of order. I did not find that to be the case. 

While it is true that the main plotline in this book is separate from the plot of the first book in the series, the plot of the first book is constantly referenced. Many of the characters in the first book have been reincarnated as characters who show up in Demons and Destiny. The book gives a “what are they up to now” look at these characters, so maybe if I had read the first book first I would have thought it was very interesting. As it was, it felt like I was given a lot of non-essential details about minor characters’ lives and things that happened in their past lives that weren’t necessarily relevant to the plot. 

And even when some of these details were relevant to the plot, because I hadn’t read the first book, I didn’t have an emotional connection to these past events. It just felt like I was being told a lot instead of getting to see events unfold. This was made even more difficult given that there is such a large cast of characters.

I did really enjoy the characters’ relationships with each other. I could tell that the author had spent a lot of time developing their backstories and fleshing out their different dynamics. The big cast was confusing at times, but it was made less so by the fact that each character was very distinct, memorable, and complex.

This book has a great concept, interesting characters, and cool world-building. If that interests you, definitely give this series a whirl, even if it wasn’t for me – but be sure to start with book one!

Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.