Devotion (Soul Savers #3) by Kristie Cook

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie 
Published Date: February 10th, 2012
Finished Date: January 30th, 2012
Source: ARC, For Review
Format: Kindle
Pages: 374
<
The Blurb from Goodreads: With powerful abilities gained from the Ang’dora and Tristan back by her side, Alexis thinks she’s ready for the next challenge—protecting her son from what appears to be the inevitable. But she has so much to learn about her powers, her new world and the people in it. Nothing is what it seems to be on the surface, including the Amadis. Having believed the secret society to be definitively good and righteous, she discovers she couldn’t have been more wrong. Power-hungry politicians comprise the council and make impossible demands. A traitor lurks among them all, inciting trouble that could destroy the Amadis and, ultimately, humanity. The Daemoni wreak havoc in the human world, with the ultimatum that they’ll continue attacking innocents until Alexis and Tristan are expelled from the Amadis’ protection. The couple’s own society begins to shut them out. But that’s not all. There’s a secret. A big one. And faith and hope in Alexis and Tristan will be restored if she can uncover the truth in time. But the search for answers leads only to the discovery of more betrayals by those closest to Alexis. Her devotion is put to the test—devotion to her husband, to her family, to her people and to her beliefs—leaving her to question whom she’s fighting for and why she should even bother. But if she won’t fight … who will?

The Review: In this book we find Alexis and Tristan re-united properly on the safety of the Amadis Island. They have thwarted the Daemoni on their doorstep and Alexis’ alter ego is dead, giving her the freedom to become the next Amadis daughter now that she has gone through the Ang’dora. Once there however, she discovers that there is trouble in paradise and everything is not as it seems. Rina - her grandmother – has received a message from the angels informing her that there is a traitor in their ranks and she enlists Alexis’ help to root out the person(s) but can Alexis master her powers in time? As they try to do this, she comes across vital information that could save all of the Amadis, but no-one will believe her, not even those around her. With the Daemoni on their doorstep again, causing chaos and attacking innocent people in the hopes of drawing Alexis & Tristan out they are forced to leave, more or less branded traitors and shunned. The Daemoni are tracking their every move and always seem to be one step ahead which makes Alexis think that the traitor might be a lot closer to home and she begins to doubt everyone. Not only that but she discovers that Dorian seems to have an inevitable fate that may come sooner, rather than later. With tensions rising on the Amadis Island and people losing faith in the Matriarch, Alexis begins to wonder whether the Amadis are truly good and is forced to take drastic action to get to the root of the problem.

I LOVE this book! I had questions left over from book 2 and a couple of big ones were addressed straight away, no messing around, just straight into the thick of it again. I’m still really enjoying Alexis, as each book goes by we see a little more of who she is becoming. She is great, so determined to do the right thing even without the support of those around her. She has all of this un-tapped power that she needs to master but would rather not have to use it on moral grounds, truly selfless and always putting others before herself. All she wants is to have a quiet life with her family, be a wife & mother but has to become something else for people who don’t even trust them. Her sense of duty and faith in the Amadis is tested in this book as she is put through some awful ordeals and is left wondering who to trust. Tristan too, continues to grow as a character and we see a different side to him – vulnerable and defeated – it broke my heart and he is involved in some serious revelations that are going to rock all foundations and I wonder what the effects will be. In previous books I never let myself ‘get into’ Owen’s character because he was a threat to Alexis & Tristan’s relationship and I really didn’t want to go down that road but we get to delve into him a bit more in this, get some of his back story, meet his parents and it was nice to see that I may have underestimated him as a character.

Now for my reaction when I finished the book (with a lot of exclamation marks) . . .

HOLY BEEP that was awesome! WOW!!!! 
Kristie Cook does it again! Every book in this series has blown me away! I have been sent on an emotional rollercoaster AGAIN!!
To think I bought the first book (Promise) on kindle (my 1^st ever kindle purchase) in May 2011 for a group read on GR and only paid 79p for it! It was so good that I immediately bought the second (Purpose) straight after and that too was just, wow. In January they were featured in my ‘Books that blew me away in 2011’ post because they did just that. I was hooked straight away and to still be feeling that at book three is amazing. They are, this was, effortless to read, I couldn’t put it down, so compelling and I didn’t want it to end. The emotions I went through reading this . . . Anxious, curious, happy, sad, devastated, proud, heart-broken & I don’t know how many WTH moments. . . . I think I covered most things so yeah, emotional rollercoaster covers it. I love a book where you feel like you are going through the ordeals and emotions of a character, to really empathise with them and even think like them, That’s when you know it’s a good book. The flow and the pacing were ‘spot on’, you never got a chance to be bored or think about something else because it was always moving forward, always some danger or something to look into. I even thought to myself, ‘just give them a break’ because they go through so much but where would be the fun in that? I was kept guessing about things all the way through, right up until the reveals – some bits I had partially solved while others I wasn’t even close, totally surprising me. I cannot wait to find out what happens next, the epilogue set up book four which is going straight on my TBR list and with this book the series maintains its position as one of my all-time favourite series. Go read them all . . . .