Wickedly They Come

The Wickedly Series, Book 1

By: Cathrina Constantine

Narrated by: Andrea Emmes

A destined prophecy: "The White Warrior will be one with Lucifer and God will weep."

Haunting visions and supernatural talents are the norm for the 16-year-old warrior, Jordan, and her mother Seeley. Together with their formidable angels they find themselves in peril when a wicked sorcerer is determined to fulfill the prophecy to his lord, Lucifer.

After an ominous vision of spirits inhabiting teenagers in a local school, Jordan enrolls in the social culture of teendom at Elma High to combat soulless demons. She encounters Mark, a mysterious new classmate, who is hell bent on keeping her unscathed from the forces of evil.

The battle between Heaven and Hell is escalating - and Earth is their battleground.

©2016 Sarah Davis Brandon (P)2016 Sarah Davis Brandon

Not up to par with Supernatural

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

Audible has this in the religious section, which I feel is misplaced. This is more fantasy. The story was fast paced, but I felt the cast was a little too large. From the beginning it was difficult for me to adapt to everyone. I was hoping we'd see the main character transition to the powerful warrior, but I felt it wasn't quite up to my expectations. The narration was great, though.

Awesome

This book was great. A mix of religion and as* kicking action. Fun and full of surprises unlikely allies and Angels who come back from the "dead". Great book overall.

I received this book free in return for a unbiased review.

Teen story

Decent story. Not my usual genre/age. Enough action to keep my attention. Interesting storyline. The narrator did a nice job. I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

It will only work for teenage girls

Any additional comments?

I have received a copy of this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

Jack belonged to the Black Order, but changed sides after falling in love with Seeley and having Jordan, their daughter. The members of the Black order could not take this and killed Jack, promising to hunt Jordan too, to consecrate her to the Order. Jordan has been homeschooled for several years until she turns sixteen, when Seeley decides to send her to high school. There, Marcus, her guardian angel will take care of her and defend her against the dangerous people from the Black Order.

What I liked from this book was how the characters were constructed. Jordan and Seeley were very well depicted and their relationship felt real. The rest of characters were plain, and I was especially annoyed by Ronan and her girl friends. I guess their behavior is normal in sixteen year old bullies, especially among the girls, but the group dynamic would make the book to work only among teenage girls. Other YA books could be enjoyed by other age groups, but I don't think this one would. Not with me at least.

I had troubles to get into the story, but I think it was due to several things. First, I did not completely understand the motivations of the Black Order to get Jordan. Okay, her father was a traitor, but that does not seem to be to me enough motive. Is Jordan special in any way? We will probably know more about that in future books, but in this one it is not very clear. I just expected something bigger to be gained or lost. Second, Marcus was appearing and disappearing all the time without explanation, and it was like it just served Constantine to make things complicated to Jordan at certain point, kind of deus ex machine.

And third. Okay, this is personal and will probably be different for other people. I am an atheist, and I find the fact of talking about god as a real thing (even in a fantasy book) a bit disturbing, or more like something that makes me roll my eyes again and again. Also, the need of Jordan to check with the priest and be assisted all the time by a guardian angel is a bit... childish. I do not want to be disrespectful to believers, but I think we should all try to fend for ourselves, and a character in a book should inspire the reader, and that is, taking the reigns of her life and troubles, to gain responsibility, and fight, without expecting somebody to save her skin.

I missed some moments about their daily life not related to the hunt, like Jordan in class. It is like they spend the whole book running from the Black Order, which is true, but I think it would have helped to set a frame for the story.

At some point we hear the name of 'Ronan' instead of 'Jordan' (6:14:58) and I had to go back to double check it. I guess the editor missed this.

Andrea Emmes' narration helped to bring the characters to life, and she made it a very enjoyable listen. I had troubles at times though, to discern between Jordan and her mother, which made difficult to follow a couple of conversations. For the rest, the narration made the book better.

All in all, it was an okay book. It will mainly work for teenage girls, I think, and the religious aspects may not sit well with everybody.

Three starts for the book, four stars for the narration.

great story

this story is an awesome, unnerving and riveting YA paranormal thriller. An amazing read with an eerie and suspenseful ending

Great Story

If you could sum up Wickedly They Come in three words, what would they be?

Fun, Exciting and Action-packed

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wickedly They Come?

The battle where everything comes to a head

What does Andrea Emmes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She really embodied the characters that she read. I would listen to her again.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I couldn't stop listening. It was an amazing story and the author is just simply great!

Any additional comments?

Wow! This book really grabs you from the beginning. The way Jack comes into the story all the way to the very end. I love how the author hints as there being more to this story even though we get an ending that is very explosive. This was my first book from this author and I am happy to say it won't be my last. This is a story that has many characters in it but you never lose track of what is going on. There is a little bit for everyone. I was rooting hard for Jordan and Seeley. Not only a definite book to read but enjoy immensely.

Action packed book!

What did you love best about Wickedly They Come?

I loved the action that this book provided and the emotional content of what was happening between mother and daughter and the eternal fight for Jordan's soul.

Which character – as performed by Andrea Emmes – was your favorite?

Jordan, as the main character. Emmes really knows how to embody a teenager. Having raised one myself, it was pretty spot on but with the added layers of pain, vengeance and rush in without thinking that kids face today when dealing with loss or other tragedies.

Any additional comments?

The author did a really great job of laying out the story with multiple characters and story points that were brought together quite nicely and the narrator did an excellent job of pulling it all together and bringing an extra layer of emotion and performance. Highly recommend this book.

I couldn't listen to this story

Any additional comments?

This story went against my beliefs and I wasn't able to listen to it. So to be fair to the author and narrator I rated it 5 star. I hope that those other listeners are able to enjoy this book. This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

a classic fight between good and evil

Wickedly They Come the first book in a series called The Wickedly Series written by Cathrina Constantine. Sixteen-year-old Jordan and her mother, Seeley, are demon fighting warriors. Both have personal angel guardians that protect and help them fight demons and evil. Unfortunately, Jordan has always been a target for Lucifer and demons because of a prophecy that states that she will become one with Lucifer, a big win for evil against God. But as Jordan, gets older, her personal needs change and she decides to stop home-schooling and attend the local high school, with the added hope of combating the increasing evil that is gripping teens. Now, even as she struggles to keep herself safe outside of school, Jordan quickly enters a group of aspiring teenage witches in an attempt to save them from their forays into evil.

This novel was is a combination between a coming of age story and a fight between good and evil demons. The fight between good and evil is classic, with God, Lucifer, angels, and demons. Jordan and Seeley are devout Christians and the fight between good and evil is intertwined with that. Jordan and Seeley were full characters, but every other character did not seem to have a lot of depth. There was a lot of well-developed action and gore, which kept the story moving and exciting. This is also Jordan's coming of age story. Jordan leaves home-schooling to enter high school and it allows her to fight Lucifer’s minions on her own and on her own terms for the first time. However,  I did find Jordan’s actions frustrating because she seemed to be rushing into things too quickly. I think that this feeling came from the fact that a lot of Jordan’s training during her childhood was not really part of the novel.  The high school portion of the story is fairly accurate, complete with normal teenage drama, angst and intense crushes, which made the story believable.

The narration by Andrea Emmes was really good. She did a great job of capturing the teenage sass of the high school girls as well as the evil voices of different demonic characters. The production quality was good as well. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes young adult paranormal novels about fighting evil.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator

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Good start to a series

Any additional comments?

3.5 stars
Good start to a series. Overall an interesting, entertaining and enjoyable listen. It's a fast paced, engaging story that is constantly moving forward with plenty of suspense, action and twists .

Audible has the story listed as Religion & Spirituality, that needs to be changed, in my opinion this is a paranormal/fantasy thriller.

A game of cat and mouse between Angels and Demons/Heaven & Hell in a classic good vs. evil story. Sorcerer's, Angels and Demons. A good, interesting cast of characters both good & evil.

Jordan is walking a fine line. She would like nothing more than to just be a normal teenager. She is anything but normal. She is a White Warrior chosen by God to fight demons. Her father was a member of the Black Order( a satanic cult) and changed his allegiance after falling in love and the birth of his daughter. Her father has died and the Black Order wants to claim Jordan. They have a prophecy to fulfill and Jordan is the key.

I'm looking forward to the next book to see where the author takes the story.

The story does not always flow smoothly. There were a couple of times especially in the beginning of the story I had to rewind because I thought I missed something.

Andrea Emmes did a good job with the narration. Her voice fit the story. She has a distinct voice that is easily recognizable. Clearly spoken with an even pace. She has some really good character voices, but there are times other characters (Jordan & Seeley) sound the same making it difficult to always know which character is speaking. She did however make the characters and story come to life through her narration. Overall an enjoyable listen.

I was given this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher at my request and voluntarily provided this review.