J’ai découvert ce roman par hasard, après avoir été contactée par la maison d’édition et franchement je regrette pas du tout d’avoir accepté. J’ai juste adoré ce roman, son univers et ses personnages !

A l’heure où la guerre qui oppose les tranavians aux kalyazis, trois personnages se démarquent dans cette histoire, Nadya, Serafin et Malachiasz. D’ailleurs ce sont les points de vue de Nadya et Serafin qui alternent mais Malachiasz a, je pense, également un rôle important à jouer. Ces trois personnages ont quelques détails en commun : ils sont puissants, n’ont pas choisi ce qu’ils sont et ont un ennemi commun ; le roi des travanians. Nadya est une cleric, la dernière selon les gens qui l’entourent. Elle entend les dieux et peut utiliser leur pouvoir quand elle leur fait une prière. Et pour conserver ce pouvoir, Nadya fait en sorte de surveiller chaque acte et parole de peur que les dieux l’abandonnent. Et la foi est ce qui compte le plus pour Nadya. Malachiasz est un mage de sang assez étrange et différent de ceux que Nadya a déjà vu. Nadya et Malachiasz vont s’associer malgré l’hostilité de Nadya envers les tranavians et c’est intéressant parce que Nadya est persuadée que son peuple est meilleur et vaut mieux que les travanians juste parce qu’ils ne croient pas en ses Dieux. C’est une forme de prison au final dont elle se libère page après page en côtoyant Malachiasz. Serafin est quant à lui le prince des tranavians, c’est un soldat sur le front qui redevient un prince menacé par des assassins dans son propre château.

C’est aussi intéressant de deviner le rôle que nos protagonistes vont jouer dans cette guerre car il faut mettre fin à la guerre mais à quel prix ?

Ce roman a une atmosphère assez sombre parce que qu’est-ce qu’il y a de plus sombre que des personnes prêtent à se saigner à mort pour jeter des sorts ou même de se battre à mort pour obtenir la main d’un prince ? J’adore ce genre d’atmosphère quand il est bien écrit et c’est le cas ici.

Ce livre se lit vraiment tout seul, j’ai dû faire une pause parce que je voulais vraiment en profiter mais je regrette maintenant de ne pas l’avoir lu d’une traite. Je suis carrément surprise que ce soit le premier roman d’Emily A. Duncan. Je la suis sur Twitter et je vous conseille de la suivre, elle est grave cool (et super fans de livres, mais ça c’est pas étonnant).

En conclusion, j’ai vraiment trop hâte de lire ce qu’Emily A. Duncan nous a prévu.

This was a great book kept me on my toes throughout. It also made me a little frustrated as I had to put it down several times while reading. I liked it though it was fun and engaging had some action, magic, witch fortune telling, gods, and other stuff. I know it seems like a lot but it wasn’t and there was just enough to keep you engaged and even unlikely bonds formed as well. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I wanted to love this book. But unfortunately for me it wasn’t the one for me. I like fantasy, I enjoy it. But I’m not a fan of third person and wasn’t able to fully get into this story. I feel that third person really blocks any kind of emotional pull.

That said, I wasn’t able to really focus on this story. So I was a bit lost. I do feel that a lot of people will love it.

Religion, politics, and magic are twined together in Wicked Saints, the first book in Emily A. Duncan’s Something Dark and Wicked trilogy, and it should be more interesting than it is.

Wicked Saints is the story of Nadya, a cleric from the war-torn country of Kalyazi, the first of her countrymen to have magic in a very long time. She is able to access her magic by the grace of the gods, the entire pantheon of which she is able to commune with by touching a particular bead on her necklace. When the monastery in which she’s been raised is attacked by Serefin, the High Prince of Tranavia and a powerful blood mage, she escapes and runs into an odd trio – two Akolans and a defected Tranavian – who join her on her quest to kill the Tranavian king.

At first, there was something really intriguing about the way Duncan connects religion, politics, and magic. Nadya spends much of the book struggling to reconcile the new information she’s learning with what we she was raised to believe, and there are some really excellent musings on faith. However, none of this stuff really goes anywhere until near the end of the book, when it all collides in mass confusion and a rather anti-climactic final battle.

As this is the first in a trilogy, it makes sense that Wicked Saints would spend the first book developing the world and the characters. Unfortunately, there isn’t much development of either. The world is muddy, the politics glossed over, the magic system messy. You don’t get a real sense of scale. It’s very well-written, and the descriptions of architecture are nice enough, but at times it was difficult for me to get a picture in my head. The plot moves from situation to situation at a pretty solid pace, but that’s all it does. There’s no real depth, no impending sense of doom.

It was difficult to connect to any of the characters. Of the two POV characters, Serefin was the more interesting. Through him we got the barest glimpse of the politics, and he had most of the development as he dealt with the royal plot to rob him of his throne. Nadya, as the other POV, felt like a supporting character in her own story. The focus during almost all of her chapters was Malachiasz, the Tranavian who defected. Their relationship is telegraphed a mile away, and as much as I like the enemies-to-lovers trope, it isn’t handled well here. Their only real reason for being enemies is that their countries are at war, and their only reason for getting together is because that’s what’s expected to happen.

It’s frustrating that such a strong and capable female character has so little agency, going so far as to not even be the protagonist in her own POV chapters. She doesn’t do anything. She’s meant to be the chosen one, to end the war and bring the gods back to Travania, yet all she does is follow behind Malachiasz, even as he keeps things from her. The tagline of this book is “Let them fear her”, and she doesn’t do anything worth fearing.

Honestly, the two Akolans, Rashid and Parijahan, were the most interesting characters (and the only POCs – plus I believe Rashid is LGBTQ+) so naturally we see very little of them, nor do we get much of their backstory.

Wicked Saints is a good enough read. It’s a decent story, it’s interesting, and it goes quickly. But it’s difficult for me to forgive it for the sins it commits against its female lead. I’m tired of badass female characters who get reduced to the love interest even in their own stories.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! Sorry, I just needed to let that out. This book was effing amazing. From the concept to the diverse lovable characters that I just want to hug tightly to my chest, this was a dark story that I breezed through and am in desperate need of book two. 
Wicked Saints, tells the dark tale of the role Nadya, Maachiasz, and Serefin play in the religious war between blood magic and the magic of the ancient gods/goddesses. In this dark tale, lies a secrets, dark magic, monsters that lies in the betrayal and a brewing forbidden love. What more do you need? 
This is the religious fantasy story I didn't know I wanted and am glad to read. Now I must warn you that this is the type of story that either you will either love or hate. It's simple as that. I say this because the story contains elements which I believe some readers to deviate themselves from continuing reading on. For example, the story's lack of groove or more simply lack of weight or depth in certain parts of the story made those parts boring. On another note, the writing style is a lot simpler then what I am personally used to enjoy reading. However, once you get past all those very small details there is no way you wouldn't fall in love with the plot and the characters. So dark and, goodness I need book 2!

I'd like to say thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to review Wicked Saints in exchange for an honest review during this blog tour. Over the last few months, I have heard a lot of amazing reviews about Emily's debut novel, so of course, I was over the moon when I was given an eARC to read. The danger with a lot of hype surrounding a book is that it may not always live up to the expectations, but luckily for me, Wicked Saints did.

Kalyazin and Tranavia have been at war for a century, with the Tranavian heretics slowly growing in power. The gods have always listened to Nadya when she prayed and only she is strong enough to go against the blood magic of her enemies. When her monastery is invaded, she goes on the run to escape the High Prince, Serefin, who is the strongest of his kind. While travelling she meets two refugees and a Tranavian blood mage called Malachiasz who had rebelled against his order, the Vultures. Going against the wishes of the gods, Nadya forges an alliance with them in the hopes of travelling to Tranavia to kill the king and stop the holy war before it destroys them all. However, not everything is as it seems and Nadya begins to question everything she has been told about blood magic and her gods.

“We’re all monsters, Nadya,” Malachiasz said, his voice gaining a few tangled chords of chaos. “Some of us just hide it better than others.”

As an atheist, I normally tend to stay away from books with religious themes but I was intrigued by Wicked Saints, mainly because it was so different from anything I'd read before. The idea of gods choosing clerics who can hear them was interesting, especially the fact that Nadya can hear all of them, the only one of her kind. We're thrown right into the deep end with action from the very beginning and I flew through the first quarter of the book. It was really enjoyable and I became more invested as I went along. It took me a little while to connect with Nadya as a character, probably because it dived into the action straight away, but I have to say I enjoyed the banter between her and the gods. It had me smiling on more than one occasion.

The world building was probably my favourite aspect of this story, as it was based on Russia and Poland. I could feel the chill of the mountains thanks to Emily's descriptions and felt immersed in the story. Each new chapter opened with snippets about the history of the saints, clerics and gods of Kalyazin, giving insight into just how violent their world is. While the story takes place in Kalyazin and Tranavia, we also meet two characters from the desert lands of Akola, Parijahan and Rashid, who I really enjoyed reading about in this book. Hopefully, the world will expand more in the rest of the trilogy because I really liked what I read.

Blood magic is rife in Wicked Saints and I loved the new take on it. The mages have to cut themselves (TW: self-harm) and then they press the pages of their spellbook against the cut to work the magic, which is something I have never read before. This is a dark book with dark themes (TW: torture, abuse, gore and blood), although I think part of me was expecting it to be more brutal and darker, so it fell a little bit short there. I think it had to do with the way it was described, I didn't get the ominous feeling I thought I would. However, Malachiasz is a blood mage who caught my attention because I wasn't sure what he was going to do. Nothing is as it seems with this book and it was fun watching Nadya try to handle this monster boy. Malachiasz is a bit of mystery and it was good to see the secrets unravelling in a way I thought they would.

As far as romance goes, I kind of wish it hadn't stayed so close to the trope of enemies-to-lovers as I didn't feel Nadya really had a reason to hate him and there was a lot of focus on him when it probably should have been on their task at hand. I never once felt that it wasn't Nadya's story, but I wasn't as invested in the romance as I thought I would be. However, I did enjoy their characters and can't wait to see what becomes of them later on. Serefin...he's my favourite. He is morally grey, loves to drink and is always tired, which makes him the best kind of character in my eyes. I really loved his character arc in Wicked Saints and I've been left with a lot of questions after the ending. There are other side characters who I loved reading about as well and who also offer some LGBTQ rep in the book, as well as disability.

I'm glad Wicked Saints was a fast-paced book because it meant I was flying through the chapters, but sometimes I felt the pacing was a little off. As if things moved too quick at times and slow at others. The first 25% and the last 25% were my favourite parts of this book, but I wish there had been more than just travelling in between that space. Saying that, now that the world has been set up, I'm sure there will be lots of action in the sequel which I cannot wait for. The ending left me feeling very excited to see what these three main characters get up to next because I have questions.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wicked Saints and felt it was a great debut for Emily A. Duncan. It was unique with the world building, it had interesting characters, and plot twists, which are always my favourite parts of a story (even if I saw one of them coming but it was executed perfectly). I'm giving Wicked Saints 4 stars!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Okay. Here I am trying to form coherent sentences in order to describe this book for this review, but I’m still reeling from the absolute masterpiece that it was. Just a small warning that this review might contain more ranty half-finished sentences rather than any intelligent thought on the actual content of the book.

Wicked Saints, the first book of the Something Dark and Holy Series, is an epic dark fantasy that tells the tale of two kingdoms long at war. A girl who hears the voices of gods in her head, a mysterious boy with a dark past, and a prince who doesn’t know who to trust, may be the ones to bring an end to the century-old war. Rich with blood, magic, and morally questionable characters, Wicked Saints crafts a beautifully intricate tale.

So, I know people often describe many dark fantasy books as “bloody” but none of them can hold a candle to Wicked Saints. There is so much blood in this book. Like people are constantly bleeding. Heavily. Gruesomely. From all possible orifices of the body. That is to say, if gore-ish bleeding isn’t really your thing, steer clear of this book. The main reason for the immense amount of blood is that the entire country of Tranavia practices blood magic. So I guess this means that if someone wants to light their stove with a bit of magic they just have to slice the back of their hand real quick. No biggie.

If you don’t mind bleeding then read on because this book was fantastic, and if you don’t mind gore you should definitely read it.

The worldbuilding in this book was really good. The book was fast paced and always moving, yet it still managed to keep you clued in as to the differences between the two countries (Tranavia and Kalyazin). Concerning their different magics and ways of life.

Even with all the ridiculously impossible to pronounce names that were thrown around, I still managed to keep a good grasp of what exactly was going on.

I’ve decided to include a small list of the really long names that I have no clue how to pronounce that made appearances in this book:

Nadezhda
Zbyhneuska
Malachiasz
Svoyatova
Brzoska

I’m absolute trash at figuring out how to pronounce things I’ve read in books. This means that as the book went on I just resorted to reading the names as unintelligible mumbles in my head.

Speaking of character names, oh my goood the characters! They were definitely my favorite part of the book. They were all such good characters! Nadezhda, Malachiasz, and Serefin are our main cast, and my favorite thing about them is that they all sort of...suck? Like they’re all bad people and Emily A. Duncan does not try to disguise it in any way.

They all want what’s best for their respective countries, and they all want to end the war in whatever way possible. They’re all the get your hands dirty to get what needs to be done type of characters.

Also, fans of the Shadow and Bone trilogy will probably love this book. There are some definite Darkling vibes from one of the characters. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Darkling or the Shadow and Bone trilogy, but as I may have mentioned a few times before, I *loved* this book. So I may just go around describing it as Shadow and Bone, but better.

I can’t wait for the rest of this trilogy, and I absolutely can’t wait for this book to come out next week so that I can rant/rave/argue about this book with everyone!

Wicked Saints had a rough start. I picked it up, read the first few pages and then proceeded to set it down and not come back to it for a few weeks. I wish it had more of an attention grabbing opening so I would have gotten into it sooner. Even with the rough start though it immediately picks up speed and does a great job of explaining the magic system and building this new world to explore without being a huge info-dump. We have three main characters who peaked my interest right away.

Serefin:
So the prince of Tranavia might be an alcoholic. I immediately loved his chapters more than Nadya's though. He was snarky and powerful plus his trusted friends, Ostyia and Kacper, really cared for him and their country. I don't want to say he had a lot of character development, more that we got to know him better instead. His father despised him, his mother was sickly and always away from court because she hates her husband, and the only family member Serefin truly cared for had disappeared without a trace early on in life. While he is front and center in leading this war, and loves showing off his immense power, his journey back to court for the official ceremony of choosing a queen shows him just how much his people and country as a whole are suffering from this war. He is a prince, a king someday, and he loves his country and is willing to do whatever it takes to see it prosper.

Nadya:
We were promised a strong lead female character and I'm not sure that we were quite delivered that. I'm not upset though, I think Nadya has a lot more growing and understanding to do to become the character we were promised. When we first meet her peeling potatoes she seems so ordinary but she is blessed by the gods. more specifically the goddess of war. For someone blessed with great magic and a war goddess she is very kind and nice, not seeming to possess the killing instinct or willing to hurt anyone unless she herself is in immediate danger. I needed her to be a little more bloodthirsty, but not unreasonably so. She is caught in a religious war though and finding out that everything is not as black and white as she was taught to believe in the monastery. Once in Tranavia it all gets a bit more complicated and lines between friends and enemies gets blurred quickly.

Malachiasz:
The boy we love....to hate? I hope in the rest of the series that we get some chapters from his perspective. I understand why we didn't for this first book, but I found myself constantly trying to get into his head to figure out what his next move would be. Should Nadya trust him? Should she kill him? He was so damn charming though and he made every scene that he was in. At the end of the day, just like Serefin and Nadya, he loved his country and would do anything for them.

Just like for Nadya, the reader starts out with this clear picture of a religious war where one side is in the right and the other is in the wrong. Those who love and pray to the Gods, that might be blessed by them, versus the heretics and their blood magic. It all appears very black and white until it isn't and the writing reflects that. Some scenes moved quickly, becoming suddenly confusing and hard to keep up with just like if you were there and were in Serefin or Nadya's shoes. I love books with storylines that seem so straightforward but then take a sharp turn and make you question what you thought you knew. Duncan did a great job writing these scenes and it shows that she put a lot of care into creating this world and the magic within it.

So when Wicked Saints is fully published here is what I need: maps, a list of Gods/Goddesses, a pronunciation guide, and a list of Saints/Clerics. While reading I found myself wishing I could flip to certain pages and see what power this god or goddess wielded or knew how the heck to pronounce Malachiasz (in my head I just called him Mal since his name was used so much).

I have no idea how I'm supposed to wait a year for the next book to be published. I need answers now and the cliffhanger was not even fair. I will be recommending this book to everyone and am excited see what the future holds for Emily A. Duncan and the rest of this series.

I’d like to thank Wednesday Books for letting me be a part of the blog tour. My review is completely honest.

Let me tell you something before I dive into this review. I tried so hard, months before I got this blog tour opportunity, to get an early copy of this book. Since hearing about it last year and all the hype around it, I was all over reading this book early because I just couldn’t wait until its release date. When I heard there would be a drop at YALLFest, I was determined to get in that line and get it. Just my luck, the line was a mess and there were very limited copies and I ended up missing out on getting one. I tried to do some ARC trades and that failed. Then, I got the email from Wednesday Books about the blog tour and I jumped on it without any hesitation. The book gods must still love me.

I really don’t know how to properly execute this review in the way I normally write my reviews because this book was just –

It exceeded my expectations.

Fair warning. This book does involve self-harm and abuse, but Emily has been pretty open about that so there is nothing to be concerned about, but read the book with caution if that triggers you.

In this book, there is something called Blood Magic, but the entire magic system is connected with the Gods. I definitely see this as something very important to pay attention to when reading this book. Nadya, our main character, is a cleric. She can communicate with the gods, which hasn’t really been possible in like 30 years. It doesn’t take long for the action to start. I mean, the first chapter ends with blood. Take it how you will.

Every. Single. Chapter has something. It’s dark, it’s intense, it’s demented. It’s f***ing amazing. The POVs are easy to navigate and there is an extra POV at the end of this book. I like a good book that keeps me guessing and turning my head to the point of whiplash and Emily’s debut did not disappoint. I just-

Emily, I need more.

Seriously, I’m still sitting here just contemplating what life is and what it was without this book. I can see it now. This book is going to be on the bestseller list. If you are hesitant about the hype of this book, do not hesitate. Please. It’s everything you could ever want in a dark and twisted fantasy novel. It’ll fit perfectly on your shelf.

Actually, you may want to shelve it in some sort of shrine because it deserves that recognition.

Emily Duncan, you have officially become one of my favorite fantasy authors.

Posted to all links in my bio 3/26/2019

Trigger Warnings: self- harm, alcoholism, parental abuse, abandonment This is a very dark, but excellent book.

Before reading Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan one thing had become abundantly clear to me. The book was extremely polarizing. Love it or hate it. There wasn’t any in between. Now I know why. This becomes very simple.


Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the Arc in exchange for a fair review.
Two camps exist here, really, and you will find yourself in one of the two (or discover you like both):

There will be the few who can appreciate both types of fantasies- I can sway either way if the first type isn’t too sappy and romance isn’t the A plotline but more on the backburner.

If you are looking for a pretty fantasy with princes, princesses, queens and kings vs. other worlds that might be flawed but ultimately are good people; a villainous thing lurking to kill them all? This isn’t for you.
If you want a twisted fantasy that is dark and surreal with severely damaged characters that don’t know what they are doing and are willing to throw their entire belief system out the window faster than most people change the radio station? Blood magic, snarky Gods, deception, century long enemies forced to work together across feuding countries, where you don’t know who the actual villain is until the last chapter? Welcome to book one in the Dark and Holy Series. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
Nadya is from Kalyazin; a country that believes in divinity magic that is bestowed upon them by the Gods. Kalyazin hadn’t had a cleric in decades, as they were eradicated by the Vultures of Tranavia (more on them in a bit). She has spent her life protected in a monastery where she has been raised, tutored and protected until the High Prince of Tranavia invades and captures or kills most of the monastery, but not the cleric he has been seeking. Nadya flees with the one friend who could get out with her, Anna.

Serafin is the High Prince of Tranavia, a country built on their being mages that use blood magic. Wearing a spell book on their hips, Tranavians have small razors sewn into the cuffs of their clothes to cut into their skin so they can mix their blood with pages from the spell book. This magic is theirs and theirs alone. Each mage has varying degrees of strength. Serafin being a very powerful mage, takes the monastery but not Nadya and then proceeds to get incredibly drunk. The Vultures are an extreme cult of monstrous mages that live in Tranavia but serve their own king, the Black Vulture.

Kalyazin and Tranavia have been at war for a century over their religious beliefs. The Kalyazin believing the Tranavians are heretics due to the use of blood magic, turning their backs on the Gods. Tranavians believe the Gods could be any kind of being and that the Kayazin’s are fools. That they lock themselves into the whims of what long dead beings would want them to do, or how they would want them to live for fear they could take away their magic, and power at any time.

Tranavia doesn’t want divine magic or the Gods brought back into their country as it is entirely built on blood magic. Both countries are now falling apart, starving and broke due to this long-standing war and will do anything to end it.

After fleeing the monastery Nadya and Anna run into a group of renegades that have defected from their people. Two Akolans (a desert country that isn’t talked about much in book one but may be brought to the forefront later in the series) and a Tranavian, Malachiasz. Nadya and Anna are suspect at first, but the company of renegades convince them that their cause is true, and they have a plan to end the war with her help.

The Gods begrudgingly agree that if Nadya ultimately brings down blood magic and return the Gods to Tranavia that she should go forward but continuously warn her that she is walking a very fine line. A plan is hatched and they all head to enemy territory: Tranavia.

Meanwhile, the High Prince Serafin is suddenly called back to Tranavia where he will be married and told the Vultures will be sent to deal with Nadya. Serafin finds this all too suspicious and upon returning to Tranavia, seeks out the counsel of a witch and after being attacked by assassins and again getting very drunk, finds out he is not so paranoid.

When the Vultures find Nadya, she finds out the Gods are not so paranoid, as Malchiasz, the Tranavian she is traveling with, is a Vulture himself. He didn’t just defect from Tranavia because he wanted to end the war. He is running from the Vultures. After he helps her escape the Vulture attack, he pleads for forgiveness. Nadya must contemplate is this lie number one or the only lie he has told? She forgives him and realizes she has begun falling for him. The Gods are none too pleased. The plan continues.

The plan, the conspiracy against Serafin and the collision of these characters in Tranavia is all kinds of epic but I’m not going there because that would be spoiler territory. There is something generic spoilery I will put at the very end of the review but I will give plenty of warning if you don’t want to read it.

The world building of Kalyazin and Tranavia is brilliantly done and in stark contrast of each other, Tranavia with its oceans and lakes while Kalyazin was ice capped and snow covered, bone chilling cold.

The characters are brilliant shades of gray. There is no good and evil. If you want cut and dry, you aren’t going to find it here. They are all capable good and they have all been damaged, corrupted and have the ability to change either way. Some will surprise you for the better and some will surprise you in ways that make you curse them out. One will make you beg them not to do everything they do step by step. You will plead with them to stop and they. Just. Won’t. Stop. Going. Down. The. Damn. Path.

As for the next piece of the series… well I don’t know exactly where this will go but it will be fun finding out because I don’t think any these characters are any closer to knowing who or what they are than at the beginning of the book. The countries aren’t any closer to resolution. In fact, while none of them are what they were at the beginning, they are probably more confused as to what they are now, or what happens next. So, the next book should be a blast (possibly quite literally)! Blood and bone, stars and moths!

OK. So Below is a very generically written argument against what some are calling a “frenemey” relationship in the book. If you don’t want to read it stop. I kept it as general as possible but there is some spoiler for the end of book, for this one piece.

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So, about this relationship. A frenemy arc has a very specific trajectory. And while this relationship starts off on that trajectory Duncan then banks a hard right and drops it to shatter without the fairy tale ending (well not in book one), no neat bow-tie or happily ever ending. And for me? That’s a compliment to the author because guess what everyone? That’s real life. You are ready to throw away your whole belief system because a boy throws you a puppy dog look when he’s shown you time after time he will lie and lie? Well that’s on you. So, I for one cheered how this one ended in book 1 and if she continues to be idiotic in her misguided feelings for said boy? She should get burned. End. Of. Story. That is my opinion. Take it for what it is worth.

Wicked Saints is a story that's steeped in religious and political conflict. It's considerably dark and gritty, as you would expect from a book that's hailed as a gothic fantasy. There are morally questionable characters like a monstrous boy with a hidden agenda, royalty who plot assassinations against each other, and a heroine whose Gods may not be Gods at all but something more sinister. The plot centers around a holy war that has been ongoing for a century between the Tranavians and Kalyazi. On the Kalyazin side, you have the people loyal to the old ways. The believe in and obey the Gods and their power is sourced from them. Tranavia has started using blood magic completely separate from the Gods and the people are considered heretics or atheists. The religious Kalyazi are fighting a losing battle and need a miracle to come back from the losses they've suffered.

The book drew me in from the first few pages in a tense battle scene. The High Prince of Tranavia storms the mountaintop monastery where a cleric named Nadya has been hiding. These clerics who harness the power of Gods are dwindling in numbers, because they've been hunted and killed. If Nadya were to be captured, it could turn the tide of war for good. Most can only communicate with one God, but inexplicably she has the ability to draw power from every single one. Chosen by the goddess of death, she has limitless powers that are unimaginably strong. The blood mages can't begin to compete with the gifts bestowed upon her and that makes her a target if what she can do were to be revealed to them.

Once Nadya escapes the prince and his men, her goal is to avoid detection and stay alive. Until suddenly her path crosses with a group of people she'd never expect to join forces with. And yet, she finds herself joining them in a common goal: to kill the king of Tranavia and end the godforsaken war. On her end, she has the added motivation to give the enemy land back to the Gods she reveres. Malachiasz, Parijahan, and Rashid all have their own personal reasons driving their part in the assassination plot. Some are more forthcoming than others, and Nadya can't help but keep her guard up. Even though she begins to feel a bond growing between them, she doesn't dismiss the possibility of betrayal. Especially after she discovers that Malchiasz is not all that he seems.

The romance that develops is subtle, gradual, and doesn't overwhelm the main conflicts. You could feel their attraction to each other steadily growing in the background, but it's always with an ominous feel. As if it's ill-advised and doomed to end in spectacularly tragic fashion. I know a lot of fantasy readers don't care for romance mixed in, but I think both sides will be satisfied in that regard because it had the perfect balance.

As I said, the book had a strong start for me personally, but then it slowed down considerably and I had problems staying invested in the story. I struggled with keeping all of the names straight and the pronunciation which didn't help matters. The writing itself was great for a debut author. It was an interesting magic system with blood mages, clerics, and some pretty grotesque and creepy Vultures who were by far the most sinister in the book. I just think that there was just a definite disconnect for me with the characters and it caused the pace to drag.

There were several unanswered questions in the end, such as the truth about Nadya's abilities and the Gods' true identities. However, as the first book in a trilogy you can expect the plot to be left unresolved for the time being. The story leaves off with a surprising revelation and twist, and there is plenty of room for the story to expand now that the background and world building has been established.

If you're looking for a new series to start that is filled with magic, monsters, and mayhem, stop right here.

Wicked Saints is a book that I am so very glad I took a chance on. From the gorgeous eye drawing cover to the alluring synopsis, it truly lived up to both.

Fast paced and completely unique I was sucked in from the very first bloody chapter. And that blood, that darkness, it continued throughout the whole story and I couldn't of been happier about it.

To say I was intrigued with this story is an understatement. It consumed me with it's brilliance, it's uniqueness, and with its utterly engaging storyline. I just couldn't get enough. Things were put on hold, phone calls ignored and pages were turned faster than they ever have before.

The lies, the deceit, the conspiracies. The blood. Truly a stand out read unlike most in the genre and one that I soon won't be forgetting and will be eagerly awaiting for the next.

When I first received the e-mail for the blog tour I got really excited for Wicked Saints. It said it was inspired by Eastern Europe (and hey, that’s technically next door), the author mentions Slavic folklore in her bio (and hey, I’m Slavic), so I didn’t want to pass on the opportunity.
This is a good book. But it’s not a five star for me at this point in time.
I feel like for this book to be enjoyed fully it takes a state of mind that I simply wasn’t in when I was reading it. Because of this I had a hard time connecting to the characters and the plot.
That being said, THIS IS A GOOD BOOK.
The writing flows very well and it captures the atmosphere of each scene beautifully. The story is interesting, the plot is executed well and well-paced, and the world-building does a great job at setting it all up for the sequels in the series. The characters are well-developed and intriguing, I liked Nadezhda best of them all (btw, did you know that the name comes from the word надеж (read NAH-dezh) means hope? If you like symbolism including symbolic names, there’s a whole lot for you in this book).
Wicked Saints does a whole lot of things right. And even though it wasn’t for me, you should definitely give it a shot.

In Wicked Saints we follow the points of view of two characters: nadya and serefin, both characters on opposing sides of an endless religious war. Serefin is the high prince of a country that has rejected the ‘gods’ and has in turn adopted a more progressive form of magic, if you dare, which is basically blood magic. The whole country is deemed as heretic because of the fact that they use their own blood to cast magic spells instead of letting the ‘divine gods’ do the work using the person as a vessel, which is the magic that is present where nadya comes from. Nadya is the last known cleric who happens to be able to speak to every single god of the pantheon, something that has never been seen before, because of course, it wouldn’t be ya fantasy if the protagonist wasn’t a special snowflake, am I right? Well, as interesting as this setting could have been, the story just fell apart as soon as it started. the magic system has no logic whatsoever as to how it works or what are its limitations, it’s just something that exists and you have to go with the flow of thinking you understand what is going on or how these characters do the things they do with it. If you can suspend your disbelief for the entirety of the book, then I’m pretty sure you’re going to love this, unfortunately, this wasn’t my case. Taken the aspect of the magic system being extremely vague and convenient aside, I need to talk about how EVERYTHING that happened in this book was just one huge convenience. The characters never once encountered an obstacle that wasn’t easily faced. They need to forge papers to enter the mouth of the enemy kingdom? well good luck one of the members of this crew is a perfect forger and will be able to find the materials necessary to forge said documents without any problems even though they have been on the run and living in the middle of a freaking forest! The country is riddled with enemy military? never fear, in this book you will not ONCE encounter one single soldier and you will be able to enter the border without a single glance at you. We have to kill the king to stop this war? easy peasy, there’s a royal tradition that is allowing RANDOM people to enter the palace AND LIVE IN THE ROYAL PALACE (???) to try and gain the heir’s hand in marriage, we should totally sign up the ENEMY girl into it without any problems! done, done and done. You see where I’m going? everything was so simple, everything just always fell into place, and I was tired of reading something that I knew was going to work out because apparently these characters never faced a single hindrance in their journey.

I love myself an enemies to lovers story. I’m a sucker for those stories…when they are written well. Wicked Saints was not the case. This book has been flaunted everywhere as the next best thing when it comes to that trope, but I have to digress with every single one who said such a thing. The author was so adamant in reminding the reader of this supposed ‘enmity’ between the characters when there was clearly nothing there. When you have to repeat over and over something just so that people will believe in it, I don’t think you’re doing a great job at CREATING said enmity. It would have been better if she had spent the book developing the characters and SHOWING us why we are to believe these characters are enemies than her drilling into our heads that they were enemies just because. The result of that was that everything felt forced; saying you are enemies does not make you enemies. You have to give me something concrete for me to believe in your supposed enmity. Malachiasz, the character we are to believe is our female protagonist sworn enemy, is a deserter, therefore, he is on the same side of the war as hers throughout the majority of the book; he wants an end to the war so why should I believe you when you tell me they are sworn enemies? it doesn’t make sense…….

When it comes to the side characters in Wicked Saints, they were extremely vague to the point where I could not even begin to differentiate between them; I could not tell you which one was which, they were all the same with lacking personalities because the author did not even made the attempt at proper characterization or give her characters a little bit of depth. And I can also say the same thing for the main three characters: they are the poster boy and girl of every other YA-fantasy character. The girl who is the ‘chosen one’ who is going to stop an endless war because ‘sHe Is So SpEcIaL’, she’s the special snowflake who has unique powers never seen before, and everybody wants her powers for themselves. The bad boy, the enemy who is the brooding and scowling guy who falls for her, as it always happens. They were every other character you always find in a YA book, there was nothing to make them stand out from the overly repetitive characters of the genre, which made me dissapointed but not surprised. After all, the genre has been severely lacking innovation for years now. The only silver lining in this boredom of a book -and the reason of this one star rating, because if I could, I’d have given it 0 stars- was the point of view of the high prince, Serefin, but unfortunately his role in the overall arc of the story wasn’t even that important. He was relegated to the background of a romance that lacked chemistry, depth and organical development….and for what? I guess saying your book focuses on an enemies to lovers ship nowadays sells a lot more.

This is nothing against the author, it’s just a personal opinion on what I felt was an overall lacking book: lacking in plot, lacking in characterization and lacking in world building -because let’s be real, naming gods and things in slavic does not equal world building-. I wish this would have been what was sold to me when I requested an arc, but it ended up being a dissapointment.

Nadya is divine, she can talk to the Gods and, with their permission, use their powers. She lives in a monastery where she was left as a child. Serefin is the High Prince who has been at the front line of the century-long war between Nadya’s country and his own heretic country since his father placed him there at only sixteen. After an attack on Nadya’s home, she must escape, running into some new friends on the way. Nadya’s new friends find out who she really is and think they finally have a shot at ending the war by killing the heretic king. With their master plan, they all slip into the heretic country using magic disguises. Secrets are revealed, hearts are broken, and you won’t be able to put this book down.
Let me start off by saying that I almost did not request this book, but I am SO glad I chawed my mind. Wicked Saints is only the first book in the Something Dark and Holy trilogy, and it’s just being published and I’m already antsy about reading the next one. I absolutely loved this book. The writing style, the characters, the themes, everything. I loved it all. I could not put it down. There’s fighting, there’s magic, there’s love, there’s secrets, there’s betrayal, this book has it all. I highly recommend this book to every young adult and fantasy book lover.
The author did such a great job with the way this book is written. The beginning isn’t slow like some 300+ page books (or series) usually are, but you also get all the information you need not to be confused about what is going on. The beginning of the book jumps right into the story and keeps a fairly good pace throughout with no dull points. The characters are great as well. As you read, you can definitely feel the internal struggle that Nadya is facing throughout the majority of the book because of the choices she must make to avenge her people. You can also feel all of Serefin’s smugness and paranoia throughout the book as well. It was definitely easy to get immersed in this story.

<b>Trigger warning: this novel contains references to parental abuse, self-harm and alcoholism.</b>

<b><i><blockquote>My name is Nadezhda Lapteva, she thought. I am from the monastery in the Baikkle Mountains. I am a cleric of the divine. I am here to kill the king and end this war.
She would bring this country to its knees.</b></i></blockquote>

When I decided I wanted to get back into the reviewing game, I told myself I would be more subjective. I told myself I wouldn't up a book a star just because a small portion of it blew me away. I told myself I would be more critical.

In truth, I went into <i>Wicked Saints</i> feeling all of the above. Hyped as it is, I was <b>ready to enjoy it but also ready to resist its dark seductions.</b> But it's impossible. Duncan weaves a dark, enthralling tale about deities, evils and the very blurred line between incredibly well, and I am <b>in love.</b>

Nadya is a cleric brought up in a monastery, far up in the mountains and away from civilization. Her whole life she has literally been in touch with the twenty or so gods the Kalyazin's worship -- they live in her head and grant her unimaginable powers.

<b><i><blockquote>The recorded histories never spoke of clerics who could hear more than one god. That Nadya communed with the entire pantheon was a rarity the priests who trained her could not explain.</b></i></blockquote>

When Nadya escapes an attack on the monastery by the warring soldiers of Tranavia, amidst a holy war, she finds unlikely help in people she has been brought up to believe are the enemies. But in <i>Wicked Saints</i>, it quickly appears that not everything as it seems, and sometimes help comes in the form of the most unlikely.

<b><i><blockquote>Cannons only meant one thing: blood magic. And blood magic meant Tranavians. For a century a holy war had raged between Kalyazin and Tranavia. Tranavians didn't care that their blood mgic profaned the gods. If they had their way, the gods' touch would be eradicated from Kalyazin like it been from Tranavia.</b></i></blockquote>

I quickly fell in love with Duncan's rich story-telling, spellbinding world-building and exceptional characters. There isn't a single character in <i>Wicked Saints</i> I dislike, and even evil High Prince Serefin is incredibly likable and quirky.

Although this is a "dark fantasy" there is plenty of humour, and even though it is incredibly gory (nothing flowery and sweet can come from "blood magic" after all) at no point did I feel like it was <b>too much.</b> The world-building and information given to us on both Tranavia and Kalyazin makes for rich, enthralling atmospheres and a genuinely enjoyable story.

<i><b><blockquote>Symbols fell from her lips like glowing glimmers of smoke and every star in the sky winked out.
Well, that was more extreme than I intended, Nadya though with a wince. I should've known better than to ask Horz for anything.</i></b></blockquote>

My only complaint would be the use of alcoholism. <spoiler>I feel like Serefin's addiction is never addressed, and it's a incredibly sad to see a character lean on alcohol so heavily, especially at such a young age, especially when alcoholism is such a prominent problem in today's day and age.</spoiler> I'm hoping that this will be something that is addressed in later novels.

All in all, <i>Wicked Saints</i> deserves the praise it's been getting. Prepare for magic, adventure, political intrigue and a story that will topple empires.

<i>Thank you to St Martins Press & Netgalley for providing me with a copy of Wicked Saints to review.</i>

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books and St Martin’s Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"We’re all monsters, Nadya. Some of us just hide it better than others.”

A dark and religion-oriented high fantasy...It is not what I expected...It was darker than I anticipated.

A religious good girl falling for evil bad boy sounding like a cliche but the way it was entwined in the story It didn't feel like one.

The story was told by Nadya a Kalyazin cleric who communicates with gods and Serefin young prince and war leader of Tranavia who is responsible for all of the losses in Nadya's life. Malachiasz is a twisted character which left you guessing who he is really.

So If I talk about the story it is different from other fantasies, It got different elements from religion, family politics, war, betrayal, love, friendship. 

But the thing which was off for me was the pace of the story, It was so difficult to get into the book but once you are into then it was nice, In the starting, there was too many information to handle though with time you know each and everything but It is hard to digest too many things at once and the last sometimes pace was a bit slow.

The ending wasn't what I expected which made me really happy :D

Overall if you love DARK FANTASIES, then go for it.

Gods, lore, death. This book was already going to be a win for me based off of the description. It's a YA fantasy read that's fast paced, full of action, religious canon, and monsters. Full review to come, but right now, this is high up on my new YA to-recommend to friends list..

I was so excited when I heard about this book, but once I got to a certain point, I realized that the content was too much for me, with too little payoff. Not my style and no characters to pull me emotionally in, this is a phone in for me, unfortunately.

Full review to come closer to release date.

Wicked Saints was a wild ride that pulled me in from the first few chapters. These characters grabbed hold of me and didn't let me go until the very last page.

Nadya - the Kalyazi divine touched cleric who can call upon the gods in times of need. Loyalty sworn to the Goddess of Death and Winter; while still gifted with the ability to call upon the other 19 Gods and Goddesses of the Pantheon. She is thrust into the war she prepared he whole life for when her monastery is attacked by the dreaded blood mages of Tranavia.

Serefin - High Prince of Tranavia and highly skilled blood mages fighting on the front lines of the Kalyazi/Tranavian war. Called home at a most in opportune time by his father while hunting a Kalyazi cleric to find a bride. He suspects there is something amiss with his call home and begins looking into reasons his father would call him away from the war when it is so close to being won.

Malachiasz - Mysterious Tranavian Blood Mage who offers to help Nadya in an attempt to assassinate the Tranavian King. He has fled his country in hopes to find a way to stop the war, but has more secrets than any of his companions know.

We struggle alongside these characters as they try to navigate the waters of magic and the Devine. What truely makes someone a monster, and are what the gods demanding of these characters in their best interest? Who are these gods and how did they come into being? Strap in for these questions and more in a story of love, inner strength, sacrifice, and betrayal in a rich new series that will leave you salavating for more.