I thoroughly enjoyed Wicked Saints to the extent that I am not sure I put it down once I started reading. The world Duncan creates is both compelling and terrifying, with characters that grown and develop along with the lusciously detailed plot. My only complaint is that I want more! It felt as though the story ended right as it reached its climax, which is typical of many series, but I was still disappointed to be left with such a massive blow. Sign me up for the next book, please.

Strap in for this one and get ready for a roller coaster of emotions, twists, and turns. I would highly recommend this to lovers of YA fantasy and fans of Leigh Bardugo especially.

"The girl, the monster, and the prince." - wicked saints

This dark fantasy started with a bang and didn't stop. Emily Duncan has created the perfect dark morally grey world where you can't decide who to love most and which team should be rooted for. The world of Gods built in was absolutely perfect and I seriously can not wait to see how it plays out.

Nadya is the main POV you follow for book one along with her maybe helpful gods, Nadya is as far we know the only cleric left to have the gods help for her kingdom. Malachiasz is our second POV he has serious misguided dark vibes and I'm so in love with his character even though I'm afraid to be. Serefin is our final POV mixed into this crazy mess. He is our dark prince thrown into the world of war and trying to save his kingdom from it all.

ahhh so many feels wrapped into this puzzle. Who will win in the end of this war? Will there be anything left to save or is everyone wrong about their end goal? Only time will tell!

I highly recommend you check out this book if you love dark, goth fantasy, nevernight, mythological stories or an action packed journey!

*Complete review will be posted on April 5 2019 as part of the blog tour. Check it out here: https://dmcireadsblog.wordpress.com/ *

If you love Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy, you will surely love this new incoming amazing series! Get ready for a darker and bloody Grishaverse that you’ll ever read this year!

The world building in this book is phenomenal. Two worlds are at war – Kalyazin (Russia) and Tranavia (Polish) – they’re colliding perfectly and seeing the darker sides of both protagonist is really good. The alternating of the protagonists balances the story to know the both sides of our major characters. So many things going on this book. It’s fast paced and every next page and next chapter are tight read. You can’t easily put it down. When the action started like a “BANG!” I already know that this book will be one of my favorite. It’s also a NON-STOP “BANG!” actions with a brutality and gruesome and dark – there’s also a hint of parental abuse. But one of the downs that I'm struggling while reading this book is that there are so many information that overwhelms to take me in especially on Nadya’s side. Many theories and things to take in and it’s kind of confuses me while reading so I tend to re-reading the chapter again before going to another chapter. Then the NAMES, oh no, so hard pronounce the names. It’s pretty complicated so I hope there will be like “how to pronounce names” section on the finish copies itself.

Overall, I was really in shock on reading Wicked Saints. There are so much to say but I really can’t say anything. All I can say is, just grab the book once it published because you don’t want to miss this awesome book. Now, I have to survive and wait until 2020 for the second book. That’s a pretty long wait, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it ;D

Wicked Saints was amazing and I was taken by surprise a few times!
Nadya can commune with the Gods and they grant her great power. The story opens to war and Nadya and her friend Anna find themselves alone trying to run from the Prince who wants her for her powerful blood. He's a blood mage (uses magic through the power of blood). 
Nadya and Anna find themselves meeting up with a small group of strangers who want to kill the king and put an end to the war, but they need Nadya's help. Will she help these strangers instead of returning to her own king to learn what he wants her to do. She's spent her entire life inside a monastery letting others fight and die to protect her, but she's done. She doesn't want to lose more loved ones and she is ready to fight and find out how much power she really has. 
Ducan pulled me in quick and it was hard to put the book down, though there were a few slow moments, the book was full of twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next. I cannot wait for book 2. This is a must read for the year. I highly recommend it.

Action packed, brutal, and layered with mountains of secrets, this read sinks in its claws and leaves a mark.

Two countries are at war. One worships the gods. The other has set themselves against them. Nadya lives in the first of these and is a cleric, the only one to whom all gods speak with and funnel their powers through. Her magic is strong, and she knows it will one day be her duty alone to stop the war. But when the enemy forces unexpectedly attack the abbey she's been training in and her best friend dies, her goal changes. She wants revenge. Running for her life, she runs across one of the enemies, a boy who not only wields the sacrilege blood magic but claims he's turned against his own king and wants to destroy him. Nadya agrees to help and sneaks into the enemy castle with one intent—kill the king.

From the very first page, this read grabs and holds. Nadya immediately finds herself in danger and grabs empathy as she tries to escape from the sudden attack. The tension shoots off right away, and the author even manages to make the entire scene open up with logic and no holes. Nadya is determined and strong, and yet, unsure as she has to embark on her destiny much earlier than she expected. She doesn't feel ready, and it's exactly this which makes her easy to relate to.

This is not a read for the more sensitive adventurers but embraces morbid aggression, brutality and rivers of blood. The blood magic is not a light endeavor, and the dark side of it is not masked. Nadya is on a dangerous mission and for very good reasons, and the author does not play this down.

The other characters in the story embody gray areas as well as outright evil. Nobody seems to be completely pure, which makes Nadya shine all the more...and teeter on her own morals. It's a game of walk the fence, where it is always clear where the correct path really lies. It's exactly this fight along what is right and what is really wrong which digs in deep.

With all of the wondrous world building, intrigue and tension, there is also a romance. While this played along a very intriguing line and worked to pull some interesting strings at the end, it wasn't laid quite right, and the chemistry didn't convince to the extent it had to. Even the ending didn't hit the required note as the characters progressed too much in a certain direction and too quickly...even a little confusingly. The state they reach, unfortunately, shot past what I was able to relate to and care about, making me question how anything can advance in the next book on a scale which makes the characters easy to relate to.

Still, it's a tense read and one darker fantasy fans are sure to enjoy.

I received a complimentary copy through Netgalley and was completely pulled in by this read.

Nadya might be her country's last hope. She is one of the last clerics - folks who can talk to the gods . And while most clerics only can talk to one god, Nadya can speak with all of them. While honing her skills and powers at a monastery, the monastery is unexpectedly attacked by a neighboring country, and Nadya must go on the run. Not long after fleeing the palace, she meets up with a rag-tag group of rebels, who only want to stop the war. Nadya joins them as their plot starts with murdering the neighboring country's king.

Clearly, Emily Duncan has read and enjoyed some Leigh Bardugo. As a fellow Leigh Bardugo fan, I was not mad about how much this series was obviously inspired by the Grishaverse. Its got the same Russian inspired atmosphere, and its more than a little evil. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I didn't even mind the love interest, even though it was instalove, predictable and often angsty. I raced through this to get to the conclusion, and really loved how bloody it was. The bits where Nadya was talking to the gods and struggling with her religion were fun to read and thought-provoking at times. That said, this book is pretty clearly a debut. The writing gets a bit purple at time, twists are telegraphed early, and you read all that stuff I just said about the romance, right? Nonetheless, the book is fast paced, and while I skimmed parts, I ultimately enjoyed it.

If you are looking for a fun, if occasionally cliche YA fantasy, you'll devour this one. Otherwise, give this one to teens who can't get enough of Leigh Bardugo. They'll immediately want the sequel. 3 stars - I liked it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday books for the advance copy, which I received in exchange for an honest review. Wicked Saints will be available for purchase on 02 April, or you can put your copy on hold today!

Somewhere around 2.5 Stars.

Well let’s start off by saying that I LOVE the premise of Wicked Saints. The core of the story is amazing, the plot and ideas are fantastic. BUT... the execution was lacking and overall weakened what could have been pure brilliance. It pains me to not be able to give this book a better review or rating because I love the idea of it so much.

It ultimately boils down to lack of descriptions and world-building. You have these characters, that you could mostly visualize, but it’s as if you could only see a couple feet beyond them and then it’s just blank. You walk into a room and be told there’s a chaise and a table but nothing else. Is it opulent? Is it austere? There was no detail.

The characters would be traveling for miles and miles, and after multiple chapters, suddenly it’s mentioned one of them is mounting a horse. They’ve been traveling by horse? I had no idea. They’re in snow or marshlands or entering a city, and there’d be a little description but not enough. Once again you could only see a couple feet beyond each character.

Lastly, the author used a turn of phrase that irks me, and she used it A LOT. “This boy”, “This broken boy”, “This monstrous, beautiful boy”, “This adjective, adjective, adjective boy”. Every third page seemed to have a variation of this phrasing. And it wasn’t limited to describing one character. If it doesn’t bother you as a reader, then okay. But for me, it’s a style of writing that feels unpolished and unimaginative. I cringe.

But man-o-man I wish none of that were true. Because I really do love the core of this story, the author has thought up something amazing, and it needs to be a bigger book (even for just being book 1). I just wanted so much more from Wicked Saints.

* I received a free digital copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book didn't quite live up to all the hype that I had built up in my head. While it wasn't what I planned, it did live up to the darkness aspect it promised because there was so much blood and horror. So if you would be triggered by blood, violence and self-harm, I would stay clear of this book.

Another major problem I had was with the main character Nadya, whom for some reason becomes a secondary character in her own story. The book--through Nadya--becomes a book about Malachiaz. It made my sad because I thought we (YA world) had moved on from this type of story telling. I wanted more for her instead she's reduced to a love interest/one dimensional character. I kept waiting for the twist and turns from this frustrating trope but unfortunately that never happened.

I have been anticipating this book for so long now and let me tell you it did not disappoint! Secrets, Saints, romance, light vs dark. I do not want to give this book away but please give it a try! It will blow you out of the water!

2 Stars - DNF

I wanted to like this book so badly. An upcoming fantasy release about two warring countries, each with their own type of magic and religion and a story about the characters at the center of it all sounded like a book that I would really enjoy. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into this story. It ddidn't capture me and I really tried to give it a chance before I finally gave up about halfway through.

My first big issue was with the names of the characters. I understand that when writing a book set in a foreign country the names should reflect that, but when I couldn't pronounce then there wound up being a bit of a disconnect. That by itself wasn't a huge problem, but rather one of many. In this book there were so many names though, names of saints, of gods and of course, of characters, all of which I could hardly pronounce which lead to much confusion and skimming. I also didn't find myself connecting much to the characters themselves. Nadya was an orphan who grew up in a monastery, so her back story was practically blank, leaving little to develop upon and connect with. There seemed to be little depth to all of the characters in the story.

While the plot had promise, I was bored most of the time while reading. A few interesting scenes kept me going and I really liked the ideas behind the different types of magic, but I found this book incredibly easy to put down. I had to push myself to read it or to pick it back up. I don't know if the writing wasn't compelling or that I just didn't feel connected to the story, but after a couple days of trying to force myself to read this book I finally decided to just set it aside.

I really wanted to like this book, but sadly I didn't really enjoy reading it. I never felt connected to the characters, I couldn't pronounce a lot of the names, which lead to a lot of skimming and confusion and I didn't find the story compelling enough to push myself to finish reading the book. I normally love fantasy novels with intricate religious systems, but all the saints and gods of the religions in this book were just too much. I found it hard to make myself care about reading this story. Wicked Saints was overall a huge disappointment for me.

When I first began reading this book, I drew parallels to the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo--the Russian inspired setting, the religious magic connection. (This is a great thing, I love Bardugo’s worlds). This book also became its own world. Wicked Saints follows two perspectives on either side of a religious war, Nadya and Serefin. Nadya is a Kalyazi cleric, granted divine magic of the Gods.Serefin is a Tranavian prince and blood mage. Nadya’s world is turned upside down when Serefin destroys her home in search of capturing her. She narrowly escapes and is forced to team up with a rogue Tranavian named Malachiasz and two refugees. Nadya struggles with this alliance with a “heretic,” as well as keeping her faith strong. The story follows the four of them sneaking into Tranavia to kill their king, and Serefin’s struggle to thwart his father’s (the king’s) plot to murder him. What I probably loved the most about the book was the vivid setting and religious history, which was so well crafted and vivid. However, I had a few gripes about the book. First, the characters fell a bit flat; I wish we had gotten to know more about their backgrounds, especially Nadya. I wanted to love the characters, but I was a bit detached. Additionally, Nadya contradicted herself many times, and the pacing was a bit uneven. Despite these problems, the story kept me engaged, wanting to know what came next. Additionally, the ending left me excited for where the sequel. I am hopeful that we’ll get to know the characters better in book 2, and I’m excited to see where the story goes next.

Set in a world with two countries at holy war – Kalyazin believes in the gods and has clerics that can talk with them and be granted powers and Tranavia only believes in the power that they create with blood magic. Nadya is one of the last clerics and can work with the entire pantheon of gods and wants to save her country. Serefin is the High Prince of Tranavia, a strong blood mage, and sick of the war. And then there is Malachiasz, a Tranavian defector that isn’t at all what he seems. The three characters enter a tentative alliance to take down the Tranavian king in the hopes of stopping the war. I mostly liked this book with a few caveats. I loved the mix of politics, magic and power. I enjoyed Nadya’s character for the most part – she was willing to question her beliefs when shown something different. But what I didn’t like is the romance. Rarely does the enemies-to-lovers troupe work for me and this one seemed a little forced. The betrayal at the end did help (for me at least) just to make less cookie-cutter. I will give the next book a chance in the hopes that the romance is left behind, because I think the setup for the next one is definitely intriguing.

[this review will be up on my blog, acquadimore.wordpress.com, on April 1, 2019, as part of the Wicked Saints blog tour.]

Wicked Saints is a love letter to villain romance fans.

With its gothic atmosphere, discussions on the nature of godhood, and complex, mysterious magic system tied to religion, Wicked Saints is without a doubt one of the most interesting and accomplished YA fantasy debuts of these last few years.
And if you know me, you might also know that I'm definitely a villain romance fan, so yes - of course - I loved this book.

This book isn't for the faint of heart. If you don't like to read what from YA standards is extreme gray morality - involving casual scenes of torture, murder, and a lot of spilled blood - I don't recommend it. Otherwise, I really do, especially if you're the kind of person who is into the gothic aesthetic, villain-related tropes, and reading book which have epigraphs at the beginning of every chapter, especially if they tell you about fantasy clerics, saints, and the gruesome ways they were martyred.

One of the strongest points of this novel are the characters. Wicked Saints follows two points of view, but the major characters are three:
💀 Nadezhda "Nadya" Lapteva, a Kalyazi cleric who can "commune with the gods", which means that her prayers are usually listened. I loved that she could be both very stabby and compassionate (despite the disconcertingly popular opinion, I didn't want her to be a sociopath), and I really liked reading her relationship with her faith. She has god-granted magic, so she is a chosen one, but what this book does with that trope is definitely not... traditional.
💀 Serefin Meleski, very tired blood mage and Tranavian prince. If his father has any say on the matter, he will not inherit the throne. He's a really morally gray character who spends a surprising amount of time being unconscious for various reasons, of which the main one really made me worry for his liver. I didn't understand why people were even trying to assassinate him when they could have just waited alcohol poisoning to do their work.
💀 Malachiasz Czechowicz, powerful Tranavian blood mage who escaped the Vulture cult. He's overdramatic, possibly unhinged, and of course he's my favorite character - he's the kind of person who goes from terrible blood spells and murder to flopping face-first into chaises. He has no idea of what he's doing and too many plans at the same time. Misdirection is probably his favorite hobby.

There are also some fascinating side characters, like Pelageya the witch, the enigmatic noble Żaneta Ruminska (I hope to see more of her), and the iconic flirty lesbian Ostyia Rabalska. I also liked Rashid, the Akolan scribe, but never really got a sense of who Kacper and Parijahan really were, so I hope they will be more developed in the sequel.

A lot of people are already comparing the romance to Alina/Darkling in Shadow and Bone. While I loved the romance in this book and especially what happened during the ending, I don't think these couples are similar at all. Wicked Saints will probably appeal to most Shadow and Bone fans because of the aesthetic, similar fantasy religious themes and villain romance elements, but in this book the love interest is very much a chaotic teenage boy. More than the Darkling, if I had to compare him to someone, I'd say that he's a dark version of Howl (Howl's Moving Castle).

Another thing I really appreciated about this book was the worldbuilding. It's the story about two countries at war, which could have felt cliché, but this story makes it very clear that there isn't a good side just like there are many things the PoV characters are not aware of - as it happens when you're in a world where gods exist and sometimes kind of directly influence things.
The magic system was also really interesting, because I love when those are tied to religion (what this book said about heresy and what it even means to be a god? Wonderful. More of that in the sequel, please). However, I would have liked to know more about its limits - I still don't have a clear idea of what the magic can do in here, and while in a way it made sense because neither do the characters narrating, it got confusing sometimes. Especially in the ending, which took me three rereads to actually understand.

I have some mixed feelings about the writing, because while on one hand this author writes dialogue and sexual tension in a way that is effective and feels effortless (it was addicting and funny and I wish any of this weren't that uncommon in YA fantasy), I found that this book was unbalanced. It over-explained at times and then didn't explain anything directly in the last 15%. Also - and this is more of a personal preference - for a book with this aesthetic, the writing is surprisingly plain? I'm not saying I needed it to have the purplest prose to ever purple, which seems to be a trend in books that don't need it at all, but... it could have handled being purpler.

This book also felt unbalanced because of the pacing, which - especially during the first half - was uneven, and I didn't really get a sense of the passage of time, but I didn't mind that too much: I was far too invested in the characters and world to ever feel bored, which is usually the main side effect of flawed pacing.

I expected more of this book, given the hype it already has even before its publication. The story is not all bad, but its extremely slow pacing and confusing plot made the reading experience not so pleasant for me. The only character I actually enjoyed was Serefin, he was interesting to read about. Nadya on the other hand was not, she was a female character that had no agency, she just went with other people’s plans without question for plot convenience. Mal was very similar to another popular ya character, even the plot twist was kind of the same so I wasn’t invested in him or his story. The world building was the only element that seemed nice and consistent to me and the connection i felt to Serefin might make me consider reading the next book.

Game of Thrones meets Children of Blood and Bone in this action-packed YA fantasy novel. Nadya is a girl of the gods. Her country is at war with Tranavia, a land that loathes the gods and relies on blood magic for power. The two countries will come crashing together when the prince of Tranavia infiltrates Nadya's home, setting in motion a chain of events that neither country saw coming.

I always love a good fantasy novel, and this was no exception. The originality here by Emily A. Duncan shone through, going so far as to create new languages and concepts specific to this world. I really liked Nadya as a main character and related to the internal struggles she grappled with throughout the book, not knowing whether she should have faith in her gods or realign her actions with what she felt was right regardless of the gods' will.

I struggled slightly in the beginning of the book to grasp what was going on, just because this is an entirely new world that the author creates, so it took some time to gain enough understanding of the two countries and their motivations. But once I got 20 - 30% of the way through, I was fully on board. The names of some of the characters were a tad difficult to pronounce as they were long and foreign, with many consonants together that we wouldn't typically see in English. I would be very interested to listen to this one on audio just to hear how the narrator pronounces some of the names and words that were new to me.

Overall, would recommend this to most people that enjoy the fantasy genre. Like I said, it was reminiscent of Game of Thrones in that there are multiple kingdoms fighting for ultimate power, with lots of magical elements thrown in the mix. It was a fun read, and I'm excited to see what the next book in the series holds.

P.S. The author does leave you on quite a bit of a cliffhanger in the end, so don't be disappointed when everything isn't wrapped up nicely with a bow on top by the last page.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Emily A. Duncan, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review.-

I have nothing but amazing things to say!! If you know me at all, you know I am trash for a dark, twisty fantasy and that is exactly what Wicked Saints brings us. This is the first book in what will be a trilogy and I am already PUMPED for the sequels. The world building was astounding … and the world that was built was horrid! The only thing harsher than the environment, was our main characters! This story was … simply put, gruesome! I LOVED switching between Nadya and Serefin’s POVs and Malachiasz is the epitome of all our guilty ~Mysterious, Bad-Boy, Rebel~ pleasures. The book perfectly mixed dark, political drama and imaginative, magical fantasy. Any fans of the Grisha verse and Nevernight should definitely consider checking this out.
Trigger warning for self-harm – practice safe reading, BookNerds!

Rating: 5⭐️

Where did I stop: Page 36Why? That comes in under my 50 page minimum. Why? Because it took me over an hour to get there and I was barely engaged when I was reading it. Between the slew of hard-to-remember names/characters (upwards of a dozen, in the first 36 pages), not to include the gods the protagonist was talking to, the thrown-into-the-middle-of-it-all setting, and not knowing left from right, it was just too much to focus on and keep straight. Plus, right from the get-go, it felt very Shadow and Bone. Like a bit too much. I couldn't help but make that connection, what with all the Russian-but-not-Russian names and the special girl who can do the thing that will save them all. Based on some of the reviews I read of people who read the whole book, a lot of them came to the same conclusion so it appears it's not just the beginning of the book. Too dense, too much, too quick, too many characters with difficult-to-remember names all smashing into each other. It's like Game of Thrones and Russian Boggle all mixed into one.

Wicked Saints was a wonderful read.
I loved the world in itself and how it was built. The magic systems were very interesting. I particularly loved the mythology : learning about the Gods and the cleric each chapter beginnings was great. Malachiasz was delightful and Serephin very lovable. For the other characters though I would have taken more characters development. The book started right in the action but I would have liked to learn more about the monastic life, or about Nadya herself, before jumping in the story. The pace was great, but I really wouldn't have mind some slower scenes to explore more character debt on Nadezdha's side.

What I didn't like was to hate to love romance. It was obvious from the beginning, kinda slow burn, but mostly very cringy. We want a strong heroin who's not a slave to her feelings about a boy.

Some parts got me very confused. (WARNING SPOILER:) like is the God veil really gone and if so how come ? I know that not every things can be explained and that some parts are left to discover but some technically just puzzled me. I usually decided to keep reading but maybe three times I reread a page to try and understand how they had gone from a certain situation A to result B.

It wasn't clear as to when the cloaking device was working, how it was really working, it's not even mentioned why/how/when it's being removed.

Final thing. People keep touching each other's faces for every reasons and it makes me uncomfortable. But maybe that's just me !

I can't wait for book two. This was so original. A real good fantasy I will recommend.

Wicked Saints, first book in its series, was a very interesting read. It takes place in a world where countries are at war due to their beliefs, spells are performed using blood and prayers are answered through a two-way conversations. At the center of the story we have Nadya, a cleric, Serefin, a prince and Malachiasz, a defected Vulture. This story is told by two POVs, Nadya and Serefin's. Which makes it interesting because Malachiasz plays a very important role in the story, but we don't know his inner thoughts. His character is the one with the most secrets and are some are revealed at the end. I'm hoping there is a reason for what he did in the following books.
It began a little slow for me, but the story picked up and got very interesting towards the end. I had a little difficulty with the pronunciation of the names, very original and unique though. The story ends with me wanting to know what is going to happen with these three.

Wicked Saints was dark and dangerous. It was unlike anything I've read in YA fantasy. Its full of blood magic, betrayal and forbidden romance.

We have two warring countries: Kalyazin and Travania. One follows the gods, one performs blood magic. They have been at war for over a century and the tide is beginning to turn. Nadya, our main female character, is from Kalyazin and Serefin, the main male character, from Travania.

The book is told from both Nadya and Serefin's POVs and they were really awesome main characters. I found them really interesting. Nadya has her own magic through her gods and Serefin is a blood mage, capable of using blood to control spells. The plot develops to our characters trying to end the war between their countries. We meet some amazing side characters, all of whom play a key role in the rebellion and plans to stop the war.

This book is really quite dark for YA. It has a lot of blood in it. The magic system was really unique, but not one I overally enjoyed reading because it was indeed so dark. However despite this, Wicked Saints was easy to read and fast paced and I really enjoyed those aspects.

At times Nadya's storyline did bother me a bit because she turns into a bit of a love struck teenager and loses her depth but that's YA for you. I enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers & forbidden romance. Her romance interest is a dark character with a twisted past and is hard to trust. I'm a bit of a sucker for those bad boys.

I have heard this story being compared to The Grisha trilogy, and while it was very similar, I found the characters, magic and plot pretty separate. It was a dark fantasy with war and Russian sounding names and words but that was where I thought the similarities ended.

Overall Wicked Saints was an enjoyable dark fantasy read with forbidden romance, betrayal and rebellion. If these interest you I would suggest picking up Wicked Saints.