Ruthless Gods was a hell of a sequel to Emily A. Duncan's Wicked Saints, and leaves me waiting with baited breath for what comes from the last installment of this trilogy.

Darkness never works alone...

Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who--and what--he’s become.

As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. They’re pieces on a board, being orchestrated by someone… or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer. (Goodreads)



I received an eARC of Ruthless Gods from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like I've been trying to write this review for two weeks. Ruthless Gods was a lot to read, in a good way. It is chaotic and it is magical. It is horrifying and it is beautiful. I loved it.

Because this is a sequel, I'm assuming that you've read Wicked Saints before starting this one. Many of the same trigger warnings apply. Ruthless Gods does need a few trigger warnings that weren't necessary for the first book - minor drug use, imprisonment, body horror, and massive eye trauma. You can see more information about that directly from the author.

Duncan fleshed out many of the existing characters in this book, expanding on relationships and making it all a little bit queerer. We also got some great new characters to fall in love with, fear, and fear for - including gods that are new to both the protagonists and us as readers.

A lot of things changed in Ruthless Gods, which makes it hard to talk about, but I am so excited for book three to come out. If you liked Wicked Saints and body horror doesn't bother you, I highly recommend Ruthless Gods.

You can pick up a copy for yourself from Amazon, Book Depository or Bookshop through our affiliate links. I think you'll enjoy yourself.

I feel like if I would’ve waited until I had a copy in front of my face I would’ve enjoyed this book a lot more. I enjoyed the first book in the series and got attached to the characters. However, in this book I feel like it suffered from middle book syndrome. I’m going to end up continuing the series just to see where it goes but, I’m definitely on edge about what is going to happen. I only was really able to fully follow the novel the last 5 or 6 chapters. I didn’t feel like the plot of this book was easy to follow like the first book was. The book was written very well though and hopefully I will enjoy the third book a lot more than this one. I feel like the atmosphere was just extremely hard to follow.

”Once there was a boy who was shattered into pieces and put back together in the shape of a monster. Once there was a boy who clutched at the remnants of what he had left as it fell through his fingers. Once there was a boy who destroyed what little there was remaining because it wasn’t enough.” — Wicked Saints

Wicked Saints was a book that ripped hearts out and laughed about it. Ruthless Gods was a book that took those hearts, smashed them with a hammer, ran them over with a steamroller, and lit them all on fire to make sure they were well and truly dead. So much happened in this book, much of it very Not Good and the stakes are incredibly high for all involved. The Holy War is far from over and now there’s something deep, dark, and vicious at the center of it all.

Wicked Saints was, without a doubt, a very dark book and if you thought things couldn’t get darker (more hopeless), well, you were wrong. Ruthless Gods is Wicked Saints bigger, meaner, uglier, bloodier sibling, but gods! it’s also such a beautiful book. From Duncan’s impeccable, lyrical writing, to the interactions between some of the characters and their sweet honeyed words. Do not be fooled though — there is no brightness in this book and just when you think there could be, something comes along and murders that thought.

”Things are waking up. Old things, dark things. The old ones who have slept for so very very long.” — Ruthless Gods

The three fated characters are still very much a part of the overall story arc, but their capacities have changed quite a bit from the first book. There are bigger forces at play between the Divine and the heretics, the war between Kalyazin and Tranavia, and things are spiraling out of control very quickly. All are pawns in this game of ruthless gods, but they each have their own agendas as well. Trust isn’t possible when the fate of their world hangs in the balance and it’s anyone’s guess whether this world or these characters will endure.

Aside from the war ramping up by one million notches, there were quite a few surprises and revelations thrown about in this book. Some of those revelations will have a giant impact on the fate of this world, while several others will have a giant impact on the fate of readers’ hearts. All I can say is if you think you’re immune to pretty books breaking your heart, think again. And if this book doesn’t break your heart, then perhaps you didn’t have one to begin with.

”His was not a power that could save. He was made for nothing but destruction, chaos, disaster, pain, pain, pain. — Ruthless Gods

Bottom line — the Something Dark and Holy series is a bloody, dark, gothic masterpiece that’s become one of my top 5 favorites. I can’t wait to see what the third book of this beautifully monstrous series brings to these beloved and broken characters.

*eARC received via NetGalley.

First off one word: WOW! What a great sequel to something I've been anticpating. This book took me a while to read I tried reading the arc back in Ocotober when I first got it because I read wicked saints in September. And I was like: 'Perfect timing, I just finished the first book let's go onto the next one!'
Well nope past Drew u rushed in it.
And so in March of 2020 I buddy read this with my friend Heather but couldn't get into it then. And then April 7 rolled around and I got the audiobook, and finished copy/signed copy from Owlcrate and loved it! This was totally worth the wait!
Now all I have to do is wait until next year for the third and final book in this trilogy! But this might be my favorite sequel of the year and that saying something! Great job Emily! Also I loved the two narrators we had: Natsha Soudek & Tristan Morris! Great job to them for bringing these characters to life!
Ps. Thanks Heather for buddy reading this one with me!(:

I loved Wicked Saints. I loved how dark it was. The somber tune. How it felt like the book 15 year old me would’ve died for. I liked the banter. The weird twist at the end. I was looked forward to this book so much...until I wasn’t.

I’m not sure I’ve just changed in the past year or so since reading WS or if this book truly is just suffering from the sophomore slump. I tried to finish it. I really did. I tried three different times since I got this arc back in the fall of 2019, but I just couldn’t.

To be honest, I have such mixed feelings about this book that it's hard to rate it. This is the second in the Something Dark and Holy series and after reading the first book, Wicked Saints, I knew I wanted to continue reading the series.

This series is essentially about two countries at war, Tranavia and Kalyazin; one country believes in blood magic and the other believes in gods. They're in an age old conflict about their beliefs.

The books follows two primary characters, Serefin who is the king of Tranavia and Nadya who is a cleric from Kalyazin, both trying to end the war in their own way. There are several secondary characters that impact the story as well.

Things I liked:
1. The characters. I enjoyed the individuality of the characters and appreciated that the author gave us some additional insight into the thoughts of the secondary characters in this book.
2. The overall premise of the story. I like the idea of two countries at war. I like the magical elements. I appreciate the twists and cliffhangers.
3. The further exploration of the gods. We learned some additional back story that I found interesting and thought added depth to the story.

Things I did not like:
The execution. I really struggled with the author's writing in this sequel. I struggled a bit with the first book as well but this one seemed to be particularly difficult to follow. Here are some things I found tough:
-I had a really hard time visualizing space/location. I didn't feel like the author did a great job describing the setting, especially for a book set in a fictional world where the reader has no frame of reference to draw from.
-The timeline was difficult to follow. I felt like the timeline would jump around a lot. One second the characters would be in one place doing something and then POOF the next second they would be somewhere completely different doing something else. And there wasn't a great transition or explanation as to how they got there.
-The fictional language. I appreciate that the author is creating her own fantasy world and has created a language to go along with that. But there were times when random words were used throughout the story and there was no explanation or translation as to what they meant. It felt both useless and distracting. They're also really difficult to pronounce with lots of letters side by side that don't feel like they should go together (i.e. towy dzimyka, Telich'nevyi, Volokhtaznikon, etc.).

Overall, I feel like I've invested time in this series so will probably continue to read it when the next book comes out. But, if I knew then what I know now, I might not have started in the first place. This series has a lot of potential but I just wish I liked the writing more.

-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.-

Wicked Saints, the predecessor of Ruthless Gods, was a strong debut with enticing characters, a great premise, a unique magic system, and limitless potential. Ruthless Gods, however, didn’t follow through on any of of the first book’s promises the way I had hoped.

As we rejoin our beloved characters from book one. A little time has passed, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing really happened and it seems like maybe they just say around waiting for the second book to start.

They thing proceed to embark on a journey that none of them knows anything about, including why they’re actually doing it at all. Each one of them then spends the rest of the book flip-flopping back and forth enough to frustrate any politician. It goes something like this:

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate hime, I LOVE HIM, I hate him, I hate him…

This kind of conflict can be great if there are reasons for each step, but without any reason at all it reads much more like a group of people who should be medicated.

Without a clear goal to the seemingly random quest and characters would say one thing and do another, everything about this story seems listless and random.

I was excited to read this sequel, but unfortunately I found nothing but letdown. It was left open for at least one more book, but at this point, I can’t imagine I’m going to pick it up.

Wicked Saints was one of my favorite 2019 books, and my hope was Ruthless Saints would follow that path...but it did not. Somehow Nadya has devolved into a whiny, annoying character; I am at a point where I cannot stand her. IMO she was a fairly strong character, I enjoyed her development, and I understand that she went through some stuff in book one, but come on! What happened to her?

Based on comments Serefin made, this book takes place over a year or longer? We spend months traveling to a forest, to then spend weeks in the forest. And these passages of time are mentioned in one sentence. Suddenly days have passed. Wait, what? Looking at the map doesn't make sense at all.

I honestly don't know if I want to read book three anymore. I probably will just to know how it all ends and to see if it redeems itself. But man. I have never been so pissed at being let down than I have been with this one.

I am so in love with this novel. Maybe even more than I loved the first in its series, Wicked Saints. Dark and holy, bloody and monstrous and yet, so deeply romantic, it’s just my style. I’ve mentioned before that I’m growing into a dark fantasy person, and this book is one of the catalysts. I’m having a hard time even writing this review because all I can do is scream about how addicted I am to this trilogy. Please! If you haven’t started already, make Something Dark and Holy your priority!

First of all—it is absolutely unfair of Duncan to torture us with these characters. They all need hugs. Immediately. Malachiasz especially. The found family dynamic is strong in this novel, continuing the trend from Wicked Saints. Parijahan continues to be another favorite of mine, and I was glad to see that her character was more fully explored in Ruthless Gods.

I don’t think I can get through this review without a whole paragraph on the ROMANCE, so I’m sticking it up here. Nadya and Malachiasz have my whole heart. Their relationship is all about emotion, and how they challenge each other and worked their way under each others’ skin and into their hearts. I didn’t expect to fall so hard for this relationship, but for me it’s the emotional crux of the novel. So dark! So gothic! Every time I read one of their scenes, I end up clutching my e-reader and squealing. It is terribly unbecoming of me, but I can’t hold in the feels anymore. This is the very definition of an enemies-to-lovers romance, which is my favorite trope. In fact, I also love that Nadya and Malachiasz remain somewhat enemy-adjacent, as they often have theological debates that turn into somewhat blasphemous romance scenes. I love this. It’s a very effective way to make me fall in love with a book.

I’m also in constant adoration of Duncan’s writing. Nadya’s dry wit, Serefin’s suffering, Malachiasz’s light masochism and divinity-seeking—all bleed through the pages and straight into my heart. Her character voices feel so authentic. Even those I disagreed with, I completely understood their reasoning and had empathy for their arcs. It’s interesting to me how some of the characters paths intersect and mirror each other—I’m no spoilers here, so I won’t specify, but read the book and then come talk to me! In terms of plot, I’m blown away by her deft handling of what seems like endless threads of gut-wrenching twists. Everything in this book feeds into itself later, and I find myself making connections across chapters to things I’d thought unimportant earlier.

The pacing was *kisses fingers like a chef* MARVELOUS! Duncan struck the right balance between action and character building, which is hard in a fantasy novel. I appreciate a good slow burn plot, and this is perfect. I think it’s faster than Wicked Saints, but the sheer length quite makes up for that. The plot in general, is simply genius. There’s so much intrigue and internal conflict in all of the characters, which adds to the complexity and uniqueness of the story. I am so excited for book three, and really sad that I have to wait a whole year for it! I think I was spoiled in receiving this ARC, as I now have a longer wait between now and book 3, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. (To help me with this, I wouldn’t say no to an ARC of book 3 when they’re made… *wink wink*)

If you can’t tell, Ruthless Gods is a total 5/5 for me, and one of the books I will forever be yelling about. Please, please, please, if you listen to a single one of my recs, hear this one! The Something Dark and Holy trilogy has changed. My. Life.

Ruthless gods

After reading Wicked Saints, I was really excited for ruthless gods. I had found Wicked Saints slow at times but after the ending I couldn't wait to dive into this one.

However I feel let down. I loved the story line but it just seemed to drag on forever to get to the whole reason for the story which sadly fell flat. I feel like a lot of the first books ideas were reused again and it didnt feel fresh like i had hoped.

Overall it's an alright book, I was just expecting more with how the last one ended. Maybe the next one will be a little more to the point and have less filler.

I absolutely loved Ruthless Gods and couldn't stop thinking about it for a while after turning the last page, and now, after reading the sequel, I have the same reaction. As someone who truly loves dark story lines, Something Dark and Holy series promises one of the best worlds for me. There's complexity, constant dynamical changes that keep you by the edge, and romantic angles that will leave you wanting more. If this isn't already impressive enough, the mystery & secrets waiting to be revealed is stunning. A definitive recommendation despite the heartache I have to endure while waiting for the third book after Ruthless Gods ended on a cliffhanger.

Just as epic as the first book - more thoughts to come closer to release date. I have to collect myself after such an epic tale - so raw and stunning.

Update * I’m still blown away by this book. It’s haunting my waking dreams and nightmares. Beautiful, haunting, epic

Wicked Saints was one of my favorite 2019 books, and my hope was Ruthless Saints would follow that path...but it did not. I can pinpoint the exact point where I was over the Nadya (page 353) and wanted it all to end. Page 450 was when my rating dropped to a 2, and the ending BARELY kept it from a 1. Somehow Nadya has devolved into a whiny, annoying character; I am at a point where I cannot stand her. IMO she was a fairly strong character, I enjoyed her development, and I understand that she went through some stuff in book one, but come on! What happened to her?!

I also got the impression the author was trying to turn Nadya into an amalgamation of Feyre/CelaenaAelin/Alina and it was a complete failure. Personality traits that made me detest Feyre and Aelin showed up here and UGH. The interactions Nadya had with Malachiasz became cringey; she was either threatening him, pulling a knife on him, hitting him, or wanting to jump his bones. Then the whishy washy: I hate him, I love him! I need to kill him, I need to save him. PICK ONE! Jesus, at this point I want to kill him and he is the ONLY redeeming part of Ruthless Gods at this point!

And let's talk about Nadya's power...supposedly she has oodles of power that she doesn't know about and her power can destroy the world. But no one can say what or how. When we can FINALLY see her tap into that power, oops Fade to Black. WHAT?! No, no no don't do that, let us see her power. How the hell did they get out of that situation and no one mentions it? I hate you chapter 33.

Ruthless Gods needed tighter editing, it needed to loose 50-100 pages and a lot of the repetitious scenes. And can we talk about "fuck." This is new in the book and it was so out of place that I hated it and made me hate the book even more. And why is a divine cleric saying it?!

Oh, one last irritation-the passage of time. Sooo based on comments Serefin made, this book takes place over a year or longer? O.o We spend months traveling to a forest, to then spend weeks in the forest. And these passages of time are mentioned in one sentence. Suddenly days have passed. Wait, what? Looking at the map doesn't make sense at all.

I just can't. I am so over this crap. I honestly don't know if I want to read book three anymore. I probably will just to know how it all ends and to see if it redeems itself. But man. I have never been so pissed at being let down than I have been with this one.

4 "bloody good" stars...

“You danced at the edge of darkness and light and you fell.”

Well, just when you think a book can't get any bloodier...it does. Also, let me just say that there is so much twistiness going on in the background with Ruthless Gods that it feels like a fantasy version of a soap opera. Of course, that is if soap operas had monsters, gods, clerics and royalty. In many ways, think I enjoyed Ruthless Gods even more because the world building and setup was already done in Wicked Saints. This let me just sit back and get pulled into the storyline.

Ruthless Gods is a wonderfully creative fantasy series with a few ongoing romantic stories blended in as well I loved every minute of it, even the messier ones where they bathed in blood and so on. The gods are continuing to wreak havoc with the characters and by default, their countries. Now, it seems we also find out there may be even older, more ancient gods. Of course, even though these gods have been forgotten, don't assume they are powerless. The tone of this book is dark, haunted and more than a little unnerving at times. Loyalties come in to question. The people you would think you should be able to trust aren't always the most loyal. Basically, betrayal is rampant because everyone has their own agenda. The ending was a stunner - pure brilliance. Now, the waiting game for the third book begins....

“He was everything; he was nothing. She was torn apart in a thousand directions but there was only one and it was forward. There was nothing else but this.”

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Super grateful to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

“The world they wish is broken bones and blood—always blood.”

I want to clarify before beginning that I’ve decided to continue with this sequel because I had an ARC, so I tried to give it another chance. I don’t usually do this when I didn’t really like the first book, but deep down I also had some hope that it could be done better, unfortunately, and although I’m immensely grateful that I read this before its release date, it didn’t work for me. Again, I’m seeing that this story isn’t made for me, and I must accept it.


This book and to summarize, it’s about Nadya who doesn’t trust her magic anymore. We follow, of course, Serefin that’s fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him & Malachiasz that’s at war with who – and what – he’s become.

As you can see, I decided that the best thing was DNFed it because I wasn’t enjoying it, I was feeling too tired of the story and plot, I was really getting bored. I didn’t want to be unfair with myself nor with the book, so if this is the best option. It made no sense for me to continue reading it when I knew I had to force myself to finish it, and on the other hand, it wasn’t fair for the author’s work because I knew that my rating wouldn’t be very generous, again.

I only read about 150 pages more or less from the book, so I’ll only give my opinion on what I’ve read and nothing else. was very anxiously waiting for the plot to take a different direction a little ruthless and savage I’d say, in this sequel, but it took a turn that although it’s valid and I think that many would enjoy, it wasn’t what I expected and I ended up being quite disappointed, it’s for that, that I wasn’t interested in continuing with it. I’m quite shocked to really see how the writing style has lost a bit of that essence, that although it doesn’t work so well for me in the first book, we can’t deny the author has something special, but in this book, the writing was kind of bad and I’m very sorry to say it, but the amount of repetitions that exist in it, is unbelievable, that made it even more difficult to move through the story.

I felt that all the problems that certain characters had in the previous book, were magically solved at some point that I never saw, it’s quite confusing, I think we reached a point where the characters begin to mold on whatever the plot requires, to allow it to keep moving, that’s pretty disappointing. But on the other hand, it doesn’t surprise me so much because these people have never had strong personalities, so it’s very easy for them to come out with an unexpected situation and you’ll never really know what positions they’ll take when they have no personality. It’s very crazy.

So in summary, it’s not the right story for me and that’s fine, sometimes it happens, I’m sure that despite all the negative content of my reviews, this story will continue to have a lot of hype and a lot of love, and I’m glad that there’s a story there outside that fits perfectly with us and this surely will also have its audience. I’m sorry I don’t have much more to say, I haven’t read much to go deeper, but I can point out some positive points that I like in my books and I’ve found in this story in general, and that’s a good religious and political portrait, which really promises a lot, and an idea involving gods that has potential, also highlighted the diversity of races and sexualities. I hope you enjoy it from the bottom of my heart if you get to read it, but this story ends here for me.

RUTHLESS GODS is the rare sequel that surpasses the first book in the series. WICKED SAINTS was one of my favorite books in 2019 and I impatiently waited for the second installment. RUTHLESS GODS is darker, deadlier, and more horrifying.

The book picks up several months after the events of WICKED SAINTS. Serefin is ruling albeit not well since the nobles are suspicious. Nadya still hides in Tranavia and Malachiasz/the Black Vulture is...somewhere. After some courtly intrigue goes awry, Serefin and Nadya go on the run to find Malachiasz because they need his cooperation. Nadya learns that she needs to travel to the far-flung corner of Kalyazin to reconnect with her now silent gods. Serefin needs to get rid of Malachiasz in order to protect his rule and the voice in his head/eye tells him to travel in the same direction as Nadya.

RUTHLESS GODS doesn't shy away from horror (if eyeballs make you squeamish, think twice before picking it up). The sequel does an excellent job exploring trauma and its aftereffects. All of the main characters struggle to pick up the pieces after the events of WICKED SAINTS and Duncan effectively gives them the space to mourn and try to make things better.

In terms of writing, I think Duncan's writing got stronger and it's always great to see debut authors hone their craft. The ending of RUTHLESS GODS is terrifying, bonkers, and SUCH. a cliffhanger. I can't wait for the third book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First thank you to Netgalley from St. Martins Press for an arc of this book.

Nadya has no faith in her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting voices in his head and Malachiasz is at war with himself due to what he has become.

When I started reading this book it took me a minute to read because I couldn't remember really what happened in the first book. I did continue to read and remember the more I read.

Let me tell you this is a pretty good sequel. The trials that these three go through for their country is unbelievable. The betrayal is beyond comprehension. And the ending was mind blowing. So glad I pushed through with this book.

I've been so excited for this book to be released because I fell in love with the first book. It's a great book two for a series. It's darker, grimmer, and gorier than book one, but it follows the exactly the tone and themes set forth in the beginning of the series. I did like that book two went more in depth into the relationship that is between Malachiasz and Nadya. They're this complication between them of lies, betrayal and deception that continues in this book. We see more of their relationship because it is a very important part in their character development. There is a point where it can feel that the love story is more central to the plot than the rest since book two does expand on certain concepts and does bring forth new characters and goes deeper in explaining pre-existing relationships. This book lived up to my expectations because it's still full of surprises and it foretells for a very interesting book three in the future.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: this one was better in some ways in worse in others. The pacing was tough but the angst was better. This book was terrifying. TERRIFYING.

Characters: I’m… I’m not sure I can talk about the character specifically because it will spoil you but oh my GODS this has the best angst. We do get additions to the cast that only add to it. The banter is on point. I found myself actively laughing.

Plot: the plot wasn’t a strength in this book. It felt like it could have been 50 pages shorter. However, I will say that the cliffhanger was brutal and I hate it.

Writing Style: the gore, man, the gore. Malachiacz has these… eyes.. that open from random parts of his body, like his cheek or forearm. It’s terrifying AF.

World Building: I love how this book built on the last one. Instead of contradicting which happens a lot in second books it builds. It’s amazing.

Serefin is now the king of Tranavia, facing unrest in his court and distractions in his head. As a result of the events in the last book, Serefin has been claimed by Velyos (a fallen god). He’s worried that he’s losing his mind, and his drinking is escalating in consequence. Getting Żaneta back from the Vultures is the best way he can figure out to reduce the pushback from the nobles, lead by Żaneta’s father.

Nadya has lost her connection to the gods who have guided her throughout her entire life. She has no powers, and has lost the boy that she loves. She’s become allied with Serefin, and spends most of her time is focused on reading religious texts in the library of the palace, trying to uncover something that she can use to help Serefin and try to regain her own powers. For the vast majority of the book, Nadya waffles between lamenting the loss of her powers/connection to the gods and hating Malachiasz but loving him at the same time. Mostly the second part.

“And as much as she hated it, she lingered, hoping for the return of the sad, broken boy who had brought her here … Why should she hope for the boy who had betrayed her so completely?”

She also has some kind of power that isn’t connected to the gods, but it’s not even close to what she’s used to, and she isn’t even sure where it comes from. The lines of corruption coming from the mark on her palm bring up a plot point I’m familiar with from Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse. There’s also a tether there that made me think of the Throne of Glass series — along with the idea of gods who have their own agenda that isn’t made clear to their pawns.

Malachiasz, more than anything, just reminds me of the Darkling that Leigh Bardugo created as well.

I didn’t absolutely love Wicked Saints, but I was honestly hoping that book 2 would be better (in the way that second books have a tendency to improve dramatically). Unfortunately, it didn’t and I found myself underwhelmed.

There were some issues that really started to get to me the further into the book I read.

I started dreading Nadya’s chapters, knowing that in each one she would be whining about Malachiasz betraying her but wanting to save him at the same time. I had hoped to have Nadya reclaim her strength and become a main character, rather than a supporting character to further a romantic arc that is beaten to death. It never happened. Romance doesn’t seem to be a great arc for any of the characters — there’s a gay romance arc, but it felt like more of a plot point than an actual romance that I could get invested in.

There were a lot of overused words and phrases. I got so tired of reading “onyx eyes,” “beautiful boy,” “sad boy,” and the word “eldritch,” which was inexplicably used so. many. times. There’s also a huge fixation on additional eyes appearing — it happens throughout the book and skeeved me out every time.

“A cluster of eyes, in unsettling colors and dripping blood, opened up on his cheek.”

I spent a large portion of the book feeling confused and as though there was something going on that I clearly missed, even though I read these books pretty close to each other (within a few days). I read on, hoping that things would be explained further on, but alas, it did not happen. The foreign words sprinkled throughout the book also weren’t defined. I’m still not clear on the vast majority of them. Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for using foreign words, but defining them makes it so much easier to understand what is being spoken about.

I know there’s a third book that is planned, but I definitely won’t be reading it. I’d rather not spend additional time vacillating between grossed out, confused, and frustrated, when I can just revisit books that address similar themes, but do it way better.