What a riveting follow up to Wicked Saints - the characters are just as memorable and compelling, the world building is subtle but thorough, and all the unanswered questions and unresolved issues come into full force in Ruthless Gods. If you were waiting as long as I was for this sequel, you won’t be disappointed.

Well, Emily A. Duncan, you've manage to reduce me to a hot mess of emotions yet again. This second installment in her Something Dark and Holy series was just as action-packed and heart-wrenching as Wicked Saints. I loved seeing all the old gang again and meeting new characters--even if they continued to tear my heart into tiny pieces.

It was so interesting seeing all of the character development. I loved how everyone had a very unique perspective on what was happening. There were a few times when I got a little annoyed with the abundance of angst, but for the most part I felt their feelings and emotions were understandable and tugged at my little heart.

Also, world building. I am so impressed with Duncan's ability to build such an interesting and complex world. It was fun to be able to dig deeper into this world and learn so many new things. While I don't know if I'd actually want to live there, I do feel like I could step right into the world she's created.

All in all, this sequel was a powerhouse of a book. I loved it just as much, if not more, than the first one. I'm so interested to see where she takes the story next and can't wait to read book three!

I anxiously waited a year for this beauty after really loving Wicked Saints. Wicked Saints had great world building, blood magic, feuding kingdoms, and characters that I enjoyed.

Ruthless Gods was such a let down in comparison. Rather than using the second book to further focus on the world that was initially built and dive deeper into the magic system that wasn’t explained as well as it could have been, this one was essentially a character study of the three main characters (Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz) with little focus on magic.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for further character development, but even with the new revelations in this book, these characters didn’t grow or develop. Instead, I’m left wondering what was really the point of this sequel.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for my gifted copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

After the murder of Serefin’s father, the king. Serefin has been having trouble keeping his more noble subjects in line. The war between Tranavia and Kalyazin continues even though Nadya feels that she has done what the Gods have asked of her.

Nadya and Serefin, along with their companions set out on a journey to the salt mines to retrieve the tools they need to fix their mistakes. Afterwards they will travel to the far reaches of Kalyazin, to the Gods seat in order to right what has been wronged.

The sequel to Wicked Saints, Ruthless Gods was not what I thought it would be. I very much enjoyed the first book, Wicked Saints. I feel like Ruthless Gods has fallen short of my expectations.

Overall, the book was enjoyable to read. It is a very slow read and if you where to draw it out with only reading a few chapters a day it might not be so dry. I feel like many thoughts and actions where overplayed, overstated, and repeated way too many times. I felt like the only character in the story that had some growth was Serefin and that Nadya regressed into something very annoying. Her love/hate relationship with Malachiasz as well as the Gods and all Tranavia is just annoying. She has an internal monolog about this every time that she thinks about any of these things/people.

Malachiasz is also a very tricky Character and because he doesn’t have internal monologue or parts of the story written in his perspective much it is hard to say where some of his actions come from.

I was very confused at how Serefin, and his group seem to know that Nadya is with Malachiasz when he has been taken into the forest and into Kalyazin. They meet up with the princess of Kalyazin and go to look for Nadya but decide to track Malachiasz to find her. But they shouldn’t know that he is with her since they left before Malachiasz joined the group.

This book also dodged all the places where a cool action/fight scene could have livened up the book and made it more interesting. I feel like it could have been better. The book taking out some of the rambling would have helped. The last six chapters were the best and sadly with the epilogue I’m not sure I would read a sequel to this book.

Some of the quotes I enjoyed from the book:

“Is his destruction worth your salvation? What a choice. Can we love someone and ask them to shatter themselves for us?”

“Truly, I am terribly sorry this isn’t a time for senseless slaughter. My heart weeps.”

” He wasn’t a god-as much as he wanted to be. He was a monster, a horror, a nightmare. He was only a boy.”

I wanted very, very badly to love Ruthless Gods. But, the more I forced myself to find engagement with the text, the more it justified my aversion to finishing it; it's just not good!

Let me help you visualise my growing frustration with Ruthless Gods and Emily A. Duncan. Imagine baking cookies: Duncan has a promising batter in her hands (I mentioned as much in my previous review) filled with gorgeous bits of chocolate but she's missing some vital ingredients like baking powder.  Instead of refining the lumpy and misshapen dough by adding in baking powder, she goes on with it like nothing is wrong. And you get sad, deflated cookies that has lost all the former glory of it's beautiful dough. Plus, it leaves a strange taste in your mouth.

Normally, I recount the plot here for you. Although there is no semblance of a coherent, unified plot in Ruthless Gods, I will do my best. The first-eighth seemed promising, detailing the aftermath of Serefin's death and subsequent rebirth, Malachiasz's transformation and Nadya new unholy powers. It was a strong start.

Then, the plot began to lose all sense of direction. It went on forever in circles about Serefin, his star eyes and moths, Malachiasz being some not-a-god monster and Nadya constantly moping about her damaged, soft boi. It isn't looking good. Then, there comes some some political turmoil in Tranavia with some court members conspiring to overthrow Serefin and finally, finally the plot goes somewhere. In an attempt to save his crown (starting with rescuing a Vulture Zaneta), Serefin and Nadya set out to the Salt Mines.

Nadya, of course, has every intention of saving Malachiasz for her own purposes and finding out the origin of her new powers and how it's linked to Malachiasz. Yes, it gets unnecessarily convoluted. Down in the Salt Mines, while Nadya manages to find Malachiasz and convince him to be a good soft boi instead of not-a-god monster, Serefin descends deeper into the strange powers he has inherited. Throw in an ex-love interest, a Kalyazi general, some token LGBT representation and ONE singular interesting side plot, that's where I stopped reading.

I give up. The rest of the review is based on what I have read thus far. On Kindle, my progress is 57%.

Serefin is constantly drunk (very relatable for a YA novel, of course). When he's not constantly drunk, he is a lost puppy. His inner conflict revolves around his newfound powers and coming back from the dead. Having been given a second chance at life, Serefin squanders it by doing nothing. He inherits the throne but does nothing to secure his position, he just traipses around with Nadya. And has gloomy and mysterious visions of bleeding trees and decaying somethings. Very enchanting character.

Once again, Nadya is at the whims of Serefin and Malachiasz with zero agency, zero spine and a lack of conviction that is irritating. I love an anti-heroine, on the wrong side of the track and just an awful person to like but Nadya, she's nothing. Call her what you want, naive, immature but her very purpose in this story seems to be shaped around these two men. I wanted to read about the fallen cleric, shunned by her gods and struggling to come to terms with her identity and supposed destiny. But instead, I get a character with no semblance of self, getting tugged in the direction of mopey soft, sad boi whom she loves so dearly.

Malachiasz is frustrating and not in a sexy way. He is a cheesy mash-up of the emo boys of our century, Kylo Ren, the Darkling etc. In Wicked Saints, Malachiasz presented very clear goals and intentions. Readers knew what he wanted and that guided his story. But in Ruthless Gods, I'm sixty percent in and all I understand Malachiasz wanting is to reign over the region and to cause chaos. Err, okay. He's got that. How else is that going to develop? His POVs are told mostly in vignettes at first where he is semi-aware he is a monster. When Nadya shows up, he becomes human-Malachiasz and is all soft and dangerous, like a kitten. But, I still don't know what drives him as a character, what is his arc in Ruthless Gods. He's just a sad boi for Nadya to mope over and create tension, whatever that word means to Duncan. He is an unappealing character, a caricature of damaged, vengeful characters everywhere.

Sure, the sexy times are great and ticks all the boxes for a dark, gritty and semi-kinky romance. But, is this erotica fanfiction? Or is this a serious YA fantasy?

Because Ruthless Gods wants to be serious but Duncan and the people who enable this book have completely missed the mark. Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz's plots are like Kronk and Yzma trying to catch Kuzco and Patcha: By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.

Pieces of the plot are literally dropped into places as they are needed in order to drive the story forward. Everything else is just flowery, nonsensical ramblings and in Nadya's case, endless moping. Ruthless Gods fills its 500 something pages with insubstantial material, biding it's time until the next convenient plot point/device. Things will happen that have no prior build-up or explanation. For instance, in a flashback scene to demonstrate how strong a mage Malachiasz is, he is shown to have overpowered a Vulture's spell but . . . what spell, you ask? Duncan herself has no clue. Of course, Duncan will just say you're not intelligent to understand her craft. Fair enough.

Let me give you another example. Serefin has lost his sight in a magical dimension:

Being unable to see made things exceedingly more complicated. He knew he was in a wide open space covered with snow.

Anyone who has walked on snow or felt snow would know how it feels. So far, so good. And then, it goes on to say

And the inside of this place—this temple-—didn't make sense. The ceiling was too high, and an impossible to miss, massive doorway suddenly stood before him

At. What. Point. Did. He. Regain. His. Sight.

In another instance, Marzenya begins speaking to Nadya again after the silence with zero explanation. All because Nadya started praying. As if she hasn't been praying all this while. How? Why, you ask? We have absolutely no idea except to move the plot into where Duncan wants it to go.

At risk of spoiling any more of the fun for you, I want to discuss another point that frustrated me to no end, that made the plot seem like a minuscule concern in a long list of flaws: the worldbuilding.

A fundamental of any book is to be able to paint the world your characters inhabit, to build the set in which your story unfolds. In order to create a believable world, you first have to believe in it. I don't think Duncan believes in her world at all.

The descriptions of settings are vague and generic. Ask me about any single location and all I can remember is the altar of bones that Malachiasz and Nadya tried to do the nasty on. A forest with bleeding trees, more trees, some roads, oh, look a castle, oh the Salt Mines, a cave in the Salt Mines. All the locations blend into a watery mess of Gothic colours. It is as if Duncan only had grey as an impression of the locations and did her best to emphasize that. The five senses are irrelevant. What her characters see, hear, smell, touch and taste don't matter. 

Because the moment they're off the page, they cease to exist. They're like frozen chess pieces, designed to move where Duncan wants them to go. There's nothing about the world nor characters that is tangible. I spent a chunk of my time reading this book trying to make head or tail of where the characters are and where they're travelling to.

Furthermore, Ruthless Gods attempts to include some prominent LGBT representation with Serefin (previously, the only LGBT character was Ostyia). That's right, the prince is queer. Ruthless Gods is so progressive. Oh, cry me a river. We're past the point of making a character LGBT for the sake of being woke and inclusive. Not a single moment in Wicked Saints nor in Ruthless Gods points to Serefin being queer until he suddenly realises he misses Kascper and can't live without him. What. Come again, what. So, Serefin becomes queer in order to create an emotional beat and pointless romantic line. Got ya!

The only shining beacon of hope in Ruthless Gods is in one side character, Parijihan, who has a rather compelling backstory that is teased throughout. She is also one of two token characters of colour, designed to be Nadya's friend. But I didn't read far enough to find if anything comes out of her side story.

I have many more things to say about Ruthless Gods but my hands are tired from typing.

In conclusion, Ruthless Gods seems like a poorly edited book. It was set up really well to succeed with Wicked Saints but now seems like a first draft with Duncan playing at author. I wanted desperately to love it. After all, I really enjoyed Wicked Saints and its many flaws which I expected to be addressed and refined in a sequel. But instead, Ruthless Gods threw all caution to the wind and allowed Duncan to run wild with the book. Perhaps when I revisit Ruthless Gods in the future, my thoughts will change. And if that happens, I will update my views here.

From inconsistent prose to poor plot lines, frustratingly one-dimensional characters and barely there worldbuilding, Ruthless Gods hides behinds its author's significant social media presence to give it any semblance of success. And that is no success at all.

The second in the series, RUTHLESS GODS is set in a world of magic, mixed with Eastern European elements. Kalyaza is a pious country, filled with worshippers of the gods. Magic is reserved for those blessed to use it, clerics, and currently only Nadya is blessed with their favor. Tranavia is in an endless war with Kalyaza, rooted in their differences in beliefs. Tranavians are able to use blood magic, and a powerful sect of people made into supernatural beings called Vultures support the Tranavian monarchy. Nadya goes on a journey with both the king of Tranavia and the leader of the Vultures to a sacred space far west, and all three have different intentions, all involving blood, magic, the gods, and death. This only scratches the surface of the story. There is a band of characters supporting these three, and complicated, abstract descriptions of the magic flow freely throughout the book.
Normally a story like this is my cup of tea- I love a good YA fantasy novel. I had a hard time finishing the first in the series, WICKED SAINTS, and reluctantly picked up its successor. Despite it being a good story, I couldn’t love it. I can’t place my finger on it, but something was missing. It had the ingredients of a good book- adventure, magic, romance, a cast of unique characters- but something was lacking. I do think I had some trouble with the repetition of the struggles of the protagonists, both inner and outer. The same issues persisted throughout the story, and some of their frustrations and troubles seemed redundant. And at the root, they all had the same problem- trying to control magic instead of losing themselves to it.
A good one, but not the best one.

3.5 stars sounded up to 4 stars...

Thank you Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Ruthless Gods, sequel to Wicked Saints, is a great book trying to escape some unfortunate literary choices. While I enjoy the world-building and general concept of the characters, monsters, and gods present, there are a few gripes I have. First, I feel like this author overuses some words that should carry impact, but instead generate an overall eye roll. If everything's "dark", is anything "dark"? Second, do Nadya and Mal have to continually engage in problematic relationship behavior over and over again? Betray me once, shame on you, betray me thirty times, I'm dumb.

I liked a lot of the grit and violence on display here, and I like the direction the story is taking overall. I think that in the last book, this series still has potential. I just think that there needs to be more literary variety and some resolution or solidification on certain relationship issues which could help provide needed plot and tone focus going into the final stretch. If you liked Wicked Saints, or wanted to like it, Ruthless Gods is better, but if you're on the fence, you can probably do better unless you have a distinct thirst for stories about the gods.

I can’t say I enjoyed this as much as Wicked Saints. My favorite part of the first book was the romance between Nadya and Malachiasz, and I was disappointed that I couldn’t connect with them much this time around. It was only Serefin with whom I empathized. The world building is still a lot of fun, and it was interesting to get to know more about the gods but it just wasn’t enough to sustain my interest. I know I’ll still read the finale, and I hope it’ll wow me again.

<i>A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in return for an honest review.</i>

Wicked Saints is quite a polarizing book: you either enjoy/love it, or you can't stand it. There is no two ways about it. I am one of the people who really enjoyed Wicked Saints, and who had only a few qualms. I feel like Ruthless Gods will be the same way. If you enjoyed Wicked Saints, you'll enjoy this one. If you weren't sure, or didn't like it, and wanted to give the sequel a try... you'll probably hate it. So don't do it.

A few trigger warnings, before we get started, borrowed from my buddy bestie Giulia: <spoiler>blood and gore, eye trauma, cutting for blood magic purposes, mention of self-harm, light drug use, alcohol use.</spoiler>

Ruthless Gods starts 4 months after Wicked Saints' ending, and while slow paced, it is a constant rollercoaster. It is darker and bloodier than the first book, and there is A Lot more going on. There are lies upon lies upon lies and even more secrets. Both Nadya and Serefin are basically going through hell 432/432 pages. Especially Serefin. Be prepared.

All of these struggles and character insight and development really made me care about Serefin even more. Nadya is still the same annoying character, with so much drama I wanted to scream at her. All the back and forth and back and forth and contradicting herself constantly within a few sentences was just entirely too frustrating, and actually made me feel more disconnected from her. Which is a terrible shame of course, as she is the main character after all. The ending shows some promise that she might go through a change in the third book, and I am very curious about it, and have hope!

In my review of Wicked Saints, I mentioned I had expected and wanted a different star-crossed relationship, because the one we got was too insta-love for me. Well, joke's on me, because while we didn't get that particular relationship, we got another which I loved SO MUCH MORE. I will protect this ship with my life, whereas Nadya and Malachiasz can go off somewhere on their own and indulge in their insta-love.

That sounded a bit harsh. I liked the dynamic they had in Ruthless Gods, just not the way Nadya's mind worked. It was very exhausting to read her chapters, but luckily it wasn't all bad.

Malachiasz is still such an intriguing character, although I feel he is different from Wicked Saints in a way that didn't entirely gel with me, personally. I really wish we got to see inside his head. He is still one of my favorite characters, and I cannot wait to see where the third book will take him, as I absolutely have no idea right now. Also, some of his descriptions were gruesome and I loved it!

We also got some new characters, though I didn't particularly care for them a whole lot. I am suspicious as to what will happen to them, though, as they are (or at least can be) very important! There were also several POV interludes of certain characters I really loved getting some insight to, and I hope we get more of that in the final book.

Ruthless Gods takes the story to such a new height (quite literally) with such a climax, it left me reeling. That ending was stellar, and the fact that I now have to wait for the third book is really not something I'm looking forward to. I want answers. I want to know the fate of these characters and their countries. The way this book leaves things, is such a shift from what we've known, that it's truly impossible for me to even try to consider what might happen next. Which is, of course, awesome. We love to be surprised. And hopefully it will be in the best way possible!

A few things however, that just kept pulling me out of the story:
- the usage of 'boy' when talking about 17/18 year old guys from the perspective of a 17 year old felt really weird and juvenile to me. ; this is a direct quote from my Wicked Saints review, and it still holds true. It was jarring. As if they were 12 year olds.
- the usage of 'yanking/yanked'. I mean. What is wrong with pulling? Yanking felt so entirely out of place, and just wrong for the amazing world this is set in.
- Nadya's overthinking. <spoiler>At one point I just wanted her to turn dark completely so she could stop whining and side with Malachiasz at the end. She did side with him a little bit, but he took it to a direction she hadn't intended. It was a mess, and sadly, I didn't get dark!Nadya, or Dark Couple Extraordinaire.</spoiler>

For me, Ruthless Gods is a very solid 4 star read, and would be more if I hadn't been so annoyed with Nadya most of the time. I cannot wait for the third book, and for a reread before it comes out!

I received ‘Ruthless Gods’ through NetGalley and Wednesday Books, in exchange for an honest review.

When I began reading ‘Ruthless Gods’, I was very wary about the direction it was going to take. While I enjoyed reading ‘Wicked Saints’, I found the heavy focus on the romance slightly grating.
Within the first few chapters on ‘Ruthless Gods’, I was pleasantly surprised at the revelations placed at the very start!
‘Ruthless Gods’ takes place a few months after the shocking events in the cathedral at Tranavia. Both Nadya and Serefin underwent major changes that awakened innate abilities within themselves. They hold an uneasy alliance while Nadya is held in confinement within the castle, yet they’re forced to flee out of necessity. They set off to fulfill Nadya’s goal: travel west to Kalyazin and bring the gods back into power. This quest is filled with extreme challenges, as both characters are pawns in the gods’ perilous battle to regain their standing within the empire.
Malachiasz also plays a major role in this book, as he battles with the powerful monster he’s become, and the young man he struggles to maintain within himself. He’s the perfect villain as we saw during ‘Wicked Saints’, toying with his friend’s emotions in order to reach his end goal. In ‘Ruthless Gods’ he continues to fight with this internal struggle to regain humanity. He’s a powerful (and deadly) entity, and the more he succumbs to the desire to inflict pain, the deeper he ventures into darkness.
The ‘monster-romance’ factor between Nadya and Malachiasz is still alive and well in ‘Ruthless Gods’, yet it doesn’t pervade the entirety of the book. Nadya is still consumed with thoughts of desire, yet she is also aware that she has a mission to undertake. As they venture into Kalyazin, Nadya is refocused on achieving her end goal, and this delivers more confidence in drawing her power as the cleric who speaks to the pantheon. Her renewed confidence is accompanied by some major roadblocks, which causes Nadya to question if she’s truly ready for such a task.
Serefin is also thrusted into the game of power, albeit reluctantly. He’s consumed with mysterious hallucinations and haunting voices, and he discovers that he not only needs to worry about his throne overtaken by his fellow countrymen, he is willingly placed in the middle of a major conflict between the gods. The religious discourse continues to be a focal point in the book, as both Nadya and Serefin handle a religious awakening the further they delve into their journeys: Serefin fighting with the notion of a pantheon determining the fate of humankind, while Nadya struggles to face a new understanding a magic outside of her traditional ways of thinking.
This novel continues to be voiced in both Nadya and Serefin’s perspective, and it includes some extra points of view from companions on either side. It feeds some additional backstory into the conflict between Kalyazi and Tranavia as the story leads up to a very revealing conclusion!
I very much enjoyed reading ‘Ruthless Gods’, and it had a good balance of romance and action within a gothic backdrop. Readers will definitely enjoy such an intense story!


Cathleen (Woven From Words)

The publisher and Netgalley provided me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Wicked Saints was one of my top reads last year because of its intricate worldbuilding, morally gray characters, imaginative magical system, and tragic love story. Ruthless Gods builds on this brilliant debut and creates even more conflict for the main characters.

Nadya still loves the boy who became a monster- and she's determined to remind him of who he is. But first she needs to use him in a desperate gamble to stop the war that is decimating her world. She needs him to guide her on a possibly futile pilgrimage, a journey of forced proximity with someone who has edged beyond the reach of her forgiveness.

Malachiasz has two natures warring for domination of his mind. The brutal monster without a flicker of remorse and the lonely boy. Malachiasz's struggle manifests itself in strange, inexplicable ways that should repel Nadya but fascinate her instead.

Serefin just wants to save his kingdom. He's trying to survive a coup, retain power and figure out exactly what surviving his own death means. Why was he saved and how did his salvation transform him?

You will love the author's treatment of duality in all of her characters, the quest each character must undergo to fully mature as individuals, and the unavoidable pull of forbidden love.

I read the first book "Wicked Saints" last month in preparation for the sequel coming out, and must say that I really struggled with getting into it. It was the combination of choppy writing and the confusing storyline that kept pulling me out of the book. "Ruthless Gods" is a definite improvement. It grabbed me from the get go. Because we are dealing with the aftermath of the events that transpired in the first book, it is pretty important to remember the plot of "Wicked Saints". The author does not really give an overview. Since the aftermath is not what our characters expected, all three: Serefin, Nadya and Malachiacz are desperately trying to figure out what is going on. The suspense of the unknown definitely kept me interested. I also must say this book is even darker than the first one. So if you don't like dark fantasy, I would pass this one. Overall, a solid second book. 4 out of 5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my wish and allowing me an ARC of this!

There is something poking you in the ribs while reading this book, something that feels unsettling. But this aspect just adds to the great deal that Ruthless Gods is. No mistake here.
It’s goth and cold and me likes it very.

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

The atmosphere is the most incredible thing of this sequel. No matter that you happen to sit on top of your comfy bed with a cup of herbal tea in your hand while reading this, if there is a scene in a dark forest in the middle of the night where mythical creatures lurk in the shadow and look at you with hunger, you’ll be just there with them and you’re going to freeze your heart off because of the fright.

What the hell, man. This book is good. And it shows you things if you really open your mind to see them.
So just go, go, go for it!

“Can you love a god? No, such things were impossible.”

I don’t know how I feel about Ruthless Gods.

The good.

I really love the main characters, Nadya and Malachiasz. Nadya is strong, opinionated and has made some mistakes she’s determined to fix. She’s heartbroken and emotionally vulnerable in this one, but you can see her inner light glowing and her persistence of making things right, no matter the cost. Malachiasz is a lonely boy who is more monster than human. He’s lost in the depths of the dark power he absorbed in Wicked Saints, and we see him as he fights to seize control of himself. The scenes between them were beautifully-written, full of tension and set a very dark and dangerous tone which I, personally, appreciated. Unfortunately, these delicious moments that evoked so many emotions in me were only at the beginning and the end of the book.

The ending shocked me!

The bad.

Many parts of the story confused me and made the middle of the book a stuggle to get through. Something I found to be really frustrating was that the change of scenery and the time lapses were not executed in a smooth way. For example, in one paragraph we’re at some place with some people and in the next one, we’re somewhere else three days later. This was so disorienting!

The writing was repetitive and lacked creativity. The characters were having the same thoughts over and over again and they were using the same words to describe certain things.

I didn’t care about Serefin and, while a lot of things were happening in his life and I should care, I just wanted to pass his POV and get back to Nadya and Malachiasz. Also, the fact he was in some kind of trance for the majority of the book didn’t help me want to know what’s going on with him.

All in all, I loved some parts of Ruthless Gods but wasn’t very fond of some others, so it’s a 3-star read for me.

I received this e-arc from NetGalley for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars

Wicked Saints was one of my favorite novels of last year. I loved the world-building, characters, and action. While most of this continues in Ruthless Gods, there were a lot of angsty reflections by the main characters. Growing pains?

What I Liked:

World-Building:

Imagine creating a complex religion just for a novel. There are so many gods and saints, each one with its own story and significance in this world. Having this level of detail makes us invest in the struggles of Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz.

There are also several different societies, each with customs, hierarchies, and myths, that combine to form a rich world for these characters to inhibit.

Characters:

Nadya really reminded me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! She is a classic "chosen one", reluctant, and full of doubt. But she is also truly a one of a kind marvel who can talk to the gods.

Serefin grows the most of the main characters in this book. He is also a reluctant leader. But as he journeys through the novel, he comes to accept the huge responsibility for his nation and becomes willing to sacrifice everything. There are also some wonderful developments in Serefin's love life that made me cheer.

What I Didn't Like:

Characters:

I couldn't understand the competing natures of Malachiasz. At times he is the roguish, charmer who Nadya loves. At other times, he is the cruelest of demons, violent, and sadistic. And Nadya is very confused about her feelings for Malachiasz. This is where I get Nadya's Buffy vibe (remember her love/hate relationship with Spike?).

Although this made for a layered story, it was hard for me to see Malachiasz as anything but a villain.

Angsty inaction:

There was a great deal of angsty reflection by all the characters. Everyone seemed to second-guess themselves, or moan about their situation. Remember all the different gods in this world? Sometimes I felt they were being influenced by the God of Boredom!

Most of the book seemed to be filler to get to the next book in the series.

For all my complaining, I do look forward to the next book. I want to see how this plays out. And I will always root for Serefin and Nadya!

I have been sitting on this review for weeks and am finally ready to tweak the final version. Here goes.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books via NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

I read Wicked Saints as an ARC too and enjoyed the basis of the story, although found Duncan's writing style to be repetitive to the nauseatingly "I need to skim" point of being terrible. I thought she would take that round of criticism from Wixked Saints and build a better novel (with editorial assistance) in Ruthless Gods....and OH god was I wrong.

If I had to read *one of 5 adjectives_____boy" one more time I would have died. She has the continent's ENTIRE future political leadership trekking across the country and all they do is continue to chase each other's tails. Maybe the hunter couldn't have done much politically but can we treat Serefin like the actual king of Tranavia? This entire trek could have been EPIC and all we got was more of "blah blah I was betrayed blah and now I'm afraid but let's kiss again" and Nadya's broken record just played, and played, and played.

Oh yeah, Nadya thinks that she did but she really learned nothing from book 1 and she's still terrible. She is changing but doesn't seem to be internalizing any of her lessons, although Kostya comes back long enough to force some true self-reflection. That particular dynamic was surprising and one of the more interesting ones.

Duncan did do a bit of a better job showing monstrosities versus just talking about them, but again it was so repetitive. I did like her take on the gods and monsters and older beings, but she could have used Nadya's broken record headspace to talk more about some of the Slavic lore she was throwing out in names and titles only. That is something I'd like to have read about.

Serefin was my favorite character again because he is amazing, even though Duncan turned him into the token "other" character. I really think Ostyia would have been enough in that department. Serefin and his moths and his bad vision and his nonexistent brutality (talk talk talk, never shown) just make me happy, and I think he had the most interesting arc in this book. If nothing else Duncan did use his and Malachiasz's time together to explain all of the Tranavian political hierarchy that was missing from Wicked Saints.

Last but not least: the @OneReadingNurse infamous medical rant. Have you ever actually seen a pupil blow? I have. Someone having a stroke? A blown pupil is TERRIFYING, and having someone's pupils "blow open" is TERRIBLE choice of phrase for someone surprised or experiencing adrenaline. Not only that but I think it was used at least 3 times throughout the book and I just don't understand why an editor didn't clam this up.

The ending (other than the last sentence which again was a terrible word choice, but sounded cool) was almost enough of a cliffhanger to make me want book 3, but I don't think the plot is enough to cancel out Duncan's writing. I will be waiting for the cliffnotes version.

In summary: if you liked Wicked Saints, read this, if not or if you were on the fence, stay away. Ruthless Gods IS marginally better but I personally can't do it for a third novel.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is available now.

Gothically gorgeous, this follow-up to Wicked Saints (review here) was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the darker vibe, and the progression of characters. It took a little bit longer to really “get going” than the first book did, but the character-building made it worth it. All of the main players have had their world shaken in some form or another, and seeing how they handled it (or didn’t) was fascinating.

I enjoyed reading about Nadya’s crisis of faith (for lack of a better term); it was heartbreaking and interesting, all at once. As in Wicked Saints, Malachiasz was my favorite (I’ve nicknamed him “Mal” because there is zero chance I’ll ever read that name correctly). He’s such a complicated character; I love it!

Emily A. Duncan’s strength lies in her ability to create an atmosphere both dangerous and foreboding. I had no idea what was going to happen next, which was fabulous. My only complaint about this book is that I would have loved to have a summary from Wicked Saints in the beginning, simply because so much happened.

If you like a darker feel to your fantasy, this series is for you.

Ruthless Gods once again tells the story through Nadya and Serefin’s unique points of view, intertwining the overall story and their separate desires into a rich, emotional narrative. Emily does such a great job of making each and every character that comes on the page have such an expressive voice. In this sequel, we are introduced to new characters, such as Katya, the Tsevarna of Kalyazin who happens to have a few of her own interlude chapters as well. Emily also expands on some of her side characters like Parijhana, Rashid, Kacper, and Ostiya, giving them more depth throughout the story.

I loved the way she had Nadya grow in this story. There is nothing better than seeing a female protagonist come into her powers and find the strength within herself. I think it is one of the reasons I’m so drawn to Young Adult. Teaching young women that you are more than what people expect is a lesson I always find so encouraging, so powerful, and so important in every stage of life.

Furthermore, Emily’s ability to express both strength and vulnerability in Malachiasz and Serefin is something I always appreciate in her work. Despite the fact that he’s two boys are kings and very powerful blood mages, they are still children with emotional struggles of their own. I love how Emily showcases those struggles but also showcases their more vulnerable sides alongside movements of power and strength. Again, this is a very important lesson for boys of the Young Adult age range as well. To see that they do not have to be conformed into one sense of emotional expression, but that they are allowed to have vulnerabilities too.

Plot –
So, since I talk to Emily on Twitter I learned a fun little tidbit about her writing process – she does not outline anything for these books.

Yeah, you heard me. No outlining. I still can’t believe it. The plot of Ruthless Gods had me at the edge of my seat the entire read. Every chapter something new was developing, whether it be emotional or narrative, it didn’t matter. Something was always growing, new clues dropped, new discoveries made, new horrors twisting through every elegantly crafted word. The depths in which this story’s overarching plotline keeps developing has had me astounded since book one. I can’t wait to see what else we learn in the final book. Though, it is a bit of a gut-wrenching thought for this series to end. These characters have thoroughly stolen my heart.

Overall Thoughts –
An outstanding sequel, with amazing character development and rich, high-stakes plot. Emily does such an amazing job at continuing the thread of the story from Wicked Saints to Ruthless Gods and making it even better than the last. She is definitely an author to keep tabs on, and I can’t wait to read the next book and see what she comes out with in the future. If you were a huge fan of Wicked Saints then this is a must for pre-order. April can’t come soon enough.

While this sequel to Wicked Saints is stronger, there were still some things that didn’t surprise, some things that did surprise me, and some things that confused me or left me confused.

The one thing that didn’t change was Duncan’s writing. Some writers are not only great at atmospheric writing, but they also give great inner dialogue for their characters; things that make me stop and think or rhetorical questions posed that I try to find my own answer for at the same time that a character does. I believe that Duncan nailed all of that in Ruthless Gods. She really brought the Slavic folklore inspirations together really well with the darker gothic and grotesque elements. I also love all the tidbits we get before each chapter that come from fictional pieces of work.

The characters, I would say, changed a lot more from the first book. If you read the first book, then some of the immediate changes we see in the beginning of Ruthless Gods is not surprising, particularity with Malachiasz. I will say that Nadya felt much more what her age is supposed to be; must be all that living outside the monastery. Serefin changed, but not drastically.

While their motivations are always changing or in uncertain terms to themselves (and even others), at the end of the book, I was not surprised by any of their actions. And honestly, that is one thing that frustrated me throughout the book is that some of them are surprised when another behaves opposite of what they’ve been doing for the past X number of chapters. EXCEPT, it really shouldn’t be a surprise because they’ve done it before! Nadya in particular is no longer naive yet still acts naive too many times. I still cheer for her though.

The plot was much better than the first; it didn’t feel as simple as the first book. However, it did take quite some time to really jump off into the overall story arc. What’s more complex in this book, is that the darker forces connected to both Kalyazi and Tranavian magic systems, are starting to play bigger roles on both sides. Nadya is confronting her faith and magic and her trust in both; made much harder by the fact that she can’t hear her Gods. Serefin is battling for control from a vengeful fallen God and something darker. Parj and Rashid have friends on both sides and don’t know what to do. Malachiasz may not be the worst monster anymore. Or maybe he is. This story is wrought with blood and bone and magic.

And I can’t wait to see how it all ends.

ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ruthless Gods is the second instalment in Emily A. Duncan’s Something Dark and Holy trilogy.

When I first read Wicked Saints I wasn’t really caught in the story. Intrigued by the premises and the obscure theology, yes. But not involved with Nadya and Malachiasz’s romance. Straightness, alas, is really dull. Before starting on this adventure, I had though contacted via Instagram the author. and as she promised queerness in her second volume, I persisted.

Usually, the second tome of a trilogy happens to be tedious and unexciting or lacking pathos and substance. They are simply written to prolong the story, leaving all twists and turns for the grand finale set in the third book and that’s something I don’t particularly appreciate.

Ruthless Gods did not comply with the standard. It captivated me more than the first novel and glued me to the screen despite the fact that I hate reading on laptops, kindles or whatever. I prefer a physical copy to a digital edition, but I can’t always choose. Therefore, I was really grateful that Ruthless Gods managed to let me forget about that factor.

My only wish for the final volume is more Kacper and Serefin.