I loved the first book of this trilogy when I read it earlier this year and I'm so glad I got to read Ruthless Gods right after! I will now go into a hibernating slump while we wait for the third novel because I need to know what happens!!

Wicked Saints was dark and Ruthless Gods was DARKER. There's so much blood, eye-gore (major yikes), and a lot of heart-wrenching moments. I don't think I breathed the entire time while reading because my emotions were all tangled up. I'm not sure how in depth to go because of spoilers but essentially, it lived up to my expectations when it comes to a sequel. I feel even more invested in the story even throughout all the horrors that happen in the story. The story really stretches the definition of humanity and the all-consuming void that is power which are all topics that I think were discussed really well. All in all, I'm in love and in dire need of book 3 ASAP.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was even better than the first one and any issues that I did have were improved on! I love these characters so much and I need the next book like I need air!

DNF around 20%. I LOVED the first book and was super excited to get an early copy of Ruthless Gods. That excitement just didn't carry over to the actual reading of the book. I didn't have any real problems with the part that I read, it just didn't interest me enough to make me keep reading.

Title: Ruthless Gods
Author: Emily A. Duncan
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5

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.

A lot of second novels are less impressive than the books they follow, but Emily A. Duncan’s Ruthless Gods is not one of them! This novel continues the story of Nadya, Malachiasz, Serefin, and the rest of their friends. It’s dark, cold, and compelling.

There’s a lot of blood, violence, and despair here, but there is also hope, albeit a tiny, trembling flame. The characters finally start to realize—truly realize—that what they’ve always thought to be truth may not necessarily be so, Compelling, mesmerizing, riveting…whatever your synonym of choice for “I couldn’t put this down!” is, Ruthless Gods is it.

Emily A. Duncan is a New York Times bestselling author. Ruthless Gods, her newest novel, is the second book in the Something Dark and Holy series.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

I really liked the first book in the series and I was happy to have an e-arc of this sequel.

This second volume really immerses us in the question of the divine. Is a being of power divine? Is he in a position to control beings who do not have powers. I really liked the characters' quest to find answers on the origin of magic, of the gods and this immerses us in the history of these opposing countries for years. I have always loved the universe of this saga and I really enjoyed learning more about it. It's dark and complex and fun to discover.

The novel continues to follow Nadya and Serefin. Nadya remains naive as always. Despite the events of the first volume, she continues to trust easily. I think I had a hard time understanding her actions and her motivations. Serefin is more aware of the problems. He quickly realizes the manipulations of some people arround him. He cares about the good of his country and his people and acts accordingly. I preferred its evolution.

For the plot, if I need to sumarize it in a word, it's confusion. I must admit that at times the intrigue seemed disjointed. There were missing transitions between chapters and some action scenes did not have really ending. In addition, it took me a long time to understand the author's overall goal. It is therefore complicated to judge the book. The universe is really good but I had trouble following everything and I think that the author could and should have better managed the information and the motivations of her heroes.

If I could describe this book in a few words, it would be BACK STABBING and BETRAYALS. And DARK.
It picks up about 4 months after the first book ends, and boy is there a lot going on- new characters, way more gods/ monsters/ mythology. At one point, I felt like most people reading Harry Potter #7 (how much walking/ traveling can you do), but at least there was some character/ plot development there. The ending was woah, so I definitely need book 3 now :)

Leaving reviews on goodreads and amazon

Ruthless Gods is the second book in Emily A. Duncan’s YA fantasy trilogy, Something Dark and Holy. It’s hard to review the middle book of a trilogy for fear of spoiling it for those who haven’t read the first book, but I’m going to do my best and will keep my remarks as general as possible.

What struck me the most about Ruthless Gods is that it definitely took a darker turn than Wicked Saints, which was already pretty dark. In that sense, it kind of reminded me of The Empire Strikes Back vs. A New Hope. There are dark forces at work everywhere, and those dark forces are impacting everyone, especially the main characters from the first book. Nadya, the cleric who is the only one who can communicate with her Gods, can suddenly no longer reach them. It’s like they’ve cut her off. Serefin, the Prince of Tranavia, is haunted by voices and feels as if his entire body has literally been taken over by someone or something else. And then there’s Malachiasz, the Prince’s brother, who is torn between who he once was and the monster he has become after incidents at the end of book one. All three are battling inner demons and trying to figure out what is expected of them because it becomes clear they are pawns in someone else’s game. Watching them struggle, I quickly found myself enamored with and rooting for all three characters all over again and anxious to see what awaited them.

As with Wicked Saints, the world building is phenomenal and I loved how dark and atmospheric it was and that it all felt tinged with the supernatural. As much as I enjoyed the world building, the characters, and the overall story, I do have to admit that the pacing was a bit slow early on. As Duncan starts to weave together the pieces that bind Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz, however, the book, thankfully, really takes off and I flew through the last half.

Even though I thought this second book was a little uneven in terms of its delivery, Ruthless Gods still gave me enough in that second half to have me anxiously awaiting the final book in the series. If you enjoy slow-burn, dark fantasies, be sure to check out Wicked Saints and Ruthless Gods. 3.5 STARS

Three and a half
This book like its predecessor Wicked Saints is one that will be divisive because you will either love it or hate it. Let’s start with the gore aspect that so many previously mentioned because yes there is still cutting involved as Blood magic is used but honestly it’s definitely not the most violent book I’ve read. The author has herself written a review and she talks about the horror that one character goes through due to their eyes and yes I can see that some are squeamish about those pretty little peepers but honestly it’s not something that will have you hiding behind the sofa .
The relationship between the three central characters does move forward although it’s the connection between Malachiasz and Serafin that makes the most sense. I’m in the minority because I just don’t ship Malachiasz and Nadya and even here when he’s this vicious changing monster she still trusts him and I’m left screaming at her to just wake up and realise what he’s let himself become !
Oh and then we get back to the central theme of the Gods or are they really Godlike ? Could they be inherently evil and if so is Nadya on the right path because for much of this book she herself isn’t really sure. I’ve no wish to spoil this for others but I will say everything that’s significant happens towards the end so we have to wait quite a while because this just goes at a snail pace. Just one more book to go and then the torture for both characters and readers alike will be over and I admit as much as I felt this dragged I did feel the ending was worth the pain.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

This book became one of those that I could not put down. So many books promised a dark atmosphere but this is truly one of the few that actually delivered. I really feel like it's unlike a lot of things I read and really plays into the idea of who are these beings that we worship and call gods? They could look or be anything. While this thought was explored originally in the first book, I think it truly came to fruition in this one.

I also really enjoy how this world interacts with the idea of magic. How it's not necessarily light, happiness, and healing as we wish it would be. It can corrupt and lead you astray. This book also has an interesting dynamic amongst the characters, which I think is interesting and I hope will be explored more in the next book. I know this book just came out, but I already want more. Is that bad?

Overall, if you don't mind some dark fantasy and you aren't one to shy away from religion being question, I think you'll enjoy this. It's definitely dark, so if you're squeamish, perhaps stay away. But, if you enjoyed the first, this book does not disappoint.

Okay so I really wanted to love this one. It just didn’t do it for me. I felt many parts of it were predictable and unnecessarily lengthy.
Maybe this type of fantasy just isn’t my jam.
There were things about the book such as changes in relationships and a surprise or two I did like but I still feel like the story was lacking the wow factor.

**Disclaimer: I received a free advanced reader’s copy of Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this opportunity.

Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan is the second book in the Something Dark and Holy series. It is the sequel to Wicked Saints, and picks up not long after the first book leaves off. Ruthless Gods releases on April 7th. I rated it four stars on GoodReads.


Here’s the summary from GoodReads:

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.

Wicked Saints was one of my favourite books that I read last year. I really enjoyed it and I was really excited about the sequel. However, because this is a sequel, I am going to keep my review vague and spoiler free. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s reading experience if you haven’t yet picked up the first book. So I’m just going to do an overview of my general thoughts.

Ruthless Gods took me a long time to get through. I don’t think this is any fault of the book specifically, I just had a bit of a weird reading month in March. Obviously I did finish it up, and I am glad that I did. However, I will say that I enjoyed Ruthless Gods less than I liked Wicked Saints. It wasn’t a bad book, but it was slower than I expected. After the ending of the last book, I thought this one would be more fast paced. There were moments that were super exciting and that had me super engaged, but there were some parts that just felt like they dragged on.

The last ten percent or so of this book was super engaging. It wasn’t the only moment where I was super engaged or else this would have been given a much lower rating. However, it’s definitely a part that stood out to me. Emily A. Duncan has a way of ending a book that makes it so that you desperately need the next book immediately. This book hit me right in that spot. I really need to know what happens in the next book.

I love these characters as well, which is a really redeeming feature. I like the struggles they went through and seeing them grow and develop. It was interesting to see a few extra perspectives included in the novel as that allowed us to get to know some of the side characters better than we did in the first book. I also liked the new character they introduced. I liked the perspective of Kalyazi royalty.

I also liked how the world building developed in this novel as well. We got a greater picture of the world and I liked the mythos. It’s a pretty unique, interesting world that Duncan has created. I’d love to read a collection of myths from this world.

One thing that kind of bothered me about this book was that there was some weird jumps in parts. There were a few moments where she cut away in what I thought was a rather important scene. Perhaps this is nitpicky of me, but it kind of bothered me a bit. Some parts dragged on, and as I mentioned I wanted a bit more excitement.

However, on the whole I really liked the story, and I’m definitely going to need more in this world. Does anyone know when the next one comes out?

Make sure to check out Ruthless Gods when it publishes on April 7th.

“Yes,” he said, sharply. “Because I’m nothing but a monster. It’s what I will always be. No matter how hard you pray, no matter how many times you throttle me into the semblance of something human. I am barely that. I was barely holding it together before and I am barely holding it together now.”

In his defense they’re all monsters.

This time around I enjoyed the story more because I ignored all of the unknown words for people, monsters, Gods, and language. It was so hard the first time around because I focused so much on context clues to try, key word here, to try and figure out the language. But there are at least four different languages spoken by the main characters. It’s so hard to keep up or even know what they’re saying and this is an arc with no vocabulary translation or key. Nadya still drove me crazy with her indecisiveness, or more like, internal battle when it came to Malachiasz. Which sadly I understand completely. Love makes you stupid and Malachiasz is such a lovable monster. I should probably hate him. But I was rooting for him. I actually love when he goes all Black Vulture. Ugh. What does that say about me? Don’t answer that!!

This time around my heart broke the most for Serefin. He’s such a young King and only wants to stop the war.

I was so mad that these very young adults almost teenage kids were being manipulated by everyone. Everyone lied to them, especially Nadya. No wonder she’s so indecisive, everyone is always telling her what to do and lying to her. I’d have issues trusting everyone and myself if I were her. Which she does!! I really enjoyed the horrific monsters and scary mood of the story. Usually Gods are beautiful creatures, these Gods are nightmares personified full of eyes and teeth.

I still struggled with all the characters and language but I thoroughly enjoyed this crazy, scary ride. It was full of blood and bones and a crazy band of young adults trying to stop a war. They were always fighting and back stabbing each other. But they also teased each other and liked each other when not trying to kill one another. There was some very sweet times and that made me love them so much.

Kostya, oh Kostya. We have come to Kostya’s part of the review he’s getting his own paragraph because we need to talk about him in detail. What in the world was up with his character? He could have been cut from the whole story and it would not have affected it one bit. Except for him being the biggest jerk to Nadya what did he contribute? Ugh!! I’m still so sad over that ending.

Seriously, I need people to read it ASAP so we can talk. I have so many feelings right now. Mostly good. Somewhat confusing. A little angry.

I really struggled with Wicked Saints as it failed to hold my attention like I had hoped. I was hoping for something more with Ruthless Gods and definitely got it. This book is bloody and heart breaking and confusing at times but ultimately a wild ride. Filled with gods and darkness, Ruthless Gods is certainly an interesting continuation to the Something Dark And Holy series.

Didn't know where this book was going to go after the first one, was worried that it would suffer book 2 syndrome but I was wrong.

The mix of magic and god's is so refreshing and that all magic come with a cost. In this book you see that cost and what it does to the characters.

Review to be posted on retail sites on release day.

Overall: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Plot and Themes: 4.5/5
Awesomeness Factor: 5/5
Review in a Nutshell: Ruthless Gods is an amazing sequel, delivering on it’s promise of gothic horror and monstrous romance.

I really enjoy Emily A. Duncan’s writing style. The writing is gorgeous, with ominous prose and vivid imagery, but there’s also plenty of dry humor, bad jokes, and fun mixed in with the doom and gloom. She does have a tendency to repeat some words and phrases, but it’s pretty easy to ignore as the book pulls you in. She succeeds in creating an air of mystery and misery, in the best possible way. Her worldbuilding is full of magic and blood, this world has an in-depth history that you get a glance at, but always want more of. And the magic and mythology? Outstanding. One of the most compelling parts of this series, because it lures you in with a false sense of understanding until everything is thrown on it’s head and you don’t know anything except that you need to keep reading.

This book moves slowly, focusing on the characters and the world, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. Because oh boy are things happening. While the plot is more character and travel focused, there are plenty of twists and turns thrown at you (most of which I never saw coming), and quite a bit of action mixed in with the adventurous journey. I wouldn’t say this book is fast-paced. It’s slower, like a predator stalking its prey before it finally leaps.

The characters are my absolute favorite part of this series, to no one’s surprise. God, I would die for Malachiasz (and he would let me). Wicked Saints stabbed me in the heart when it took his storyline in the direction it did, and Ruthless Gods dug the dagger in further. And I love it so much for that. Malachiasz’s character is probably the most fascinating in the series- anxious, brilliant, and more than a little mad- and I find myself always eager to see what he would do next.

That said, I also love Serefin and Nadya.

Where the first book was focused on Nadya, I feel like we got to spend more time with Serefin here and see his character grow some more (even get a little love story). I love Serefin so damn much. He’s not ready for the power he’s been given, he doesn’t know what’s happened to him, he’s confused and he’s struggling (mood).His journey in this book is something you don’t want to miss. Also that love story.

Finally, Nadya. I really enjoyed seeing the direction she went in in Ruthless Gods. It makes a lot of sense for her character, and while I sometimes disagreed with her decisions, I can see why she made them. And I still love her so much. I love them all so much, they’re just a group of anxious and messed up kids who need more sleep.

Speaking of messed up kids who need some sleep- we got some new characters in this book, and some side characters from Wicked Saints got more page time! (Yes I’m talking about Parijahan and Rashid)(They’re the best)

Pros- Great characters, fantastic worldbuilding
Cons- Why does Emily A. Duncan feel the need to cause me so much pain?
Overall- 5/5 stars.
Ruthless Gods is an amazing installment in a series that is sure to be memorable. I know for a fact that this series will stick with me for years.

Betrayal, blood, and eldritch horror! The second installment in the Something Dark and Holy trilogy picks up a couple months after Malachiasz’s betrayal came to light, Nadya killed the Tranavian king, and Serefin returned from a brief bout of death in the vice grip of a fallen god’s control. Now, Malachiasz’s humanity is constantly battling with his monstrous god-not-god form, Nadya is doubtful of everything including herself, and Serefin is being used as a pawn to wake other horrifying ancient gods. Just as in Wicked Saints, Malachaisz, Nadya, and Serefin’s destinies are all dependent on one another. As a merry band of misfits, they must travel through a bloodthirsty monster forest to reach what Nadya considers the seat of the gods and the Tranavians consider a hellmouth.

If you read my review for Wicked Saints last summer, you’ll know that I didn’t exactly give it high praises. I had issues with the pacing, character motives, and most of all, the romantic relationship. Ruthless Gods, however, is a bloody, magical, painful mammoth of an intricate book that does well to cover up all the problems present in its predecessor. The entire cast, but Serefin in particular, undergo a great deal of character development. We get to see and understand exactly how tragic Serefin and Malachiasz are and it deliciously serves to make your heart hurt even worse by the last page. All the themes of politics, religion, and magic are still woven throughout, but Ruthless Gods really takes the idea of gods to a more complex level—just who and what are the gods?—and turns just about all of the characters inside out. The Ruthless Gods world feels tenfold more alive and tangible, and Duncan’s imagery is something out of an eldritch nightmare that’s oddly enjoyable. It’s a long read, but so totally worth the time. If all things “dark and holy” appeal to you, make Ruthless Gods your next read.

Ruthless Gods is the second book in the Something Dark and Holy Series by Emily A. Duncan. Following Wicked Saints, our three main characters are dealing with the consequences of all actions and decisions that took place before Malachiasz retreated to the Salt Mines with his new powers. Nadya is suffering through the silence of her Gods even after tearing the veil down like they asked. Serefin is hearing the voice of something ancient and angry in his head and seeing visions of horror. And Malachiasz is as monstrous as ever, lost in power but still hungry for more.

Feeling a pull to the west, Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz depart from the capital city of Tranavia heading towards the far side of Kalyazin with friends and foes. Will the war finally come to an end? Will the Gods forgive Nadya for her heresy? The landscape (and the future of our characters) is bleak, wet and snow-covered in this fever dream of a book. The characters are desperate and suffering, more complex and fleshed out in this book. Everything is darker, bloodier, and more blasphemous as our main three struggle along the path they each think is the right one.

Although the prose was repetitive at times and the new relationship introduced felt a little forced and out of place, I recommend grabbing up a copy of Ruthless Gods as quick as you can. Wicked Saints was a deliciously crafted dark tale that I didn’t realize I needed until I devoured it whole but reading Ruthless Gods was like tasting something dark and divine. I absolutely adored the betrayal and heartbreak layered on each page.

Initial Thoughts:
I thought Wicked Saints was incredibly mediocre. However, I was told this book would be better since it was going to pick up the plot and incorporate a lot more eldritch themes in it. So I decided to give it a try in hopes that my initial issues with the first book would be solved. Boy was I wrong. It was when I hit the 50% range that I realized this book reads like a very bad D&D campaign. Once I had this realization, it was so much easier to put my frustration into words and I decided to approach this review from that angle.

Incredible World Building:
Without fail, the most interesting part of the story is the setting and mythology. Duncan is FANTASTIC at creating a dark and atmospheric story. You can tell she puts a lot of thought into how she wants the gods in her story to interact with the world and vice versa. She delves deep into the question: What are gods and how are they created? Throughout the story, her characters are constantly discussing their various theories and beliefs about the gods that are influenced by their culture. Since they all come from different backgrounds, there's a lot of varied perspectives and Duncan manages to make each culture's interpretation of the gods partially correct. As someone who is deeply invested in historical perspectives, I enjoyed seeing how each culture's understanding of magic reflected very real aspects of these gods that other cultures hadn't seen. Plus, I love the concept that gods are these chaotic, eldritch beings that can't be fully known and this story shines in that aspect.

Never-Ending Journey
In terms of plot and pacing, it felt like this story would never end. So much of this story happened while the characters were on the road and there were only a few encounters to break up the monotony of it. In a good D&D game, there is plenty of traveling but there are also towns and stops to break up the story and make it more lively. Usually, these stops also help shed some light on the world and give the readers more background. Yet most of the information in this story is briefly mentioned by characters in passing and you rarely see much of the world outside of the road. Not going to lie, my biggest pet peeve was that there were a few fight scenes where Nadya was using her magic and the story would just cut to a Serefin's perspective as he was passing out. Those scenes made me so upset because the magic use in this book is one of its STRONGEST features and the scenes are just getting cut to black! Like if I wanted to read about a character missing a big fight scene, I would read the Hobbit! Anyways, the tedious pacing only broken up by vague fight scenes or random character arguments brought this story down and it made me disappointed.

The DM Was In It But The Players Weren't
The strangest thing about this book was the extreme disconnect between the descriptions of the setting and the descriptions of character interactions. Everyone just felt so hollow. In D&D, the DM is in charge of creating the "flavor text," which is the descriptions of the world around the players as they are role-playing together. In this story, Duncan's descriptions of the world and setting are beautiful! I seriously would want to be in a D&D campaign if she was a DM because you KNOW that her descriptions would be amazing. However, the characters in this story felt so flat. If it was a D&D session, you would think the players were half-assing their role play with how the characters in this story acted. It all felt very stereotypical but not in the fun way where the author does something new or innovative with the stereotype. There was a scene in this book where Nadya argued with her friend Kostya and I felt like I was just re-reading a scene from Shadow and Bone where Mal and Alina are arguing. Most of the character's POVs were them repeating the same few things and were occasionally broken up by a few conversations they have with others.
The only character that I genuinely felt was breaking the mold was Serefin. He has a lot of interesting growth and I greatly enjoyed the official confirmation of his bisexuality. We love (1) alcoholic prince. Nadya's character felt too consumed with her focus on the gods, it was hard for me to discern where her character started and where the goddess she served stopped. Most of her chapters were consumed with the ever-present conflict of choosing between Malachiasz and her religion. I'll be honest… I just didn't care.
Malachiasz was too bland of a character for me to even empathize with her struggle. If I took a shot every time he was described as "chaotic" I would be dead. I understand that she wanted to emphasize how eldritch he was but girl… if ya man doesn't do anything remotely chaotic half the book maybe you need to rethink your descriptions or at least find a thesaurus. My second issue is that Malachiasz is described as being both "anxious" and "smug" in the same phrase and in the context of the sentence it made no sense. Either make him chaotic and smug or make him chaotic and anxious. I've never seen a character pull off that many opposing traits in one conversation. The fact that the scene was so unrealistic it broke my focus is enough to be a turn-off for me. Plus this wasn't a one-time thing, there were lots of conversations where Malachiasz was described in multiple ways that conflicted with each other. If you want to write a sympathetic villain character then do it, but you better make damn sure you know what their personality should be because flip-flopping between a smug villain and an anxious villain only serves to confuse your readers. (Note: If this was done as some writing style to emphasize the "chaotic-ness of an eldritch entity" this was done poorly and there are better ways to characterize an eldritch villain then just these extreme personality conflicts.)

Overall:
If you're looking for a story with a great setting and interesting commentary on gods and magic, this story delivers. In terms of pacing and characters, this story is rough and after two books there isn't much development, which is frustrating. I want this series so badly to live up to the potential it has, but there's a lot that needs to be sorted out in regards to pacing and characters before it gets a higher rating from me. The reason the story got a 3-star rating from me is that a lot of the conversations and lore revolve around the mythology and magic system, which are huge strengths and I'm glad Duncan emphasized them. Moving forward, I'd like to see how some of the events in the climax will push Nadya's character development along and it might be enough to make me stick around to see if book #3 changes anything.

My Thoughts:
This entry into the Something Dark and Holy trilogy is, as previously mentioned in my last review, the one that started it for me. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It’s tonally much, much darker than Wicked Saints was, and that one was pretty damned dark. And those little bits of body horror that I was enjoying so much? ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE. And it makes me so happy I want to dance!

There’s more blood, more transformation, more…eyeballs, and lots more physical discomfort. Be still, my heart.

It picks up sometime shortly after the first book ends, and things are not exactly coming up Millhouse for anybody. In fact, it’s pretty shitty for everyone just then. Good feelings have bad results, so…no good feelings then.

The Black Vulture got cooler, and scarier, and in turns both more and less conflicted than he was before. The gods are much more in the middle of things than they were previously, and we get to encounter some different ones than before.

Duncan uses the descriptor “eldritch” a lot in this entry, which is very apropos. That eldritch horror is strong in this one. The monsters have gotten so much monstery-er…and so have the gods. I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT.

As trilogies go, this is a strong second entry. The first built it up, the second clarifies and solidifies the breadth and scope of the hero’s struggle (and this one does that in a big way), and the third one brings it all back around. To be quite honest, I can’t wait to see how this nightmare is going to end. I hope there’s blood (jk, I know there will be)!

This book was wild! It is impossible to understand without reading the first book, Wicked Saints. Things are going haywire and it's up to the characters from Wicked Saints to do what they can to save the day (or, you know, the world?). The book was hard to follow along with at times, but once I got into the flow I had a hard time putting it down. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4!