“You’ll play,” Nadya said... “You would have stayed in your hellish mines if you were not going to play. Did you expect to return and find everything exactly like it was before you burned it to the ground? There are only ever ashes after a fire, Malachiasz, and I’ll have you at my feet yet.” His eyes narrowed, the faint smile never quite dropping from his lips even as the air around him turned dangerous. His tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “We’ll see, pet.”

There is so much about this book that I loved. It’s darker and creepier than Wicked Saints. I loved the gods being introduced and seeing more of the magic and magical creatures in this world that Emily has created. There is nothing about this book that is black and white it’s all grey. The characters what to do what they can to save their country. Serafin, Nadya, and Malachiasz will do whatever it takes to stop the war and save their people, and some of those choices are not the easy choices to make. Some of those choices will hurt the people they love the most, or themselves.
Serefin- This poor poor human. He is stuck with an ancient god battle for control over his body, and yet still pushes forward to try and stop a coup of his people from taking him off the throne and controlling the country and continuing the war. He finds love (though we do not get enough of them together at all) and meets new a character along the what that could be an ally or could be an enemy.
Nadya- once again she is intertwined with Malachiasz on their trek to appease her saints that have now gone silent. I love her character because while she is still loyal to her saints and still mostly good, she teeters the whole time on the edge of being good or falling over the edge and doing bad things to save her people.
Malachiasz- how can you love someone so much who is absolutely terrible for the right reasons? Malachiasz is completely transformed from the ritual at the end of Wicked Saints in a grotesque eye-opening way. But he hasn’t exactly become what he was trying to achieve. How can someone be so terrible and so adorable at the same time? I loved all the scenes with him and Nadya. They are just so great for each other in a terribly unhealthy “I’m going to betray you” way.
Parijahan- There is so much more to her story that we don’t know, and I can’t want to find out more in the third book. Her friendship with Malachiasz is one of the most pure and real things in this book. For once there is a relationship that is good and is not based off lying or betrayal. Well at least for now.

What I like so much about these books, is that there isn’t a good character or bad character. They are each both of those. They are each determined to do whatever is they have to do stop the war and save their people. Even if that means becoming a monster, giving your body up to an ancient vengeful god, or betraying the person that you love. Everything is backwards in this book; you end up rooting for the characters you shouldn’t and hating the ones you should want to win. The cliffhanger at the end of this is a killer and I am dying to get my hands on the next book.

There's a lot to process here. A LOT. I want to say I binged this in a night and it left me broken and in desperate need of book three. Only half of that is true, but it's the good part at least. This is a binge-worthy book, and I wish I"d had the capability to devour it whole, but there's something to be said for savoring it over a few weeks. I can barely handle that ending, and I only just finished it a little bit ago. I need book three, like, right now. This book pushes the reader to edge over and over again, unapologetically and with such fluid grace at times you'll never even realize how close you are until you fall. It's gorgeous, in terms of writing. It's everything I could've hoped for in a sequel. It's lovely and horrific and nervous-making, when we're talking about the characters and their journeys. I cannot praise this highly enough, and I cannot believe I have to wait over a year for book three. There are so many pieces in play that will leave readers needing more at every turn. Fabulous book. I'd recommend this series in a heartbeat.

Duncan has a way of making you desperately want for things that are bad. Bad for the characters, bad for the world, and just simply bad. If you're like me, you'll find yourself reading this solely for the monster.

There are several characters in this series. Each character has their own motivations, which muddies the waters a little bit in an interesting way. We get the story from a few points of view, but we don't get a chapter from the point of view of the most interesting characters. It does leave the reader to decide on motives of the most complex characters, but I would like to know what they think of themselves. (Maybe this is where AO3 or fanfiction.net can fill the void, but I'd like some canon here.)

As the story progresses, the world is growing and changing. It feels like Duncan is setting up an entire world for readers to explore in the future. At times this extensive world-building can be a bit confusing - I am still trying to figure out how the magic system works and what are the gods, even? The confusion keeps the story interesting though and doesn't really take much from the story.

I always struggle reviewing an incomplete series because sometimes seeing the full story makes you reevaluate every book. As the second book of three, <em>Ruthless Gods </em>has the difficult task of carrying the story without resolving it, while also being a complete story without the other two. It does achieve this Herculean task fairly well. I am looking forward to the last of this series. </p>

I did receive an advanced copy of this novel from NetGalley in expectation of a review upon finishing the book. The views are my own. Thank you, Emily Duncan, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

I tried to write a spoiler-free review as best as I could, but some things I felt needed to be discussed made the cut, so read at your own risk.

<b>what I liked:</b>
⁃ Unapologetic, self-serving characters! They’re rampant throughout this book, and that was great. I’d really like to see more of that kind of character in YA.
⁃ I appreciate the gory aesthetic Duncan is going for, and I like the twisted romance at its core.
⁃ The action scenes, though often cut short or left unexplained, were entertaining.

<b>what didn’t work for me:</b>
⁃ Convoluted plot for the majority of the book, with threads that were very difficult to follow.
⁃ *Nadya is the most naïve, contradictory, and indecisive character in the history of storytelling!
⁃ Malachiasz is constantly described as anxious, lonely, sad, or Tranavia’s #1 Super Soft Boy by everyone who comes in contact with him, while he doesn’t exhibit any of these traits! We’re supposed to feel sorry for his murdering and manipulating, because he picks at his cuticles to the point of bleeding due to a bad childhood? This “character development” is not good enough, sorry.
⁃ **Main characters don’t know anything and act like catatonic chess pieces to be moved at the will of others, while the side characters drive the plot forward by introducing questions or straight up telling the main characters where they need to go/what to do next.
⁃ SIX different POVs, which would be fine if done well, but their voices are so interchangeable that I often had to double check whose chapter I was reading. Katya’s was at least interesting, but Parj and Kacper’s did not add much to the story.
⁃ Setting is ambiguous, though it attempts to be atmospheric. I had no sense of space for most of the story, and the timeline is equally vague. Are we really meant to believe they spent 8 months travelling to a cosmic forest?
⁃ Cutting off the action as situations intensified by jumping to another character’s perspective, and not letting the action come to fruition once we returned to the previous character’s POV.
⁃ I’m still totally glossing over the unpronounceable words. They make it difficult to connect with certain situations or understand implications, but I say this as a westerner who doesn’t have a ton of exposure to Eastern European inspired languages.
⁃ Like WS, this book has problems with overused words, phrases, and syntax. Lots of boys, blood, and many em dashes. I made a list of the words that stood out:

Blood: 295
Vulture/vultures/Black Vulture: 273
Dark/darkness: 243
Boy: 189
Didn’t know: 104
I don’t know: 53

* Nadya berates herself for trusting Malachiasz so easily and claims she’s “furious” at his numerous betrayals, but in the next sentence immediately contradicts what she’s just said by trusting him! What the actual hell? I would completely understand their twisted infatuation with one another if it was explained well — or at all — but Nadya has <i>no idea</i> as to why she’s so drawn to him or why trusts him. She’s stunned when he deceives her again and again and again, after he’s said to her face that he would! It’s maddening! How can she be so blind and dim-witted when the evidence of Malachiasz’s villainy is constantly on display??? To quote a tweet I saw recently: Stop making excuses for people who’ve already shown you exactly who they truly are!

** And this is where we come to the most frustrating issue in the book: being in the minds of characters who don’t know what’s going on around them, what they’re going to do, and just generally don’t know their own feelings about any question or situation that arises.</b> The lack of introspection from was so surprising, it almost felt as if they were being willfully ignorant, and that does not make for pleasant reading. If characters don’t know the reasoning behind their own thoughts and actions, then the readers don’t either!

Unfortunately, I felt that many aspects of this story were messy. I was hoping it would be a great improvement over Wicked Saints, but it reads much the same, if not more confusing.

I am so thoroughly in love with this series! Nadya is as strong and loyal to her country as she was in the first book, and I love the growth of her character. Serefin is probably my all time favorite character because of his personality, and I feel like the author has written such real, three dimensional characters it feels as if I know them. I can’t wait for the next and final book in the series!

Why? Just why? Omg, why would you do that to Malachiasz and Nadya? I need the third book in my hands right now. You can't end it like that.

I loved the second book in this series way more than the first. The characters developed so much and loved the direction their stories were going. The ending was amazing and I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next book.

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**

Title Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2)

Author Emily A. Duncan

Description from Amazon

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.

Release Date April 7, 2020

Initial Thoughts

The ending of Wicked Saints left me absolutely destroyed. That. ending. Wicked Saints was one of my most anticipated reads of the Spring and it did not disappoint. I was so excited to receive the email that I snagged an ARC of the sequel.

Some Things I Liked

Interlude chapters. I loved the structure of this book and I loved that the interlude chapters allowed the reader to see small insights into the minor characters’ POVs.
SO MUCH BETRAYAL. In a semi-twisted way, I loved that everybody was planning on stabbing everyone else in the back. Everyone in this book was totally ruthless and I loved every page.
THAT. ENDING. AGAIN. Fool me once… so Emily A. Duncan totally fooled me again. I totally thought I knew where the story was going but no, she had to throw in an amazing twist right at the end. I loved how the story kept me on my toes. And, furthermore, I am absolutely and utterly ruined now because I don’t have an ARC of the third book (which, from what I understand, isn’t even fully written yet).

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

Gore. The story was a little gory for my taste. I can embrace it, because the rest of the story is stellar, but fair warning, it’s pretty dark and full of blood. This is not a book for the faint of heart.

Series Value

I thought the end of Kingsbane by Claire Legrand left me destroyed. Boy, was I wrong. Nothing could have prepared me for this ending and the inevitable waiting period I must now endure while I wait for Wicked Saints #3. I am totally hooked on this series.

Final Thoughts

Ok, confession time. I have had this book in my NetGalley queue since August. I just finished it yesterday. It was a slow start but I’m so glad I pushed through. This book was a fantastic sequel and I loved it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

The Crown’s Game and The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye – if you like Russian inspired, magic infused, romances, definitely check this duology out. It also uses alternating POV structure.
The Grisha Series by Leigh Bardugo – this is another series set in a Russia inspired world. Also, as an added bonus, there is a very charismatic and magnetic villain (remind you of anyone ).
Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie – what a surprise, I am recommending another Russian inspired series. I can’t help the fact that all of these books have that in common. But, there’s more than setting that makes me want to recommend this one. Romance, setting, magic, and the politics all made me think of this book while I was reading Wicked Saints. Definitely give it a try.

I tore through the first two books in this series at a breakneck pace. I was so overjoyed to get approved for this one as an early review.

It's truly embarrassing to get caught crying on an airplane while reading - and this happened to me with this one. I'm glad to say that I was super engaged in this from beginning to end and I can't wait to see how the series concludes.

I'm in love with the characters and their complex motivations. They are truly multidimensional - I keep waiting for people to change their minds, but they are steadfast in their beliefs. It pushes the narrative forward and keeps people questioning motives throughout the novel.

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin's Press, Macmillan USA, and Wednesday Books for providing me with the arc of this book. I was really excited to read this book and wanted to waste no time diving deep into Kalyazin and Tranavia. I have to say that this was a slower read for me than Wicked Saints. There was a lot of shifting taking place within the characters and their dynamics. The book is filled with body horror and for some weird reason, it didn't necessarily faze me as much as I thought I would be. I guess Emily did tone it down for the YA audience. I think the gore, the horrors could have been better if it wasn't for YA. A lot of questions lingering around events from Wicked Saints needed answers and I felt I had to wait a long time to even get to the surface of it. The new set of powers and the power structure is bound to bring in more chaos and horror that will destroy their nations despite their effort to keep the peace. Malachiasz and Serefin and their band of misfits were just as entertaining as usual. I believe more backstory for the Gods, the Saints, and other clerics would have been a great addition. The snippets about various Saints and clerics were definitely informative, but I think it would have been amazing if we had more information about the Pantheon and their backstory. The reason this book is not 5 stars is that I wanted more chaos and overall horror to keep up, but I didn't feel the terror the author wanted to evoke in the readers. I have to say it was very much enjoyable, though a slower read than Wicked Saints. I definitely recommend it and I would consider it a great book in the series. My favorite of the two is still Wicked Saints. I can't wait to read the next book and I am really excited to know how the whole chaos and war will end.

An amazing sequel to the previous book. The more I read the more invested I get into the world and the characters. Please tell me there is going to be more to this.

Wow, this was SO so good. The story really takes a turn in this one, and each of the lives of our main characters intersects in surprising ways. This is a brilliant, blood sequel to Wicked Saints and so much happens in this book. I was very invested in Serefin's story and what he was going to do, and what he had done will change everything.

Eagerly anticipating the next one!

What a ride! This is what I wanted from Grisha Trilogy. Wicked Saints were good. Emily A. Duncan created amazing fantasy world based on Slavic mythology and Eastern orthodox church, which by itself is truly amazing. Being Slavic myself, I'm close to these topics, and having them in fantasy? Dream come true. So... why are Ruthless Gods so much better than first book?

First of all, world building. Author built up pretty good base in the first now and now just expanded on it. I couldn't believe what she came up with though. I love the whole pantheon but I think that the "older beings" are even much more interesting. I mean... it was insane! I also love how dark and bloody this book. Even more than the first one. It's exactly what I wanted from "gothic" fantasy, if you could call that. It's hard to sort it into some genre because honestly, I think author created something new.

Second of all, characters. We still get bunch of PoVs, which is totally understandable. Also, we get some new characters. I wasn't big fan of Serefin in the first book and I'm still not. BUT. His story arc was insane and I was just amazed what author came up with. I mean... Velyos? Hello! Nadya is still my favorite, especially because of her relationship with Malachiasz. Don't take me wrong, I know they "love" is twisted, dark and unnatural, but... I LOVE IT. That's what I wanted from Darkling and Alina. And Ruthless Gods gave me exactly what I wanted. I loved every scene and I need more. Talking about new characters, I adore Katya. Badass.

I didn't expect this book to be so good but it easily became one of my favorites of 2019.

This book broke my heart a million times! Completely unable to put it down, wondering what was going to happen next!
Ruthless Gods picks up 6 months after wicked saints ends. Follows the original characters along with adding a few new perspectives as well. Throws in some unexpected romance along they way, along with new riddles and betrayals. I need the 3rd book now!

4.5 stars out of 5

Holy crap, Batman, this book is emotional as all hell. Strap yourselves in guys, because, wow. Wicked Saints barely scratched the surface of how dark this series was going to get.

I don't really want to spoil anything, because a lot happens in this book, so this review is going to be short and to the point.

Ruthless Gods, in my opinion, is leaps and bounds better then its predecessor. Where the drama is Wicked Saints led to a very bad few days for our main characters, the drama in this book was world altering and grand in its scope. Everything sucked for our main characters, and I did not disagree with that message.

Also, even though the doom and gloom was turned all the way up to 100, I didn't really mind, because the tone of the book, and everything that was going on, could not have been conveyed properly if everything wasn't going horribly for Serefin, Nadya, and Malachiasz. To put it simply, this book was beautifully horrifying.

As for why this book lost a half star, that would have to be because of the constant reuse of the word monster, and darkness, and blood. Yes, this is a dark YA fantasy novel, but the number of times certain characters are referred to as monsters, gets a little repetitive by the half way point of this book. Also, the magic of the gods themselves is never really explained very well. I really don't want to give anything away, but I grew a bit frustrated by the end of the book, because, it is made clear, that the things that people call Gods in Kalyazin, are potentially something else. However, it is never made clear about what is going on by the end of this book. Yes, there is going to be a sequel, so I am desperately hoping things are explained better in the next book.

All in all, this was a fabulous second book to a series I was hoping would grow with each installment. Duncan does a fabulous job of mixing horror, fantasy and religion together to create a terrifying world that is barely hanging on to its last scrap of hope. Also, the ending does not inspire hopefulness for our main trio, because things kind of went from bad to worse by the end of this novel, so I am very excited to see what happens next, since I do not know how it can get any worse. I strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoy dark fantasy novels, because this is an emotional treat.

had the privilege of receiving an advanced copy of Ruthless Gods through NetGalley in exchange for a review. For those who might not know, Ruthless Gods is the sequel to the NewYork Times bestseller Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan. As this novel will not be released until April 7, 2020, I will not be adding any spoilers.
A blurb from Emily’s website regarding Ruthless Gods

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.

After reading this blurb and then the novel, let me just say. The ending will leave you wanting more! This novel is so dark and twisty I love it! For anyone who is questioning the novel, don’t! The story development, as well as character development, is amazing! How I wish to spoil the novel, but alas I can only sing praises! Emily did a fantastic job with Ruthless Gods, while some might not notice, her writing style has progressed as all authors do! I cannot wait for the third novel to come out in hopefully 2021 (fingers crossed)!!!

Ruthless Gods features blood magic, monstrous lovers, tortured princes, cosmic horror and a cliffhanger that leaves you breathless. In this sequel, Duncan dives into her dark and fantastical world, expanding it beyond the Empire and showing the consequences of messing with the gods.

I felt like I had a better handle on the characters in the sequel. Malachiasz and Nadya's continued dance around each other in the will they or won't they will keep readers entertained and wanting more. I enjoyed Serefin's time in the spotlight, even when the character himself did most certainly not.

The narrative covered a long amount of travel time, which can be a little hard to follow if you're not paying attention. However, I found that this added a fun element to the underlining threat of unfettered chaos that ran through the story.

In conclusion, an excellent sequel that stands on its own while still racing towards the epic conclusion of the trilogy.

RUTHLESS GODS is dark, atmospheric, and completely enchanting. It was everything I hoped a sequel to WICKED SAINTS would be and then some. Everyone is completely broken and yet somehow forging a way forward. After the first book, Nadya is still reeling from the betrayal by Malachiasz, Serefin is trying to hold the kingdom together as its new ruler while also fighting the powers speaking to him and corrupting his vision, and Malachiasz is something else entirely.

Their journeys all feel different and yet somehow aligned. Motivations are unclear and ever changing. The gods that are revered in one country and scorned in another are hiding secrets which are deeper than expected and raise more and more questions. The complexity of the plot is matched by the complexity of the characters, and this book is completely impossible to put down.

What I loved: It is hard to even say how many things I loved about this book. It is atmospheric and engrossing, and I felt completely transported to this unique world. The characters are deep, complex, and evolving. All flawed, all gorgeous, and all fantastically well crafted. Secrets cover secrets and questions grow in a completely amazing way. Dark and beautiful, this book is an absolutely incredible sequel that I highly recommend picking up. This is a book that you need to experience for yourself.

Final verdict: Fans of dark and compelling fantasies will delight in this gorgeously crafted series. Atmospheric, enchanting, and engrossing, RUTHLESS GODS is a powerful sequel in a must-read series. I highly recommend for fans of Roshani Chokshi, Sabaa Tahir, Leigh Bardugo, and Adrienne Young.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

I love this series so much. Gothic, otherworldly and cruel in its most emotional parts, this is worthy follow up to Wicked Saints. I completely devoured this book – my kind of darkness.

Oh my gracious. The lack of words I have for this book is not because it wasn't amazing, it is because so many feelings after finishing this gem of a book. There is a reason the first book became an instant bestseller and it is because of the beautiful prose, the masterful storytelling, the wicked (see what I did there) characters. So much love yet so few words give this sequel justice.