Emily A. Duncan has blown me clear away with this magnificent sequel to Wicked Saints. If you thought the first book was dark and cruel and tragic, you are in for a rollercoaster of emotions with this sequel.

We pick up about six months after the end of Wicked Saints where everyone is a little broken and unsure of what comes next now that Malachiasz has done the thing. Serefin is hearing the voices of a dark god that wants nothing good from him. Nadya is hearing no voices from the gods that have guided her all her life. And Malachiasz...well, he's not hearing anyone out these days.

These three are still inexplicably tied to one another and they are the only ones who can bring change to the warring lands of Tranavia and Kalyazi. Both Serefin and Nadya are hoping to end the war, and while they think they have different plans on achieving that end, the same dark gods are whispering to both of them to bring them to the one place where things can be changed from.

The relationship between Nadya and Malachiasz is a lot more heartbreaking in this one because they both want to believe in the other, but they both care slightly more about their people than they do about each other. And while Malachiasz was the one playing the long con in the first book, this time it's Nadya's turn to turn traitor and break hearts.

Serefin finally finds some love of his own and it's the cutest, sweetest thing that I honest never saw coming and it was so perfect and I love how quickly and deeply he and (view spoiler) fall together and it just hurts that Serefin is in such a terrible place when he finally finds this love. I just need them to be okay. Don't hurt my baby Serefin.

I really enjoyed meeting Katya and getting the perspective of one of the Kalyazi leaders. I liked how she fell in with Serefin and how the two of them kind of became friends, despite being on opposing sides of the war. I liked how they both wanted to bring it to an end.

As always, I adore my darling Parijahan and Rashid and I reeeeeally liked getting her POV and seeing how important she really is to her people. I'm wondering what's going to happen with her character arc in the next book, especially since the gods added a forth player in this grand game and I'm guessing it's my darling queen over here. Also, all the love for Rashid and everything about him. His devotion to Parj and his jokes and everything. He's the best. (also, please let that one little comment from him have meant he's ace/aro, because that would make my day, honestly).

Everyone is really broken in this one, be warned. Everyone is at war with themselves, everyone is a little bit crazy. Dark magic abounds. Malachiasz will break you heart. And also, if you have issues with eyes, be aware that there is a great deal of eye horror in this one. Be safe. Be darling. Enjoy this dark, heartless story. It's amazing.

Did not finish only because it has been a while since I read Wicked Saints and I was feeling a little lost. However, that being said, I LOVED what I read.! Dark and twisty, perfect mood for reading around the Halloween season! Will finish after re-reading Wicked Saints! Looking forward to giving this another try! Love Emily's writing style!

Definitely a strong sequel to a very interesting series! I found it a little outside my personal tastes- more poetic mystery and not many concrete facts about the world and what is going on, but if you are into super dark, mysterious, and spooky fantasy/ magic, this series would be right up your alley. I found the writing much stronger in the sequel than in the first book, and the story telling was more compelling. Biggest drawback for me was just feeling like I didn't know what was going on, which is not my preference. This is purposeful by the author however, not a flaw in her writing, so if you prefer having that sense of mystery and not knowing all the elements of a magical system, etc. until all is revealed in the final book I would highly recommend.

Sometimes second books in a series can fall short of expectations, this one did not. All the storylines didn’t get tangled, and were written well. The anticipation of what is going to happen next is clawing at me!

This book was one I have been waiting on since I finished Wicked saints, and to say it was everything I hoped for and more is an understatement, I honestly can't put into words how this book made me feel other than I loved every BLOODY second of it.
I love how the characters have grown and developed throughout the books, the story its self has followed along perfectly and I didn't feel like id missed anything with the way this followed on from the first book.
My particular favourite point of this book is the enemies to lovers relationship between Nadya and Malachiasz, you can see how much Nadya is struggling with her feelings for him and the way the books details the journey for them both is beyond amazing along with Serafin's struggles and the rest of there slightly strange group of companions problems this book has an amazing plot and pulled me in quickly and compellingly.
I found myself finishing this book in under three days and am eagerly awaiting the third instalment.

Ruthless Gods by Emily A Duncan
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

544 Pages
Publisher Wednesday Books
Release Date: April 7, 2020

Mythical, Dark Fantasy, Magic

This is the second book in the Something Dark and Holy Series. I didn’t read the first book in the series so I had to play catch up with the characters. Nadya is a cleric but has lost her connection with the Gods. She has been taken from her homeland when the monastery was destroyed. The new king, Serefin, helps her on her quest to find and return a girl taken by the Black Vulture. If they can do this, he may be able to retain his crown. There is a problem though. Nadya loves and hates the Black Vulture. Her conflicted feelings are shared by Serefin since his brother Mal is the Black Vulture.

It was a good book but I may have enjoyed it more if I read the first book in the series. This was a book I really wanted to like but had problems getting into it. I could not connect with the characters and the story did not flow easily for me. The story was written in the third person point of view.

This book hurt so good! As soon as I put down Wicked Saints I needed the sequel right away…. and now I need the final book soooo bad!!! Ruthless Gods picks up shortly after Wicked Saints left off with the Nadya dealing with the silence of her Gods, Malachiasz missing after his betrayal, and Serefin trying to deal with his new status as king as well as being God touched. If you enjoyed Wicked Saints you will love this journey as our main characters and also some new faces try to fix the cracks they made in the world… but will their quest to right their wrongs for each of their countries succeed, or break the world entirely.

In the beginning this book was a bit more difficult to get through and did a lot more world building and filling in some of the knowledge gaps on the Gods from book 1. Several times a character’s section had me saying what on earth was happening and rereading entries several times. But all of that building (and Malachaisz/Nadya teasers) was well worth it in the last quarter of the book, and OMG what an ending and set up for what is sure to be an AMAZING final installment. Duncan did such a great job of stringing me along needing answers and holding out hope for my favorite characters redemption, I love it when an author keeps me guessing! I have no idea how I am going to handle to wait for book 3 to find out how everything ends!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of Ruthless Gods in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such an amazing read that I couldn’t put it down. It went everywhere with me. To the doctors office, the dentist, the eye doctor. IT WENT ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE. I was so sad when it ended that I immediately went and bought more books from this author!

Wow, this book took me for a ride! Sometimes series get 'second book syndrome' and the second book doesn't live up to the first, but I am hear to say that is not the case here. In this book, things get so crazy that you don't know who's good or bad or just misguided. Our three main characters, Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz have come into extraordinary power that they should not have and don't know how to wield. There are so many gods coming into play and I didn't know, which if any, were trying to save the world or destroy it.
The romance was also so good, I rooted for the couples and with Nadya and Malachiasz constantly battling each other, my heart was torn. I also loved getting more points of view and learning more about the side characters.
So well done and now I have to wait so long for the third book, I don't know how I'll survive.

Can't wait for the final book! I just know that it will be epic and I just can't contain my excitement over this. Where will it go, how will it end? And most important how will our plucky protagonists be able to cope with it all!!!!

Ruthless Gods was relentless and completely without mercy! The angst level, the internal struggle of right and wrong, evil vs good is tireless and will drive you crazy but in a good way.

It was a lot longer than Wicked Saints and the middle tended to drag on and be a bit repetitive but the beginning was alive with revelations, new deceptions and unexpected alliances and the ending will be freakin worth it, trust me.

This story is all kinds of over the top with it's blood and gore, push and pull and intertwinning story lines. I will say I loved Serefin and Kacper and was glad to see Rashid and Parijahan again. Nadia and Malachiasz could have used more page time together but what we get was enough to keep me glued to the pages.

Overall an amazing emotional roller coaster ride. Things were a little too crazy or vague at times but I will be reading the next because this story is too amazing to pass up. I'm left counting the days until the release of Ruthless Gods and the release date for the Untitled book 3!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Holy cannoli people! Ruthless Gods was one wild ass roller coaster ride. Sort of emotional for me because I kept shipping (and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life) two people that just NEVER did anything romantic (yet). I still have high hopes and that's that.

In this, you are reunited with the gang again: Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz. Of course there are other important and lovable people but then I would never get to the actual review. So let's just focus on these people who either get betrayed or backstab some one. Seriously, this book straight up tortued me. There was so much betrayal in this thing that I didn't know if I was going to make it out alive.

Now I thought the first book tortured me.. but no, this one definitely takes the cake! Sweet Jesus - I don't think I've recovered yet and I finished this thing yesterday!

Besides betrayal on every page, there's romance in the air! Of course it wasn't my ship but HEY - I can dream people! It was cute to see some people get together but dammit - I just want my damn ship!!

Then there's the cliffhanger ending - oh lord, I'm dead over it. I NEED the next book stat! I have endless questions that demand answers because I am slightly dying over how this one ended. I need everyone to be safe and happy but I also need some revenge because what went down - I'm just not okay with.

Thank you so much to Edelweiss, NetGalley, and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read and review Ruthless Gods.
#RuthlessGods #NetGalley
#WickedSaintsseries
I loved Wicked Saints. I knew going into this book that there might be a second book slump or "filler" for the third since it is a trilogy. I have even read several reviews where people have said this about Ruthless Gods. I have read many series in my time and sadly have read many second and third book "fillers" this is not one of those books. Duncan does an excellent job of giving each of her characters forward movement. I found this one just as thought-provoking if not better than the first. The writing is a little more paced out, but it allows more depth and comprehension to the plot. The ending is absolutely gut wrenching. I am still processing this novel. Must Read YA!

**Review will be published on my blog, Goodreads, and Instagram March 31st, 2020 (a week before publication, will alter if publication date changes). I will update my links then!**

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

TRUE TO ITS NATURE.

I should first acknowledge, will I read this third book? YES. While Ruthless Gods let me down a bit (and was way too long), there is still enough in here for me to need a conclusion to this wicked tale.

The desperation and darkness that leaked from these pages was astounding. This isn’t some cute fairytale y’all. This will hurt your soul most of the time and leave you questioning if a happy ending is ever possible. And honestly, I’M NOT SURE THAT IT IS. The scope of what someone is willing to do for love of country, and person pushed boundaries that left me reeling by the end. I was pulled in from the beginning, the middle definitely dragged on way too long, and then the ending gave me a interesting enough conclusion that I know I want more. This was a big case of book two syndrome.

This was reallllll creepy and realllll bloody. Every time Malachiasz showed his truly monstrous self I cringed because the mental picture is WEIRD Y’ALL. My boy Malachiasz was *almost* everything I needed him to be. I felt we were missing a chunk of his personality that didn’t come out until the very end. I wanted more heavily wicked banter and more intriguing moments with Nadya. I love this wicked cinnamon roll though and wonder what he’s planning next, because I know it’ll destroy my soul.

Serefin and Kacper. Saw it coming. LOVE IT. And that is about the only tiny moment of happiness Serefin saw this entire book (I told y’all, nothing good happens in Ruthless Gods). His continual battle with a god was intriguing, but here is my real gripe from the whole book; There were way too many visions and flashbacks. They often confused me because the segue into them was abrupt to the story.

My complaint from Wicked Saints was that Nadya wasn’t nefarious enough. She did up her ante in this installment!! YAY. I loved seeing her wield some dark magic and fight her demons. What I didn’t love was how wishy-washy she was about her relationship with Malachiasz. I get that it’s supposed to be this push and pull because he’s wicked, cool. BUT FOR REAL. I had a hard time getting on board with how often Nadya was flip-flopping and using pages to be a bit melodramatic about it all. I think some COMMUNICATION would solve most of these issues, it’s not even a matter of who’s wicked enough, it’s a matter of flat out talking to someone.

While I did enjoy the writing, some scene changes and chapter turnover was not in any sort of flow. It felt like small scenes were being jumped over and I was being tossed into the *next big thing* when I would have liked a bit more movement between scenes. I really loved the last 100 pages and am very curious about the last book. How the gods will play a role, what will happen between the countries, who is going to betray who last, SO MANY QUESTIONS. It’ll be a showstopper I’m sure.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy
Language: very little, in the second half of the book
Romance: a few kisses/make-outs, one almost scene that has a little heat
Violence: everything is bloody and gory y’all; murder, knives, magic, monsters, it’s all here
Trigger warnings: alcoholism, self-mutilation through cutting (for use of blood magic), self-mutilation through removing an eye

Holy hell. This book was so good. There is no second book slump whatsoever with Ruthless Gods. Emily Duncan is a master and this book will wreck you.

Omg this book!! I'm so excited for this to be released so the entire world can see just how amazing this book is.
I loved diving back in to this world and seeing where these amazing characters ended up.
Malachiasz is my favorite.

This is a great continuation of the first book. I'm avoiding saying too much in hopes of not spoiling book one, but I will say this: an amazing sequel that's certainly a must read.

If dark, sinister, blood, dark, heart-breaking, dark, evil, and dark fantasy are your thing, then this is definitely a must read.

Nadya is at a loss in so many ways. Her connection to the gods and her powers are gone; her heart is breaking, and she's not sure why; her people are still unsafe; and she's living behind enemy lines knowing every day could be her last. Worse yet, the scar on her hand holds a connection to the most horrible monster of all. Serefin is now king but fighting to gain any respect and trust. His powers are beyond his understanding, and his eye threatens his sanity...or worse. He doesn't know what to do with Nadya or his kingdom. And Malachiasz has achieved his dreams and nightmare. He's a monster of the worst kind, a threat to himself and others, and the whisper of coming doom.

I read the first book and loved it as well as found a few problems with it. This second one grabbed me more, thanks to the deeper dive into the characters and their broken souls. This is a twisted tale, which knows no pardon. The emotions are raw, blood flows freely, and terrors are real and deadly. But each of the three characters has such a bitter-sweetness that's it's hard not to like every single one, despite how horrid some of their actions and plans are. There is a beam of hope, and it's this which makes this book so wonderful. Nadya's desire to see good, when she doesn't know it or can't see it, makes her hard not to feel for. Serefin has become beautiful in his own sad way. And Malachiasz...well, he's a class for himself.

The writing is a bit slower in this book, but that doesn't make it boring. Definitely not. Every page weeps and bleeds...not in a character sobbing sort of way. But in darkness, plots, hopes, secrets, plans, failure, and danger. It's not a read for the sensitive fantasy fans and carries descriptive morbid scenes, pain and true evil. But it's the beauty in this which draws in. There is always light in even the darkest places.

Good continuation of book one though I feel things were hard to understand at times like I was missing snippets of sentences or just not following what the characters were figuring out. Looking forward to more with the Tsarevna!

I honestly don't even remember wishing for this, seeing as I wasn't the biggest fan of Wicked Saints, but here we are so thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.
I feel like this book carries the same faults as its previous book: it feels at least 150 pages too long and keeping up with complicated characters/lore is a struggle. I also feel that the villain character is just a corny, poorly written cliche. And from following the author years ago it reads as a cheap 'The Grisha Trilogy' fulfilment.

Once again: thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC of this.
For some reason, I barely remembered ANYTHING from the first novel even though I only read it earlier this year so apparently it didn’t stick very well so I was pretty confused in the beginning of this novel waiting for some recap explanations. Reading my review of the previous novel, apparently it’s a theme for this series.
And the relationship dynamics between Nadya and Mal-blah-blah-blah do NOT improve in this book. Lies, betrayal, suspicions, mistrust, but they still somehow just have to keep colliding together. I admit they do have some chemistry but there’s a very delicate balance between the bad and the good for complicated fictional relationships that has to be followed to be compelling and worth reading, mostly with the love interest having actual redeemable qualities that tip the balance, and the author hasn’t quite gotten the formula down. I just opened the ebook and began it by taking a steadying breath and reassuring myself “yes Mal is going to be a complete bastard and villain in this one too” so I was right, I guess *insert Oprah gif of her shrugging with her hands*
The plot however was very intriguing and quickly paced so it was easy for me to get through and entertaining. I will probably read the next book but my wishes for the end game relationship (which so happens to take up a significant amount of the conflict in the series) can be summed up as: kill him permanently and be done with him and call it a day. Nadya would feel so much better