I could not be more impressed with this installment. We learn so much more about Serefin and although I loved him in book one, I was NOT prepared to care for him and his future as much as I did in this book. His magic and the dynamic between him and his friends vs him and his people that hates him is RIVETING.

I’m also obsessed with the way Malachiasz truly is a villain of sorts opposed to the typical trope of a villain love interest that really isn’t that bad. Malachiasz is willing to absolutely destroy himself for his people and his story is heartbreaking AND engrossing as you never know to really trust him. I am so stoked to see how this story ends!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with this e-Arc. I am very grateful! Will definitely read more from this author in the near future.

Ruthless Gods picks up several months after the cliffhanger of Wicked Saints, and the group has pretty well scattered to the winds. Serefin, Nadya, and Malachiasz all suffer mightily from the after effects of the night that they killed the king--and none of the three quite knows what did happen or what to do with their new-found abilities. Nadya and Serefin both have new voices in their heads and new paths to forge.

Though neither trust Malachiasz, Nadya is certain that he is integral to regaining her gods' favor and stopping the long war between Kalyazin and Tranavia. So she manages to pull him just enough free from his position as the Black Vulture to join them on the journey far into the wooded, cursed heart of Kalyazin.

Though Ruthless Gods presumably bridges everything that happened in Wicked Saints with the next book, Ruthless Gods is clumsily handled. The viewpoints rotate too frequently, the characters are locked in their own stubbornness, and the plot plods along. It is certainly a must-read for fans, but it will leave them hoping that the third volume more closely resembles the first.

I was deeply disappointed in this book. I loved the first one and couldn't wait to read the next in the series. It just seemed like she repeated things over and over again, and was trying too hard to be dark and gothic. The story just seemed stuck and the author wasn't sure where she wanted to take the story next.. But yeah I was disappointed with this book and won't be reading the next one.

The story was intriguing and original but I felt there were gaps in the plot and development leading to confusion and disinterest on my part. There were references to aspects in the first book that played a major role in this book I didn't feel were explained well.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

3.5 stars
Okay, here is the thing. I love the characters. These murder babies are adorable and they are fun. Their conversations are such a joy to read. The adventure is also super interesting. I love the concept of the book and when I think back (I read this... 4ish months ago) on it, I have mostly positive thoughts.
The thing is... it is mostly confusing. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on while I was reading it and even afterwards I'm confused with what happened and where it is going. There is also a lack of trust between the characters, so they don't know exactly what is going on either, which means the reader isn't exactly sure what is going on. So, I did have to push myself through this one at times.

I'm thinking once I read the third book, I'll understand this one more, so if I ever go back to re-read the series I would enjoy it more. Maybe...
Anyhow, like I said, looking back I think of this book fondly and I do recommend this one to people who like gothic fantasies.

I've tried reading this one several times, but I just can't get into it. I'm currently and 54% and don't see myself picking it back up. 😔

I ordered this book not knowing it was a sequel, so ... Shame on me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I've fiiiinally finished Ruthless Gods and I have to say that, despite it taking me more than 3 months to read (!!!), it was deliciously dark and epic. as. fuck. Sure, it took me awhile to become fully immersed but that wasn't entirely the book's fault. Actually, I'll take most of the blame.

First of all, it's a very long book with a lot happening: an ongoing war between the Tranavians and the Kalyazi... a pantheon of gods and goddesses... blood magic and ancient relics and moths and monsters... and it had been many months since I read the first book.

Second, I felt obligated to read it, having requested the ebook on Netgalley. Apparently, I don't like being told what to read, even when it's me who is doing the telling. In fact, I'm pretty sure I rebel against myself more than I rebel against authority figures, which is saying a lot :p As such, as awesome as Netgalley is, I probably won't request anymore ARCs, at least until I've read all of the books in my home library that I own and haven't read yet. That's a path to resentment, which isn't fair to myself, Netgalley, nor the books and their authors.

Anyway, personal neurosis aside, I adore the world and characters that Emily A. Duncan has created for this fantasy series. She's an extremely talented author who creates stunning visual imagery that is simultaneously grotesque and gorgeous. I'm eagerly anticipating the third installment.

Who knew monsters could be so damned beautiful?
(Malachiasz, I'm looking at you 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤)

******

Yay! I received an ARC of Ruthless Gods from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, in exchange for an honest review. I loved Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan so I'm really excited to continue the story! :D

After reading Wicked Saints, I could not WAIT for this sequel. I loved everything about the first one, and Ruthless Gods did not disappoint. I loved the continuation of the world-building, the character development, and most of all, the intrigue!! I started reading for the blood, the gore and the backstabbing, but I kept reading for the angst, the drama and the relationships between Nadya, Malachiasz, and Serefin. And the descriptions! I loved the author's beatiful, gothic, romantic way of writing. It kept me turning page after page. Definitely looking forward to the next installment to get my fix of the Slavic folklore turned on its head. Note: I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this one!

I was provided an advanced digital copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes, all opinions are my own.

you thought wicked saints had reached it's peak baby no that was just the pinnacle. Emily really outdid their self with ruthless gods, the title is aptly named, the ruthless lows and highs each character experienced.
Serefin was the breakout star here his journey was so satisfying and the little bit of happiness he was able to find was there all along.

You want romance? Gore? Metal gods with ruthless plans?
we have moths and eyeballs and if thats not enough Malachaisz will claw his way into your heart once more.

Duncan's dark, evocative storytelling returns tenfold in Ruthless Gods. The stakes are higher, bloodier, and sure to lure in those who loved Wicked Saints.

This follows a few different perspectives with the main ones being Nadya and Seferin. I liked how Nadya went from this naive and innocent girl to being more cunning and ruthless even if she didnt go all the way villainous like I wanted her to. Her relationship with Malachiaz was messed up but I still enjoyed their whole starcrossed lovers dynamic with one of them being a cleric and the other a heretic. I just wish we would have gotten a little more insight into why Nadya loved him so much besides him being this anxious boy under the monster facade. I also would have liked seeing Nadya try harder to uncover Malachiaz motivation for helping her. She knows he will betray her but doesnt really make an effort to prevent it.

Serefin was this beautiful disaster of a character, but he seemed more aloof and passive than usual. He just wasnt as strategic as he was in the first book. Unlike Nadya who had a plan and was following through with it, Serefin just seemed to be along for the ride. It didnt quite make sense for Serefin to try to appease the people who would overthrow him instead of punishing them. I felt like that was only done to give him a reason to go to the salt mines. Not to mention he didnt try very hard to avoid giving the gods what they wanted. Besides that his romance with Kacper was really cute. I also enjoyed his friendship with Nadya and the tense dynamic between him and Malachiaz. The rest of their little group had distinct personalities.

The plot didnt seem to progress all that much until the very end. I wish we got more answers about Nadyas corrupted hand and the gods plans. Despite liking the mystery of it all, I feel like getting some answers about either her powers or the gods even if they were proven false later on would have helped the pacing. I was disappointed we skipped over the fight with the dark omen creature since it could have added a high intensity scene among all the travelling. The characters main goal is to stop the war but they have very different ideas of how to achieve it. The ending was exciting but I didnt find it all that believable. I'm not sure what's preventing Serefin from undoing what the gods did.

The gothic vibes and dark atmosphere was super compelling and immersive. I loved the spooky forest setting, but I wish we got descriptions of the different monsters instead of just complicated names. I had some issues with the language at times, but I still really enjoyed the tone of the writing. This world has two main types of magic. Theres the clerics who are given different powers by different gods and heretics who use blood and a spell book to do magic. On top of that theres saint artifacts containing magic that can be used by people who dont have powers of their own. I thought the meddling gods were a lot of fun, especially the forgotten gods. I cant wait to find out more about them and Nadyas power in the next book.

I enjoyed Emily A. Duncan’s first book in this trilogy, Wicked Saints but this second book is definitely superior. I love the gothic, dark writing. The characters are more developed in this second book as well. If you like a dark, YA series, keep these in mind.
Now I have to wait, impatiently, for book three!

not really for me..
i read Wicked Saints and loved the ending.. this book fell flat..
just not my cup of tea.
writing was beautiful!
I just didn't enjoy the story.

“What if the gods you worship aren’t gods at all?”

Something about this line struck me as soon as I read it. This was one book that I stopped reading like three times throughout the course of my reading it, not because it wasn’t great, quite the opposite in fact. But I just felt like I needed a breather each time I put it down, what I loved about it though is that every single time I put it down, it was so easy to jump back into it when I picked it up again.

This last time though, it was so hard to get through it because in the end, things didn’t turn out as I thought they would and it was so hard to witness all the betrayals. When you think about it, in fantasies, a lot of the main characters are teenagers and sure in a fantasy it always seems like they act older than their age.. I couldn’t put it past me that these were still kids in essence being manipulated by forces stronger than they could truly grasp. All the betrayals and hardships they went through just struck a little harder each time that I couldn’t wrap a lot if it though my head.

The writing as always was amazing and this author is amazing at weaving a story you could so easily dive back into after months of not touching the book. I don’t know if there’s a third book, or if my heart will be able to take another book like Ruthless Gods but.. I’m already anxious for it.

I felt like nothing really happened in this book. I loved the first one. That one wow'd me. I give this book one star because I didn't like it. I felt like the first one had more action and creativity versus this one.

I am still dipping my toe into "scary" reads and this one definitely has me on my toes and covering my eyes(I know, that doesn't do anything) but sometimes scenes just get to you and you need to shake them off. This was a great sequel that laid such a good foundation for the next and final book!

I feel like I need to change my rating for wicked saints because I did not love it at all towards the middle of the story nor the end. I was completely over it, but I gave it a mild 3.5 last year because I am in love with the gothic world building but everything else is pretty much forgettable.

Ruthless gods was better, which would make it a solid 3.5. I’m not sure if it was because I went into ruthless gods without high expectations like I did with Wicked Saints. Even so, I feel like the characters were better-rounded in book 2.

I didn’t have any feelings for Malachiaz nor Nadya after wicked saints, but ruthless gods definitely made me appreciate both their characters a lot more and their relationship.

The world-building was as glorious as ever, and I felt like there was much better solidarity to the plot this book then there was in wicked saints.

Was the beginning kind of slow? Yes.

Did it get better? Yes.

There were a lot of great scenes within this book, but sometimes these scenes happen but you don’t have a lot of previous evidence or build-up that leads to these glorious scenes so that throws you off.

Now for the star of this series and both books for me — Serefin, he just gets better in each book and I’m very excited to see where book three picks up for him and his kingdom. I do wish we had more of a partnership between him and Nadya, I really want that in book three.

That being said, Ruthless gods wasn’t a brain bursting read for me but I did enjoy it for the reasons I listed above. And if you’re a fan of very atmospheric, aesthetic reads then I highly recommend this series