⋆⋆⋆½

this is one of the most unique and fascinating books i have ever read. it's also one of the most insufferable books i have ever read, but that's neither here nor there. the characterisation was much more in-depth in this installment. the fragmented narrative style truly made me connect with gem's mental state. i liked them slightly more in this book, but gem still isn't making my favorite characters list. i don't necessarily think that's a bad thing—at least 70% of my dislike towards them comes from the fact that i empathize with marian so much. marian is my twin. if we get a book about her and poppy (my favorite crazy lesbians btw) in the ether, i'd eat it up. the other 30% of my dislike for gem comes from their insufferable victim complex. i understand no one goes around saying things are their fault, much less an amoral god, but you can't go around murdering people's sisters and then say they started it when they fight back? let's look within? that's really my only issue with them—they almost never own what they do. (unlike enzo. he doesn't care. be like enzo. not that i like enzo either. well.) there was a semi-plotline about the shade being held hostage(?) by the other gods in the ether? i think that would have been interesting to explore more, unless it was just the classic school shooter ramblings of being previously bullied. the ending sort of felt like a cop-out, but i can't see it end any other way. and marian and poppy are alive and together, so bonus points for that. all in all, this was an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Merciless Saviors is the second book in the Ouroboros duology, picking up right where book 1 left off, as Gem must grapple with the consequences of using the Ouroboros on Zephyr.

I felt like this book was pretty on par with Godly Heathens in terms of reading experience. The characters remained solid and interesting, the plot was twisty and engaging, and the world was incredibly intriguing. I did feel like the tension and emotions were dialed up in Merciless Saviors, which was an aspect I enjoyed a lot. I think any good sequel knows how to take an established base and ratchet it up just enough to keep readers engaged, and this book definitely accomplished that for me. I have some mixed feelings on the way things did ultimately play out, but in all, Ouroboros is a solid duology that I definitely will be picking up for a reread in the future.

Right off the bat you're going to want to read (or reread) Godly Heathens before diving into this sequel. Merciless Saviors picks up immediately after the events of Godly Heathens, There are none of the subtle little reminders that authors will give to refresh reader's memories.

I did struggle with this one more than I did with the first. I realize I'm not technically the target audience for this duology (I like to read YA and LGBTQIA+ books in hopes it helps me to be a better ally), but this duology might be a little too niche perhaps? There is so much angst and self loathing from the main character that I had a hard time staying with the storyline. I also wish that there were less gods to try to keep track of. I think the love story was meant to be front and center in the novel but the plot kept trying to get in the way and so they both kind of fell flat for me.

All in all, I know there are going to be people that will read this and really feel a connection with Gem, Enzo, and/or Rory so I do recommend this book even if I wasn't able to.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

Wow. This book is the sequel to Godly Heathens, which ended on a cliffhanger, so if you're reading this review wondering if you should pick up the series, go look at reviews for the first book. If you've read the first book and are reading reviews to see if you should bother with the sequel, the answer is YES, you should!!

I spent the first half of this book feeling like if an epic poem had a baby with a fever dream, it would be this story, and I couldn’t tell if I was enjoying the ride or not. Then, with the shift at the halfway point, I was hooked. Still hadn’t been certain how I felt about the story, but invested nonetheless. And finally, finally, Chapter 30 pushed this into a 5-star read for me. I do not want to give anything away, either about the story or my own past, but that chapter was like a gut punch. All the way through to the last sentence of the Acknowledgements, which brought me to tears. A truly unexpected duology. This might be a book series I reread, which is rare for me. Usually I wait to post my review to let a story marinate for me before I gather my thoughts, but I couldn’t wait to write this review. I just finished the book and had to post this.

Congrats (slightly belated) on your pub date yesterday H.E. Edgmon! And thank you, and NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books, so so much for a free copy of Merciless Saviors in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC for this book! I was approved for this ARC months ago. I waited until it was a little closer to release time, but it took me longer to finish than I expected. The world building and themes were too heavy to read as quickly as I might usually.

Godly Heathens left us on a massive cliffhanger. Everyone in the pantheon now knows that they're gods. For better or worse, really, because not all of them are happy about it. And while the first book was about Gem learning they were a god. This book was all about learning what that actually means. What kind of a god they were, and kind of figuring out what kind of god they want to be.

And the kind of god they were? A tricky one! So tricksy that they still don't remember everything they've done. So tricksy that they always have something up their sleeve. And that something is usually the powerful magical dagger that got them into this whole mess in the first place!

Hank is, once again, the MVP of this book. He is the goodest boy!!

**Spoiler Alert**

The idea that the pantheon and the Ether were born of Gem's trauma was a really interesting take. So is the magic real, or is it all made up. Or does it being made up make it less real? It was a very interesting (albeit tragic) theory to introduce.

Gem Echols had been betrayed and forced to use the Ouroboros knife, and now has the powers of the God of Air. It wouldn't have been so bad if Gem wasn't already the reincarnation of the Magician, because now the power of the Gods is thrown out of whack. Gem, Rory, and Enzo search for a way to restore the balance without sacrificing themselves, new horrors make them question how far they're willing to go.

In this sequel to Godly Heathens, we pick up where the first book left off. Nonbinary Gem had realized they were the reincarnation of the Magician, who had done incredible trickery to escape into our world. Gem and several of the people they know are these reincarnations, as they all gravitate toward each other in our world. Using the Ouroboros knife would be able to sever connections, but killing a god means taking on their power. Gem had been an impulsive and emotional teen, and for all that they tried to push people away and isolate themselves. Now we see the consequences of their actions.

With power unbalanced, death doesn't quite stick and Poppy can raise zombies. Rory can not only control land but animals as well and makes them spread. Enzo as the Shade can make forbidden things, but even that goes awry, too. This volume is a bloody violent mess, with gods dying, the specter of abuse in Gem's past, and the Ether in disarray. Body horror elements and the literal manifestations of grief and suffering abound. Gem continually says they're not a good person, they don't deserve to be loved, and they are a monster. They are selfish, as teenagers can be, as omnipotent gods never told no can be. But those are also the tortured emotions of a traumatized child who didn't believe that they could deserve better.

Gem is truly at their worst here, and is forced to contend with the poor choices the Magician made, as well as their own darker side. It's only by confronting that past and letting go of it that Gem can heal, which would allow the Ether to heal, as well as the rest of the pantheon. It's a messy path, often a literal bloodbath in the Ether, but shows that unconditional love and understanding is usually the first step in becoming whole again.

If you liked the first one you'll enjoy this as well. It's a good sci-fi urban, paranormal novel and if you connect with the characters then it is a satisfying read. I want to reread these together as audiobooks before making a final review.

I genuinely wasn't sure about where this was going to go for a bit about halfway through this, but this is honestly a great end to this duology. It feels like the real thing Edgmon has been getting at the whole time was about breaking cycles, and being able to move forward with you life. As it turns out, gods reincarnated into Appalachian teenagers is the perfect way to go about talking about this, and Edgmon gets to do cool shit with the cast of characters we met last book. I feel like I got the full scale of these kids' tale, and I want to let them go off to do whatever they want to do with their lives now. Definitely pick up this book.

St Martin’s Press has still not responded to the Readers For Accountability simple demands, thus I won’t have a review of this UNTIL they speak up. Such a shame really, they’re losing out on thousands of readers providing free marketing for their books.

#SPEAKUPSMP

As much as I loved the first book of the Ouroboros, this one wasn't it for me. I felt that it dragged a little bit. I had an hard time connecting with Gem but maybe that was the point and a metaphor about them trying to figure out who they are.

I feel like those books need to be read back to back, no pause. The second book picks up exactly where it left off in the first one. The gods have so many names that I had an hard time following everything.

It still remains a great duology.

The world building was so confusing in this one and it felt very fan fictiony. I did love the poly rep and how it was built up. The ending was very satisfying and I might be swayed to pick up any companion novels.

A great conclusion to the Ouroboros duology featuring a group of queer former gods who have been reincarnated as teenagers on Earth only to remember their past lives. Dark at times and tackling tough topics like deadnaming, transphobia, suicidal ideation and more, this was such a great fantasy with a diverse cast, action, adventure, power imbalances and a polyamory romance. Great on audio and highly recommended for fans of the Fallen gods series by Hannah Kaner. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

A stunning conclusion to the Ouroboros duology. Merciless Saviors is the perfect ending to this series, full of surprising twists that showcase the humanity of this unique pantheon of gods.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat, and I could not put it down as I could never predict where it was going next. I love how important the choices of the characters were to the plot and how it shaped the story. We still don’t have all the answers at the end of this book and yet it works so well.

I loved Gem and although they weren’t the hero, you can’t help but root for them. Their arc was never easy and more often than not they made impulsive and destructive decisions. This didn’t mean they didn’t have reasons for the decisions they made, and we got to see the way they justified those decisions to themself. Gem’s complicated childhood as well as the Magician’s history both played roles in the person they are and how they grew over the course of this book blurring the lines between both villain and hero and god and human.

The romance continued to be one of my favourite aspects of the book as Enzo, Rory, and Gem all had so much chemistry with each other. Although, it wasn’t easy they truly put each other first in a way heroes simply can’t. Nothing can beat the way they loved each other as both gods and humans and learned to love in ways they couldn’t in either one or the other. They held each other accountable, and their relationship was central to the story.

There are certain types of conflicts that only work when the individuals involved have history with one another and the familial relationship among the gods made for a complicated dynamic, to say the very least. These gods are all connected to each other in more ways than one and in ways they may not have wanted to admit even to themselves. As opposed to a true antagonist their conflicting goals caused much of the conflict throughout the series and no one character was right. The book played with the idea of a moral dichotomy of good vs evil. Certain characters felt they were not good or were shunned for representing aspects others refused to tolerate while other characters who could be otherwise viewed as good made choices that weren’t as virtuous. This blurry ethicality made these gods very human and allowed their human ties to be so important.

I must say I was excited for the sequel to this duology to be shared with us, and was ecstatic to realize that the story literally picked right up where it left off. I did struggle to catch up in the beginning, because it felt like the story was jumping around a bit, but once I got it, I was able to enjoy.

I must say that it felt like Gem was very dislikable to me in this specific read, but I know that they were struggling with figuring out who they were after all magic goes haywire. However, there were so many instances where they were just too cocky and very much seemed like they had the mind frame of 'I'm better than you' aspect, and that really turned me off from the character. I do feel that this was the intention of the character as they were laid out, but it made me struggle in many pieces to just move on past. I really loved Gem in the first book, but the struggles in this one were just struggles for me in general.

All in all, I feel that this was a fun and magical duology, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read and review both parts. I will definitely be reading them both again in the future, with the hopes of loving them that much more!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sharing this read in exchange for an honest review. Definitely a 3.5 star read!

Rating: 4/5
I received eARC for my honest opinion.

This book picks up right from where book 1 leaves off, you will see how the characters have to come to terms with the fact of being reincarnated gods. This book is fast paced, and you will notice that it comes quickly like the first book.

This book did have me at times confused and having to re-read parts to make sure that I didn’t miss something, but I loved the characters’ development throughout the whole book and not just Gems but all of them. For me this book really focuses on trauma, growing up, the understanding of forgiving, heartbreaks, and understanding. This book does have a lot of triggers: gore, teen death, and mental health.

For me this author did an amazing job with showing, helping to understand, and giving teens away to be understood about how they are feeling and in general for me how rude and cruel teenagers can be. I thought the author handled the hard topics well.

I thought the characters developed well, I found myself happy with the ending of the story. Even though I did think that Marian and Poppy would have more of vengeance than they did in this book, overall, the plot and characters were wrapped up nicely.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. martin's Press for the opportunity to review this book.

Merciless Saviors is the second book in H.E. Edgmon's YA contemporary fantasy duology The Ouroboros.
This book was a phenomenal ride from start to finish. This is a unique story with some very interesting characters that stuck with me. They were so authentic and raw.
The characters are simply put fascinating. H.E. Edgmon creates the best morally gray characters.
The mythology and unique magic system and the way the story was crafted is very unique and spellbinding
And you add the adorable romance Merciless Saviors ends up being one of my favorite YA contemporary fantasies of the year!
This book is such an adventure. And so enthralling you forget that you’re reading.
If you enjoyed Godly Heathens, you will freaking love MS!

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I LOVED Godly Heathens. It was such a unique story with fantastic characters and representation. So I went into this sequel (and conclusion to the duology) with extremely high expectations…and this book did not disappoint! I might have even enjoyed this book more than the first!
Merciless Saviors picks up immediately where Godly Heathens left off. Because of Gem’s actions at the end of book 1, magic is now out of balance for all of the godly teenagers. Now they have to figure out how to restore the balance (if it can be restored) while still dealing with the ongoing war between the gods.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave the description at that, but this book was the perfect conclusion! We get to see so much more of the characters and their powers, the Ether itself, and the secrets and shames each has buried deep inside. It was especially great to see Gem, Rory, and Enzo’s relationship develop, and how each of them faced the warring sides of themselves—the godly side and the human side. The character development throughout this book was fantastic. Between the fantasy elements and the larger-than-life characters, the core of this story is still about these people just trying to find themselves and understand where they belong.

If you enjoyed Godly Heathens, definitely pick up the sequel! Though please heed the content warnings. Merciless Saviors is much darker than the previous, with many raw and vulnerable discussions of deep and dark topics, as well as other graphic content.

I really liked the first book in this series, and I think I made a mistake not re-reading the first one before jumping into this one. There were a lot of parts of the story that were really confusing but I think it was from not remembering much of the first book. This book follows gods and mortals and has a lot of mentions of trauma associated with those things. I overall really enjoyed the story and the uniqueness of it. I just wish I read the two back to back. The story is an emotional and sometimes difficult one. There is violence and death, so make sure to check the triggers. Overall, a very unique story.

If you enjoyed "Godly Heathens," then you're very likely going to enjoy "Merciless Saviors" too. 👍🏻

This picks right up on the cliffhanger from the first book and chugs along with no downtime rehashing things. 🚂🚃🚃💨 And I was so happy to be back in this fucked up (said affectionately) magical world.

What I loved:
• The Shade. (if you read this i'm free on thursday night and would like to hang out. please respond to this and then hang out with me on thursday night when i'm free.)
• The writing. There's so many parts that are seriously poetry in how beautifully they're written. 🤌🏻💋
• Seeing more of the Ether and seeing more of the gods' powers. There was one battle scene where I was like "this is so great that it's setting an impossible bar for all other fantasies I read after."

What I didn't like as much:
• Some of the time-location jumps didn’t flow well and were hard to follow (but maybe that was the point, feeling confused and disconnected.)
• I personally didn't care for the overall resolution, but I understand why it went that direction, and I did like the little "hehe 😈✨️" moment at the very end.

This book might be for you if you're into:
• The first book in this duology. Lol.
• BIPOC representation.
• Parallel worlds.
• Queer poly romance. (One pepper on the spice scale.)
• Reincarnated, morally (dark) grey gods.
• Teenage angst.
• Unique magic system.

Content warnings:
• Childhood sexual assault/abuse.
• Gore and violence.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books - St. Martin's Publishing Group for the e-arc! 💌

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

Merciless Saviors is the second book in a duology about gods living on Earth as teenagers and the chaos that ensues. I enjoyed Godly Heathens quite a bit--I thought the premise was interesting and the story kept me interested. I did not feel the same about Merciless Saviors. Had I not wanted to provide an accurate review, I likely would have stopped reading it. This book begins right where Book 1 ended and all the gods continued to fight amongst themselves for the duration of the book, though the location shifts back and forth from Earth to the Ether. I struggled the most with keeping the story and characters straight as the story moved back and forth from the characters as teens to gods, Earth to Ether constantly, which felt chaotic. While I absolutely appreciate what this book tries to do with trauma and finding people who will love you no matter what, it ultimately did not land as successfully with me as I'd hoped.