I loved Godly Heathens but I have such mixed feelings about this one. As an allegory for mental health. Merciless Saviors is brilliant. As a story, it didn't work for me. I found the plot deeply confusing as well as rambling. I ended up being glad I stuck this one out to the end, but it was a struggle.

What a fabulous ending to this duology! It was HARD to read but so worth it in the end. I can't wait to read more by this author

Admittedly for this review, I am very much going to avoid addressing the plot of the novel, because it is the second book and I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. Instead, I want to discuss my overall impression in a more general sense.
Merciless Saviors is about defining one’s self outside of the expectations of others. There are both conscious and subconscious biases fed to us by society that seep into our overall impressions of those around us.The trauma victim that now can’t be trusted to know the limits of their own body, the promiscuous pansexual, the mental health headcase whose emotions are always embellished. What this story does so well is show us just how inherently damaging those biases are when they are internalized, even for someone as all powerful as a god.
Personally, I would caution that this novel is quite a bit harder to read than the first, and I would definitely check the trigger warnings prior to picking it up. Also, be aware, while Godly Heathens had moments where it fell into stream-of-consciousness, Merciless Saviors does that more so.
Overall, this was an extremely powerful story, and I would certainly recommend it not only as an amazing urban fantasy, but as a catalyst for self-reflection. The Ouroboros has easily cemented itself as one of my new favourite duologies.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me access to both the ebook and the audiobook.. I loved the queer rep in this book.

When I heard the premise for Godly Heathens, I was so, so excited. And while I did adore the book, it wasn't exactly as grand and sweeping as I had hoped it would be. Merciless Saviors, however, absolutely makes up for this, and then some. This is 100% the queer, indigenous teens find out they are actually gods from another world novel that I didn't know that I wanted but cannot imagine going without. I think H.E. Edgmon excels when he writes snarky, self-deprecating magical queer teens, and that's the perfect niche. The characters are in turns incredibly unapproachable eldritch beings and extremely relatable teenagers who are just trying to figure themselves out, and I love that. I think the worlds that Edgmon creates are the perfect blend of frighteningly alien and ridiculously familiar.

This picks right up where the last left off which I love.

The gender identity journey I enjoyed reading about and seeing that struggle.
My issue was again pacing. The timeline changes kind of got me confused. I would have loved more world building.

Personally, I didn’t enjoy the first book too much. I loved the representation, but I thought it was just a-okay. However, I liked the second book much more.

First, I felt that the characters had a lot more development. Especially since their journeys and development had been set in place. I felt like Gem’s morally gray character really grew throughout the series. From someone who is more moral to someone who is less so. And this is really fitting of their place in the story and their character journey. I felt like there were a lot more dynamic shifts.

I also liked the development of the other characters as well. I felt like because I was already introduced to the characters, I got to see more of them and know them better throughout the second book. I especially enjoyed Rory and Enzo and their relationship with Gem as well as how they changed as individual characters with the challenges that they faced. I also liked how there were some chapters from different perspectives as well. I thought it was an interesting authorial choice that gave the story more depth. Also, I thought Murphy’s characterization as a side character was the most interesting.

For the plot of the story. I felt that there was a lot more tension in the story and there was a lot more going on. I loved how the author carried on from the cliffhanger from the last book and built the tension throughout the story. I enjoyed how the book went in a different direction than I thought it would go (you’ll see when you read it), and it was interesting how the characters resolved things.

Finally, for the ending of the story. I thought it was fitting in terms of Gem’s characterization and also it befitted the plot, leaving readers pondering why exactly the story ended the way that it did. It was, to put it lightly, a surprising (but not really surprising) ending.

Overall rating, 3.7/5

When I first requested this book I didn’t know it was the second in series. It took me a while to read this because I really needed to read book one.

Now that I’ve finished both I can say I’ enjoyed them both very much!

There is a ridiculous amount of rage and anger throughout the book but it has this incredible undercurrent of love as well.

Gem is a beautiful character! How they processed their trauma was writte so perfectly! You can really feel all the emotions!!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!!

This review has been temporarily removed to align with the SMP boycott. Content and links will go live whenever the situation changes.

This book was interesting, but I can’t say I liked it a lot. I definitely blew through the audiobook just to get through it. The way the storylines were wrapped up were cool, but I just never actually connected with any of the characters, and almost fully disliked the main character. And the language was waaayy too flowery and descriptive at times. Great queer and mental health rep though! 3.5 rounded down.

🌈Queer rep: nonbinary main character (AFAB) who is demi romantic, pansexual, and poly. Main relationships - NB/NB/M poly. Secondary - all the gods are not cis!

The second book of H.E. Edgmon's Ouroboros duology, Merciless Saviors completes the story of Gem Echols, god of magic and teenager just trying their best. As the pantheon's abilities shift and corrupt, Gem tries over and over to hold the pieces together and find a way through. But balance is harder to achieve when your a teenager much less when you're a teenager and god in one.

There were so many beats in this book that sunk teeth in to my heart with a force I could not have expected. I cannot say the plot holds together as elegantly as the first book. But I also don't think that was the point. Gem's story is not linear. The sense of unbalance that Gem feels throughout is better for that unevenness through out. Each moment that feels perfectly paired is countered throwing the reader off their own sense of expectation, creating the same emotional see saw that Gem is attempting to navigate and prevent. The see saw of Gem's stability and desperate desire to find balance can only be achieved through community, through the connections to their fellow gods and to their own human identity. The book as in many ways a love letter to support networks and an acknowledgement of how hard it can be to accept them.

Edgmon captures character and more so emotion spectacularly. As with every other book they've written, Edgmon's characters feel like people I've known and know. They are messy and frustrating and love so deeply. It is the reason I keep coming back to them as an author.

Godly Heathens was one of my favorite reads of 2023, so I was very excited to pick up Merciless Saviors! H.E. Edgmon has such an engaging and creative writing style; I’ll happily read anything they write. Merciless Saviors picks up right where Godly Heathens left off. Gem, Rory, and Enzo have unlocked their memories of godhood and have their powers again. Yet with the balance broken, their powers are not behaving as they used to. As the god charged with balancing the scales, Gem must fight to save the world for their family and friends.

Merciless Saviors is an enthralling and heartfelt sequel. Gem has built such strong bonds with Enzo and Rory both in this lifetime and others. H.E. Edgmon writes about queer love so beautifully and realistically. The dialogue in Merciless Saviors is hilarious and witty. I am in awe of the way Edgmon plays with time and the way that we perceive it. I love how they write found family; it feels like a warm hug. Gem is a morally gray character who makes some selfish choices, yet finds themselves pulled back from the brink by their partners. There are important themes of grief, PTSD, and trauma that are carefully explored.

Merciless Saviors is a sequel that you’ll be thinking about long after the last page. Readers who enjoy morally gray characters, fantastic LGBTQ+ rep, found family, and heartfelt writing will love this book. I can’t wait to read what H.E. Edgmon writes next!

Thank you to H.E. Edgmon, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Instagram, Storygraph, Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc.

MERCILESS SAVIORS picks up right after that whoa moment of a cliffhanger in GODLY HEATHENS, which I was thankful for. Even though I was excited to read this conclusion, it didn’t hit the same notes as the first one did for me. But overall, as a series, I loved the representation - queer and indigenous - and how the horror elements creeped up out of nowhere on you.

Like the GODLY HEATHENS, MERCILESS SAVIORS has an excellent page of trigger warnings at the beginning. If this weren’t the conclusion of a duology, I would have been thankful for the list and skipped the book. But I continued, albeit cautiously.

I don’t see myself rereading this series or buying it for my shelves, which is a bummer because the covers are stunning! But I recommend the read for people who like books with excellent representation, mythology, and horror.

Thanks, Wednesday Books and Netgalley, for my arc!

Content Warnings: (per author in the book) While this book is about magical powers and fantasy worlds, it’s also an honest story about pain. It features a candid portrayal of mental illness stemming from childhood trauma, and a main character whose own mind sometimes seem to be working again them. Recovering repressed memories and the question of reality that follows, is a significant part of this story. There are also graphic depictions of suicidality, depersonalization, and other symptoms that are difficult to stomach, which may make some readers uncomfortable. Other potentially upsetting contents include incest/childhood sex abuse/other sexual violence involving minors; general violence, including murders and torture; horror, including anthropomorphic and body horror; brief mentions of nonconsensual pregnancy and pregnancy loss; and animal death.

The follow up to Godly Heathens- which I loved! Gods trapped in trans teens bodies waking up and figuring out their power. This next book picks up right where we left off…everyone has their memories back HOWEVER because of the way the first ended the powers are all running haywire.

For how much I loved the first book this one has me so jumbled.
So I’ll start with what worked: the way this book dealt with SA and the resulting trauma that can last in a body was very powerful and had heart in my throat.
The horror elements were GREAT. Scary, eerie and the body horror elements were gross.
The epilogue was IT. I loved the epilogue.

What I struggled with: I didn’t like and didn’t understand why when they got their Godly memories back why they still acted young and made teen choices?? Gem, the mc, tells us many times that they are the most powerful god of all time but like idk show us that and maybe stop all the whinging?

Overall conflicted because it had such powerful moments but long periods of not understanding why some choices were made. But I’m glad I read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I’m not sure how I felt about this one as a whole. The beginning was insane and I wished it had stuck with that. I know I should have reread the first book because so much happens that it got too confusing. Thankfully as it went on I remembered more and more. But I was also bored? Like the story seemed to be going in circles for a while. The random switches and when they go to the other world were weird. Also there were some cheesy dialogue and plot points. I usually don’t vibe with poly relationships but this one barely felt like a relationship. At least in the first book I felt like they were all together and liked it. Also Gem was just annoying all the time. I know they aren’t supposed to be a good guy but at least don’t be unlikable. The first book deff had potential to be a great duology but the second book fell a little flat for me. I wish there was less characters to worry about and more of a fleshed out story. I’m going to have to reread this eventually because I only retained maybe 60% of it.

Merciless Saviors is largely about identity and belonging, much like its predecessor, Godly Heathens. While I had a difficult time with the overall writing and plot structure of Godly Heathens, I wanted to continue the series to see if I would be able to connect with the second half of the duology. The characters stood out to me and I wanted to see where their journeys would lead.
Unfortunately, I continued to have difficulty maintaining my interest. But it is very similar in style and structure to the first. So if you liked Godly Heathens, Merciless Saviors will probably be a win as well.

Thank you H. E. Edgmon, NetGalley, and Macmillan for my advanced review copy!

Plot - 2
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 4
Personal Bias - 2
Final Score - 2.75

I didn't love this one. I don't even think I really liked it. The pacing was off for me. I felt like even with the trigger warnings, it was just too much for me.

I actually liked Merciless Saviors better than Godless Heathens! I thought the first was a bit too camp, the dialogue was very edgy and didn't quite feel like teens? Merciless Saviors is more toned down with the forced quips and one-liners, they are still there, just not totally saturating the dialogue.

How the story all comes together was really heartbreaking and cathartic. A truly beautiful rendition of a child's experience with deep deep trauma. There were some parts that felt a bit repetitive, but then I thought about my own experiences and thoughts during CPTSD spirals and realized it was spot on. The evolution of the characters is really sweet. I was honestly fine with the story focusing more on the main three instead of the entire cast.

I do agree with other reviewers that the existential time crises were sometimes hard to follow, or maybe out of place? I can't put my finger on it, but something about the portrayal didn't quite mesh with the story? It wasn't enough to derail or ruin anything, just kind of distracting. There were a few confusing or convenient things towards the end of the book that I went back and read twice to make sure I didn't miss anything... but somehow I'm still not understanding certain characters survival... This is a hard part to dive into without spoilers, so I'll just leave it at that. The plot holes got me pacing.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, appreciated as always.

This is how you end a duology...DAMN, I am still thinking about this book a week later. It's everything I love about the first book, but dialed up to an eleven, and I simply couldn't put it down.

Picking up directly after that cliffhanger in Godly Heathens, Merciless Saviors follows Gem, Enzo, and Rory deeper into the mess they've made. Edgmon's writing is exquisite as always, full of jaw-dropping metaphors and biting sarcasm; I love the subtle shifts in tone as Gem's humanity gives way to the god they were always meant to be, and then shifts right back when Gem becomes more human. This bit is not a spoiler, by the way: like the first book, Merciless Gods thrives in the gray area between good and evil, godly and mortal, past and present. This book is raw and visceral and will rip your heart out. It's also (fair warning) quite a bit bloody!

I loved the complexity of Gem and getting to know more of their past (spoiler, it is painful and my heart broke for them), but for me, the star here is Rory. Getting to see Rory growing closer to Enzo and exploring their complicated polycule was one of the highlights of my book, and getting to see the love she holds for all of them was amazing. While this is a book about surviving trauma, this is also a book of love and healing -- even (especially) if said healing comes after a good bit of righteous anger. Anyway, I don't think there are enough words in me to say how much Merciless Saviors made me ugly cry, and how much I want to shove it at everyone I've ever met and demand that they read it.

Now that I've read the whole duology, if you are a fan of:
-Percy Jackson, but yearning for a grown-up version
-The Owl House, specifically season 3
-Andrew Joseph White's body of work
...you are going to fall in love with these books just as much as I have.

Although I was devastated to turn the last page, I cannot wait to see what H. E. Edgmon will write next.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books, and H. E. Edgmon for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Every now and again I read a book that I wish I could have read when I was younger. This is one of those books. Merciless Saviors is the second in a duology and both books are so beautiful and heartbreaking. In the second novel, Gem is dealing with the ramifications of their decisions and their identity. The balance of power no longer exists and everyone's powers are feeling the change.

Gem is running out of time and everyone is out for their head. When Gem makes a decision to end the fight, they find themselves pulled back into the Ether. But even there, they aren't really the Magician anymore; Gem is still sort of Gem. The Shade is still sort of Enzo and the Mountain is still sort of Rory. Gem starts to unravel who they are and just how deep trauma is rooted in themselves. This book's narrative is like puzzle pieces that come together, weaving the far past of the Magician and the more recent past of Gem.

This book is dark, but there is also so much hope. I wish I could have read a book like this when I was going through depressive episodes in high school. I know that feeling of fear that your trauma makes you unlovable. Gem is a complex character who is coming to terms with their trauma and how that trauma has informed their own choices in life. This book felt like a love letter to survival. The love between Enzo, Rory, and Gem was *chef's kiss*. I like that all three were complex characters with flaws that weren't resolved. Flaws make characters relatable and I hate when a book has a magical solution that just makes everyone perfect.

The one thing I didn't love about this book was the pacing of the narrative. It felt like we could have spent more time in the Ether and less on Earth. Also, the intertwining of past and present was just a little jarring in places. I wish there could have been more multiple POVs in this book, especially from Lionheart or Death. I kind of hope there are more stories set in this world even if Gem isn't the main character.

This is a wonderful story about coping and healing, though the pacing could have been stronger. Honestly, I think this duology might become a staple for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the ARC; all opinions are my own.