I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Merciless Saviors by H. E. Edgmon is the conclusion to YA contemporary fantasy The Ouroboros duology. Gem, Enzo, and Rory now have to deal with the aftermath of Gem taking the powers of another god and throwing everything out of balance. More than that, they might have a chance to return to their former dimension, the Ether.

I was really excited for this book because I loved Godly Heathens so much. Gem, Enzo, and Rory’s polyamorous relationship continues to develop over the course of the story and their feelings for each other are given weight and complexity.

Gem is struggling with some parts of their past they aren’t ready to confront while their powers go haywire.

I wanna say smart things about this book, but everything smart I have to say occurs in the second half. There’s some really interesting ideas and discussions of themes that will resonate with readers young and old. I’m glad readers of YA have books like this.

Content warning for mentions of CSA and gore.

I would recommend this to fans of Godly Heathers, readers looking for fantasy books with Indigenous protagonists, and readers of YA fantasy searching for polyamorous romances.

Unbelievable that HE Edgmon continues to get better and better. I loved this even more than the first one in this series!

Merciless Saviors was even more than what I wanted as a wrap up to The Ouroboros duology. It was exciting, fantastical, and simply everything that make a great queer fantasy book! Picking up STRAIGHT from where Godly Heathens left off was such a fun way to kick things off that I personally haven't experienced in a book and I actually went back and reread Godly Heathens before continuing Merciless Saviors. Edgmon's writing is genuinely some of my favorite in YA, and the relatability of Gem sometimes hit too hard. There were several recent pop culture references scattered throughout that made this book such a fun and easy read, and I'm looking forward to purchasing it on it's release to complete the duology on my shelf!

I loved and adored the first book. However I did not really re read the first one before diving into this, which is my fault.

While there are a few spots where the book helps you out, this is obviously not the recommended way to read the book. There were periods I was confused and lost. But again, that's my own fault.

Past the confusion of my own making, some of the book broke down for me about halfway through. I'm not really sure what wasn't working for me, but it just wasn't. I wanted to love this.

I think this author is amazing and I'll keep reading their work. Honestly, I'll probably re read book one and then retry this book at a later stage.

I was attracted to this title for the following reasons: It is the sequel to one of the first NetGalley books that I reviewed. I adored Godly Heathens and wanted to know what would happen next as soon as I finished the first book. I requested it before the Boycott of Saint Martin's Press. The cover is amazing and captures that same otherworldly air that the first cover did.

I cannot currently provide a review due to the Saint Martin's Press boycott as we await a public statement against racism and assurance of safety for reviewers information. I will be more than happy to provide more feedback and a proper review once the boycott is over.

Review of Merciless Saviors:

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.75 Rounded up. My only critique is the pacing. Sometimes the pages would drag on and other moments I wanted to stay further in.

I've been waiting for the second installment of this duology since I devoured the first book Godless Heathens. Merciless Saviors starts right off where the first book ended. The book throws you in without a safety net and while there are moments of explanation in case you forgot - for me the first book and this one will be very difficult to forget. There were moments where I thought I was lost in what I was reading, which made sense once I got through that section. It really showcased the confusion that the MC, Gem, was going through during that time.

I highly recommend checking out the trigger warnings that are listed at the beginning of this book as Merciless Saviors dives deeper into the issues more than Godless Heathens. The gender commentary is not as prevalent in this book as it was in Godless Heathens, which did not detract from the impact of it. The first book had it as the forefront where now it goes to the back and is more subtle in its reveals. This book focuses on the trauma and healing of that keeping in mind the logic and emotions of what teenagers feel, no matter how messed up.

Ultimately, the duology and this book in particular are a love story. A story of self-love, looking into yourself and figuring out the jumbled mess of gender and sexuality while finding those that you can be yourself: the good, the bad, and the ugly. And they still love you because of how utterly human you are.

I love this series! So we begin again with Gem, Rory, and Enzo, battling it out on earth. They go through so many tribulations and I am so here for it.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of how mean Gem was when she got “home” but she recovered.
Enzo and Rory is a relationship I don’t quite understand and I’m okay with that.
There was so much drama in this story and I really hope we get another. I will be here waiting!

4/5 stars! Recommend to folks who love gods, self-discovery, love, maybe a sprinkle of magic as well!

**Thank you to NetGalley for proving a free review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am still trying to figure out how I feel about this book.
I was *so* excited for this book. I loved the first one. The second one felt... messier. There was a lot of time distortion lines. It was hard to follow past/ present/ not present. It was hard to follow the names of the humans vs the god names; I felt like I missed a chunk of the story. Maybe I didn't remember the first book as much as I should have, maybe it would have helped.

I sometimes wondered if this was supposed to be one solid book. Maybe it would have flowed better.

Despite my feelings, I very much love the characters. I love Enzo. I want more of Gem. I recommend.

Gem’s life completely changed last year when they learned that they’re actually a reincarnated god. And after using the Ouroboros knife to kill a different god at the end of the year, now everything is out of balance. Because in addition to their original powers, Gem now has the power of the god of air.

Now it is up to Gem, Rory, and Enzo to put things back in balance. The tricky part will be figuring out how to do that without any of them sacrificing their lives–or their humanity. As new dangers start popping up, they have to decide if their godly powers are worth it.

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Merciless Saviors by HE Edgmon to review! I was hooked by the first book in the duology, Godly Heathens, last year, so I was excited to read the sequel. And it did not disappoint! If you enjoyed the characters and the driving plot from the first book, you will be just as hooked in the second.

Where Edgmon excels in this book is the character work. Gem, Rory, and Enzo are complex, interesting characters, and their relationships reflect that. There’s an underlying theme of found family all throughout this book, which is absolutely one of my favorite tropes. And such an important theme for queer characters as well, whose own families might reject them for who they are.

Plot wise, the beginning of the book is stronger than the second half of the book. The plot loses itself a little towards the end, but Edgmon is still able to bring everything full circle by the time the book is finished. And it is an overall satisfying ending for these characters that you’ve come to love.

I wish more series were just duologies because I think they work so much better than longer series (for the most part). Edgmon is excelling at creating dark fantasy worlds, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

An amazing conclusion to a beautiful duology. The pacing, the story telling, character development and representation had me flying through this read. Merciless Saviors was an emotional rollercoaster and an impeccable read.

Merciless Saviors is the sequel to Godly Heathens. I liked the first book and felt as though I had some idea of what to expect going into reading this one. Overall, I liked the characters, plot and world building. The pacing was good, but there were times when I would get a little confused about whose perspective I was reading so I felt a little lost. It wasn't terrible but it was noticeable. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.

Thanks to NETGALLEY and St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books for eARC

This second installment, we read through not just Gem's first person, but some third POV as well via some of the other castmates. It's a nice addition that doesn't clog down or take away from the story. Setting is the same; Georgia and the Ether. I think it's a well-down wrap up, and that it works as a duology (though I wouldn't be upset if more came out later - this world, these novels, are just so much fun and important in terms of covering topics that tend to be stigmas when they shouldn't). Without spoiling, I will say the shift in tone/writing during a certain part was appreciated and cool.


⍟ Notes :
⇉ Not being with Hank during That Scene is an asshole move and kind of BS? It felt a little out of character, but I'm not the author.

⇉ “If someone tries to show me an evil Tom Hanks movie, I think I might lose it.” - PREACH. As more and more of our celebrities fall from grace and their real selves are revealed, there are some I couldn't handle, and Tom Hanks is one of those.

⇉ Typo that annoyed me was the inconsistent spelling of "naïve" ; with and without the accent.

This duology stands as a true masterpiece, plain and simple.

In this particular book, the narrative is a raw exploration of an open wound exposed to the elements, a manifestation of the rage stemming from a pain so deeply embedded that only brutality seems fitting. It delves into the decimation resulting from untreated wounds, handling trauma with a rare gift, never allowing the ugliest parts to slip through the cracks. It's bloody, brutal, and devastating, yet within the chaos, there's an undeniable thread of love, understanding, and the importance of care.

Expressed through the lens of gods, magic, and intense battles, the story captures the essence of teenagers grappling with unimaginable burdens. Buckets of blood are spilled, and the world burns from the inside out, but at its core, it's about kids navigating their pain, clinging to each other for solace, and desperately seeking a sense of normalcy. The narrative is beautifully crafted, mind-bendingly good, and an emotional rollercoaster.

And can we talk about the epilogue? What the heck was that? A rounded-up rating of 4.5 is well-deserved.

"Merciless Saviors" seamlessly picks up where "Godly Heathens" concludes, intensifying the narrative by multiple degrees. Reading these two books consecutively highlights the intricate setup in the first installment and how the second delves even deeper into the subconscious, exploring the complexities of "good vs. evil" amidst extreme trauma. H.E Edgmon has skillfully crafted a stellar story, and I highly recommend these books if you're comfortable with intense YA narratives. The character development, particularly that of Gem, is commendable, and the exploration of their connection to their found family is top-tier.

Content notes for potential readers to be aware of include themes of trauma, suicidal ideation, violence, murder, torture, family abuse, sexual violence, body horror, and animal death.

A heartfelt thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for my thoughts. I'm eagerly anticipating the next journey this duology will take.

Man, I was so excited when this book graced my Netgalley shelf, I really enjoyed book one and I wanted more of it. Maybe this was a right book, wrong time, but I just did not care for this one.

I think I was struggling with the concepts and picturing all that was happening, and it gets confusing when the characters are being referenced with both their godly and human names back and forth - I had a hard time keeping certain characters straight. Especially once they go [redacted] and use one name more than the other, then I was really confused.

Book one ended on quite a cliffhanger, and this book picked up right where that left off. I thought that I remembered more of the first book, but it has been almost a year and I was definitely proven wrong. I was so lost in the beginning, trying to remember all that had happened and where the characters were supposed to go from there.

Then you get to a point where the characters get to go home, and surprise surprise - it is a lot worse than they left it. Gem definitely goes through the most character development in this part of the book, but not really in a way that is beneficial to them. I definitely started disliking them less and less as the story went on, and I found myself kinda losing interest in the story as a whole. I can say the one good thing about this part of the story is that we get a bit more backstory on the gods and their motivations.

In book one two things that kind of threw me for a loop was the polyamory and Gem's shifting between reality/dreams/memories. The romance is definitely a lot lighter in this book, and there is less talk about sexuality in this installment. For the other, the story once again found itself shifting so many times I had a hard time keeping track of what was really happening and what was the past. It pulled me from the story, and I found myself kind of glazing over the passages I read.

And then....the ending happened. It feels a bit anticlimactic? Without going into too much detail, it feels like the characters really backtracked and the story feels a bit moot. I mean, sure there were lessons learned, but the point of the story kind of flew over my head.

I would definitely love to give this duology another chance, and next time binge it from start to finish. That might have been my issue here, because I do remember enjoying book one. I could have also timed this book wrong, as it is a complex fantasy and I am so tired in the evenings my brain just cannot comprehend what is going on.

Overall, I did enjoy book one more but would be willing to give this duology a second try. The author definitely has a unique writing style, and the story is both descriptive and graphic too. The characters all feel unique, but also hard to keep track of with multiple names attached to each one. I think the concept of these books are good, and I would go into this series with an open mind.

Content warnings (from author): mental illness, childhood trauma, suicidal idealations, depersonalization, incest, childhood sexual abuse, violence, murder, torture, body horror, nonconsensual pregnancy (mention), miscarriage, animal death

I didn't think this series could get any better, but it did 😍 the character growth is amazing and the writing got even better compared to book one!

Amazingly written this book will have you on the edge of your seat the whole way through. Amazing nonbinary rep and strong charcters that you love to see!

While I do still think this idea is very cool and interesting, this one was not as good as the first one. I think it was just too confusing. Maybe these need to be read back to back? I feel like this had no reminders of what happened in the first book and because the world and plot is so complex, I think it was just too much. Maybe I needed to reread the first book, but as it stands I just didn't vibe with this. My recommendation for people is to read this one closer to when you read the first one to keep everything fresh in your mind. Still a really cool idea and some really deep discussions about trauma and pain, but unfortunately just did not do it for me.

Merciless Saviors is the fantastic conclusion to the Ouroboros series. While I loved it and was thrilled to be with the characters again, I will say that it took me a bit to figure out what was going on and remember who was who, etc. I strongly recommend reading the first book if you have not already, I can't imagine reading it without having read Godless Heathens. The story tells of Gem, Rory, and Enzo's search for a way to restore the balance without sacrificing themselves. It picks up right after Godless Heathens ended. I love the chemistry between Gem, Rory, and Enzo, they are truly made to be together. I admit, at times I was confused as to what was happening, but I still loved it. I was sad to leave the characters behind and hope that maybe the author will go back and revisit them. Awesome story!

I was so excited to get the ARC of this sequel. H.E. Edgmon is brilliant. There was anger, sadness, and trauma. It was beautiful and angsty. There was found family and forgiveness. Truly a wonderful sequel that took everything that happened in Godly Heathens and turned up the heat.

This book was very hard to understand and get into, but once I did it was good. The writing is what made me want to read it I have never read a book like this one and I'm glad I took a chance with this one. I might have been confused only because I didn't know it was a part of a series. But it is worth a read

eARC thank you netgalley