Sadly didn't hold my interest enough and I had to DNF it halfway through... It felt weirdly confusing and yet very slow-paced? It was a weird combination. I may still give it a try later when I'll want a new fantasy series, but at that moment it wasn't my cup of tea sadly.

I'm pretty damn proud of myself. I can pronounce Malachiasz correctly.

I was so freaking in love with this book that I totally forgot to leave a review. It won't be a good review, because I can't put into words how much I love these characters.

Nadya is such an interesting character. I love her. All of her internal struggles are legit and aren't petty or superficial. She has some amazing "powers", but she's humble and doesn't use them to her advantage (in the sense of self gain for like 'fame or popularity', or in cruel ways for self gain). She has been blessed by the Gods. She has this awesome prayer necklace with the symbols for each God etched into the different beads. She speaks with them and prays to them while holding their bead, and her prayers are answered (most of the time).

My all time favorite is Malachiasz though. Sigh. He is the most intense and wonderful morally dark gray character in the world. And I adore him. His evil and wonderful soul needs hugs and kisses and a kick in the butt. The story could be only about him, and I would be happy. My villain loving heart is obsessed with him.

And then there is Serefin. He's the "you love to hate him" character. Well, most of the characters in this book fall under that category. But Serefin is the bad boy with daddy issues. He enters with a bang. Literally. He is painted as the super villain, you want him dead. Until...until you don't. His life is so complicated and there is just SO. MUCH. MORE. to him. He's beautifully sad. And I want to protect him forever.

The magic in this book is insanely breath taking. It touches on so many aspects. There is the magic from the Gods, then there is blood magic. Both sides see the opposite as the lesser magic. Heretics and fanatics. The blood magic is a bit scary. I see the appeal of both. The magic from the Gods can be taken away, so it's easy to be manipulated and it's never really yours. You're at the mercy of the Gods. Then the blood magic is widely thought of as evil. A dark magic. Give to much of yourself to this dark magic, and you become a monster. The contrast of light and dark in this world is so extraordinary. You want both sides to be right. You want both magics for yourself.

Wicked Saints is a book that I couldn't read fast enough, and one I didn't want to be done with when I read the last page. I will forever be needing more of this story. I'm very thankful to have read an ARC and I will be be buying every single special edition copy imaginable.

I'm officially obsessed.

Dark fantasy filled with blood magic, power, and an endless struggle modeled after the 100 Years’ War. The worldbuilding feels slightly Slavic and could stand some expansion, as could the magic systems. A brutal, reckless read.

It is a beautifully haunting gothic tale that reimagines a world of gods, magic, and culture with questions about what is good and evil. The plot twist I had a feeling was coming, but that twist was still a full impact blow -but one I gladly take. If you love gothic, Halloween, old age, fantasy or enemies to lovers I highly recommend.

I loved the dark atmosphere that we get in Wicked Saints, and I loved the relationship between the characters. The twists and turns that occurred throughout this book kept me from putting the book down. However, I found that the character development was not all that I was expecting by the end of the book. A lot of stuff happens at the end, and it feels like the characters do not grow after; although it could be that the representations we were seeing beforehand were not accurate...

This was just...okay? Like, it wasn’t anything special, though I can see the appeal. I just didn’t relate to or enjoy reading about any of the main characters. If I wanted to read crappy Darkling-meets-Kylo Ren fanfic (which I wouldn’t in a million years), I would’ve turned to AO3.

I really love this book, and it takes you into totally unexpected and twisted place. It is set amid the back drop of a epic war that as stretched on between the countries of Kalyazin and Tranavia. I enjoyed how action packed this story was and I really enjoyed all of the characters. The book starts out with action right out of the gates, as we are introduced to one of our main characters, Nadya. She's a cleric and has been hiding in a monastery destined to be the savior of her country of Kalyazin. The other main character is Serefin who is a Prince and a mage and he is after Nadya. The POV's in the novel mostly switch between him and Nadya and they are the main drivers of the story.

I really enjoyed the world building in this novel, and liked how the author incorporated Slavic imagery and words into the story, which makes for a more rich and detailed world. I also enjoyed how magic is wielded in this story, especially the blood mages and the Vultures, and Nadya's relationships with the saints and how they funnel magic to her it also unique.

The toxic relationships between Nadya and Malachiasz, initially as star crossed lovers, and later as more advisories is also an interesting detail of the story. Even when you know that they are bad for each other, you still cant help but hope they can eventually work out their issues, until eventually the betrayals are just too much, and too stacked up to overcome. And I I am dying to know how everything ends up and what happens to them and if some sort of redemption is even possible for a character like Malachiasz.

I cant wait for the next installment in this series and to find out what ultimately happens to the countries of Kalyazin and Tranavia!

A little hard to get into with the characters and the different groups they are in. The political aspect sometimes got in the way of keeping the characters with all their characteristics straight. I hope the next book is a little bit better than the first one.

My god this book was really something. It took a moment for me to get into and to understand the world.. But once I did, ohh my god. The universe Emily Duncan weaves is so stunningly dark and twisty. I adored the world-building and the system of the gods.. It was a hard read to put down at times. At first the blend of magic, politics, and religion kind of scared me, there's a fine line to walk to keep it from sounding too... yikes, i guess. Wicked Saints did a good job at doing this. Nadya's *thing* with restoring the gods irked me at times, but that's just me, she's a devout through and through, so she was really well written.

I was only able to get about one chapter into this book and even that took.me a while to do. I just couldn't find myself interested even with action occurring and I just didn't feel the hype that everyone else did. I don't think I could even tell you a character's name or anything else about the book except for the fact that there was a monastery and some potatoes (maybe there's a guy named Mal? idk I think I only know that bc I follow the author on Twitter)

DNF'ed because I wasn't in the right mood when I started reading this book. Also, I felt I was missing something when it started right in the action. I have a physical copy of the book and it is really gorgeous. I will give it another go at some point for sure.

When I first heard about this book I thought it was interesting. Then I saw all the hype surrounding it. I thought this book was going to be okay, but maybe not worth all the noise surrounding it. Usually, when a book is very hyped I try not to get myself too worked up about it. Once I started reading it though, I could not stop. This book is probably my most surprised book of the year. I absolutely loved it and I don’t know if I can explain how much it had me on edge. The story was so unique and fascinating that I immediately drew myself into the world. Each description was so thought out that I could imagine what was being told. Every time Nadya was cold, I was cold. The warmth she felt from Malachiasz, I felt. There was so much detail in this book, but it was just the right amount. I never felt over burden with details that sometimes you find it rich fantasy worlds. The only thing I had issues with were the names – I probably pronounced Malachiasz a different way each time. Regardless of that though, the pacing of this book was fantastic. I couldn’t wait to sit back down and read again. With reading so many fantasy books, I am a pretty good judge about what is going to happen next. This book, was the first book in such a long time to throw me for loops. And not even at the end of the book but throughout the whole thing. I was astounded about how many plot twists came my way and I was living for them. At one point I was reading this at work and I looked to my coworker and was like “I cannot with all these plot twists. I don’t even know what’s going on anymore!” The story definitely took a turn I was not expecting and I cannot wait to read the next one.

These characters are something else. I absolutely loved Nadya’s character. There were so many aspects of her that just reached to me. Obviously, I’m nothing like Nadya but her character development was just so real. I loved everything about her from her steadfast faith to questioning it towards the end of the novel. Each doubt she had, I had also. Each heartbreak she felt, I felt also. This is exactly how you create a fantastic character. Malachiasz…. Oh my broken boy. My feelings for him are as jumbled and clear as Nadya’s are. And the enemies to lovers? Ugh, give me it all day. I also really liked Serefin’s character. His development was beyond what I could imagine. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing he is. I’m so glad he is turning out the way he is, and his ending? Oh my, next book is going to be interesting. But if anything happens to any of these side characters, I will fight you. You hear me Emily? You leave them alone.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan is a ride! This book took so many turns that I don’t know how I kept up. The progression of this book was absolutely amazing and so surprising, I’m still not even sure how we ended up there. Each part of the story felt unique and wonderful, perfect for the created world. I also really loved the characters. There was so much to them that just instantly made me feel connected to each one. I’m really excited to see what the next book brings. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a dark filled fantasy books that will keep you guessing on what is going to happen next.

TWs: parental/familiar abuse, self harm.

This was a really dark, thrilling debut novel, full of deception, secrets, and lies. The world-building was very atmospheric, with snowy scapes and haunting grounds and I ended up being pretty immersed very quickly. The Russian (?) influence really came across in the language and settings. I liked the main character, Nadya, but I didn't love many of the others as much and was less invested in their stories. On the whole, this was an enjoyably tense read, with lots of twists and turns.

What a fantastic book! Emily A Duncan has such a way with words and I absolutely loved this dark, juicy novel. There's a lot to remember, a lot to keep in your head - but it's definitely worth reading. I did get a bit confused at points, but that was probably due to reading it so quickly! On a reread, I'm sure everything would become clear. I now have the second book and can't wait to get started.

For fans of dark, twisted, involved, character driven, folklore inspired fantasy.

It pains me to say that this was much more disappointing than I expected. The delivery fell short of anything engaging and thrilling. I was bored the entire time. There was a lot of words, a lot of chapters, and a lot of nothing going on. I am not sure how to give a proper review on a book that bored me to tears.

Wicked Saints is a novel that in many ways feels unfinished and unpolished. The book has an interesting premise, particularly in regard to the nature of the gods. But these concepts were never flushed out and the world didn’t feel real. It lacked a distinct writing style so most of the information was conveyed very bluntly. I understand the goth appeal, but this book felt more like an early draft than a finished product.

Many events are written as if they are very significant to the plot but the reader doesn’t feel the emotional impact because we lack context to truly understand why this matters so much. Take the beginning of the novel. We are plunged into a battle but as readers we have no emotional attachment to the characters or the setting. This battle was set-up as a character-defining moment for Nadya and at this time we barely know her. To place an event at the beginning of the novel that supposedly has a great impact on Nadya is very confusing for the reader because we have no reference as to who she was before the attack; we are just told that this event changed her and it leaves the reader very disconnected from the character.

I had a hard time developing any attachment to Nadya. For the first half of the book she just comes off as a bit of a religious extremist, and while I think it would be interesting to explore such a mentality it was not done well here. It’s difficult to see her in a sympathetic light because we never saw any of her upbringing or training. She just seems a little brainwashed and stubborn. I originally didn’t like the concept of the gods because it seemed to take away all of her agency and potential for development. Since her ability to use her powers was dependent on whether the gods would grant her request, it didn’t seem to allow for her to grow and train. It was completely out of her hands. There was an interesting twist later in the book but I wish it was better developed. Duncan did try to incorporate how Nadya had to reconsider her belief in the gods but it was clumsily done. Most of these “revelations” were very poorly written. The scene in the forest where Nadya and Malachiasz discussed how their world views were different was particularly mind-numbing. People don’t talk like this! Obviously they have different perspectives because of where they grew up. These themes needed way more subtlety. And what was with the romance? These characters did not have that much time together in order to justify how much she cared about him.

Of all the characters I actually found Serefin to be the most interesting. He had realistic motives and goals so he felt the most like a real person. The scenes at court are what I enjoyed most about this book. I wish there had been more court intrigues. The setting would have been a great place to show the reader more about the culture of this society, and to learn more about the ongoing war. But unfortunately we didn’t learn that much. And all the other characters? Through a combination of complicated names and a lack of defining characteristics, I found it difficult to remember or differentiate between the side characters. Really the only remotely memorable aspect was that they were part of Nadya’s or Serefin’s group, nothing more.

Having every chapter begin with an excerpt is becoming a tiresome trend. Very few of those excerpts seemed to have any significance to the story, and it was a long time before I realized that Svoyatova/Svoyatavi means Saint and she wasn’t just talking about the same person. It’s another example of how the book needs more clarity and it needs to be made more accessible to a wider audience who are likely not familiar with the language or culture.

Overall this novel definitely needed many more edits. I hope that in future novels the author will focus on flushing out the world and characters, as well as on subtlety in her writing.

This was a very interesting book and am exceeding strong start to a series! I enjoyed the magic system especially, it was much darker than many others I've read!

The characters were fascinating, and I can't wait to read the follow up books!

This book was a great YA read! Fantastic characters and great plot. Would definitely recommend to other readers.

Wicked Saints was a good read. Emily A. Duncan did a great job, considering it was her debut novel. The book was beautifully written, however I found the characters to be a little flat. I look forward to reading the second book in the series to see where the story goes, and if we can dive deeper into the characters.

A solid YA novel that was a good purchase for my library. Students have read and enjoyed it, and I purchased it because of this review copy.