In the midst of a decades-old war, a monastery is attacked. Rumors have it that there is a Kalyazin cleric within who has the rare power to call on any and all of the gods for magic. The Tranavian blood mages see this threat as a way the enemy could turn the tides of war.

A thin escape and Nadya is on the run. She has been hidden up on the hill, far from the front for her entire life. The abbot thought she was safe, but he is now dead and the monastery burns.

Serafin had tried to attack head on as powerful blood mages are apt to do, but he has found that this cleric is more adept than previously thought. He wants to hunt her down, but is called back home for his betrothal ceremony.

In an effort to help her cause, Nadya and her protector head for an outpost, but are cut off by a mysterious band of allies... one of whom is a special blood mage who has his eyes set on treason.

Can an unlikely pair head into enemy territory and cut off the head of the state?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Duncan's writing helped focus the story in the details of the magic system, the dueling cultures, and the political intrigue. By shifting the POV between Nadya and Serafin, the reader gets an intense view of each side of the conflict. One side gains magic from the gods, each deity specific to his/her strength. The other are called heretics for turning away from the religion, and derive power from their own blood to ignite spells. There are many fighting scenes that rely on a strong hand to guide the reader, and Duncan does just that for the most part. 

Curiously, the pacing in this one shifts regularly. Whether a traveling scene, a royal banquet, or a magician's duel, each scene varies as the internal monologue of the character can slow or ramp up the movement. This did not bother me most of the time; I thought it was important to see each character control the experience for the reader.

Lastly, I want to comment on the characters. Nadya and Serafin are required to be something they are not during the course of the novel. And in Tranavia it is common practice for the royals to wear masks...  a disguising that is fun and leads to some interesting close-quarters sleight of hand.

A couple criticisms: I felt some of the minor characters were not fleshed out enough and a couple of the main reveals were held off a little too long. This created an ending that seemed a but rushed... and some of the dialogue was lacking in authenticity at times. 

Overall, Wicked Saints is a dark tale infused with dueling magic systems. It's a book that I flew through and found uniqueness in its writing and voice.

3.5 out of 5 stars

*** Disclaimer: I received a free early access copy of Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for review purposes. Thank you so much!

Wicked Saints is one of the most anticipated reads of the year with good reason. It's been compared to Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, but I feel like that's where the surface similarities end. The world in Wicked Saints is very eastern European inspired and also very dark, which is extremely fitting.

This book alternates between Nadya and Serefin, a cleric of Kalyazin and the High Prince of Tranavia, respectively. A religious war has been going on for centuries between Kalyazin and Tranavia for centuries and these two have a common goal to put an end to it.

Nadya has the now rare ability to be in contact with the gods of their polytheistic religion. While clerics were normally given communication with one god, she can communicate with all of them, asking for certain powers to help aid in particular ways.

In the beginning of the book, Serefin and his legion army attack the monastery where Nadya lives, making her flee and leave behind the only life she knows. During her escape she runs into some rebels, among them is Malachiasz. Malachiasz is a mysterious figure with questionable motives and a questionable past. Through their journey into Tranavia, Nadya is not only thrust into confronting Serefin, a heretic and her enemy, and ultimately with her own faith.

I enjoyed reading Nadya's part of the book a lot. It was interesting to witness each god she sent a prayer to in order to be granted the power she requested. I loved that the gods had different temperaments: some more aloof, some never speaking, and others quite direct to the point. Nadya was raised to know that the Tranavians were heretics because of their refusal to acknowledge the gods and their use of blood magic. Seeing a character struggle with having to work with those who did not share their is always interesting because of their internal struggle. Nadya is pretty unwavering, but there are noticeably heavy times where she questions everything she knows.

Reading Serefin's chapters was actually my favorite and I'm excited to see where the next book will take him. Overall his story was more engaging than Nadya's, but I think Serefin is more relatable and 3D. His struggles hit closer to home than something supernatural, but Nadya is still flat in her discovery of good versus evil. I think once she's able to explore that more and is given more of a reason to question the purpose of what and why, she'll be amazing.

I love how Duncan's secondary characters were given purpose. They weren't just along for the ride or to give some sort of diversity, but they were thrust into the narrative as well, being just as affected as the main characters. It was enjoyable to see that even though their part was smaller, the emotions that went through them were conveyed to me in an equal impact as Nadya or Serefin's. For me that makes it more realistic because it's not just the "hero" or the "villain" who is directly affected in a story: it's everyone.

I will say the last tenth of the book was really disappointing and slightly confusing for me with character motives, but I'm excited to see what the next book will bring and hopefully give answers and iron out the uncertainties.

I was excited to read this book when I first heard about and when I was invited to be a part of the blog tour I jumped on it. I really loved the magic system in this book. There are two ways to use magic in this novel. One way is based on using magic granted from the gods and the other was blood magic. Both are unique and I loved them both. I don't want to give too much away in this review but things are not always as they appear in this tale. I loved the romance between the heroine and the villain of this story.

This book had me hooked from the beginning and is a spectacular start to the Something Dark and Holy trilogy. I need book two now and I don't know how I'm gonna wait an entire year for it.

Rating: 4½ stars out of 5

Wow this is a lot better than I—never mind

I would like to thank Emily A. Duncan and Meghan Harrington at St. Martin’s Press for inviting me to participate in the blog tour. I received a free ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

SPOILERS!

Seriously, if you don’t want major twists spoiled for you, do not read on.

Last warning.

*sigh*

I avoided reading this book because I was afraid I wouldn’t like it; now I find myself avoiding writing the review because my initial instincts were correct.

The first two-thirds were a delight. It was more accessible to a non-high-fantasy-lover than I expected. Duncan has phenomenal talent as a writer. Every chapter, every scene, and every word had purpose. She handled religious thematic questions and internal conflict with great skill. Her characters were distinct and endearing, likable but flawed. The tone was deliciously dark without being cruel for shock value. The world building was thorough, impressive, enveloping. The writing glowed with intelligence. Nadya and Malachiasz’s tentative relationship with elements of Romeo and Juliet and Elizabeth and Darcy was beautifully crafted, and was of course my favorite aspect of the whole thing, romance junkie that I am.

And then.

The last third, beginning when Nadya woke up while being siphoned, spoiled so many of those things I loved about the book. Its concepts regarding magic and religion became obscure and ambiguous, and I got confused as to what exactly was happening. Were the gods gods or not? If not, what were they? What was happening with Nadya’s powers? What was all that about Serefin’s nondeath and the moths? I got so terribly lost and felt so stupid because I couldn’t make sense of any of it.

So much character and story background was hinted at, teased, or at least spoken of, then never explored. So many questions went unanswered. How did Malachiasz go from being the nephew of the king to being tortured into becoming a Vulture and finally achieving the status of Black Vulture at sixteen? Why was he taken away as a child? What new methods did they try on him?

And why did the Vultures call themselves Vultures? I mean, I can see that as a scathing nickname given to them by others, but why would they call themselves that? I get the creepy factor—boy do I—but you can’t tell me they want to be equated with ugly-ass birds who can’t or won’t hunt for themselves and so feast on sloppy seconds. Where’s the dignity in that?

If Serefin was such a powerful blood mage, was there really nothing he could do to fight back against his father, against the Vultures, to prevent himself being killed? He seemed rather impotent for someone who was supposedly legendary. Also, I found flipping through a book, tearing out a piece of paper, and pricking your finger to bleed on it…not silly…but an unintimidating and inconvenient way to cast magic.

What was the point of the characters Rashid and Parijahan? They didn’t seem to serve a whole lot of purpose, neither did Kacper. They were just—there. Ostyia seemed to have a little more to do.

What exactly was happening in the Salt Mines? They were spoken of so much, but we never went there. Just blood siphoning and DIY-god experiments? Did we ever find out who the “former success” in the god experiments was, the one who had too much of a mind of his or her own? I thought at first it was Malachiasz, but then it was revealed he was the Black Vulture and nothing more was said of the former success, so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take away from that.

So wait, were the Vultures siphoning Nadya’s blood in the palace? That was pretty bold, wasn’t it? Why didn’t they take her to the mines? More importantly, did they discover no special properties to her blood? I think it’s implied that she’s some sort of divinity, or at least a power unto herself—how, why, no idea—yet King and Co. didn’t notice anything extraordinary about her blood? And don’t tell me it was just blood, because if blood was no big deal, then the entire premise falls apart. The king was gathering the blood of noble blood mages because they were more powerful, and little did he know, he got the blood of someone who was something more than a noble blood mage, who was something else entirely—and that fact never crossed anyone’s minds, much less came into play?

That entire captive passage was totally glanced over; I still don’t understand what was up with Kostya’s necklace and that ostracized god-but-not-a-god. What point did he—the non-god—ultimately serve? And wait, speaking of Kostya, what happened to him? Last we saw him, he was alive. I assume he was taken to the Salt Mines like the other prisoners of war. Does that mean we’ll be seeing him again later, or are we supposed to assume he’s dead and gone?

So many questions.

“Well of course you didn’t get all the answers, you’ll get them later in the series.”

Don’t even start with that crap, strawman. Someone who didn’t like what happened in the first book won’t be reading any that follow. It reminds me of a common complaint among movie critics these days: “Stop worrying so much about starting a franchise,” they say to the studios, “and just focus on delivering a solid movie.” Meaning if they put the work into the story the first time, movie-goers will want more, and they’ll have their franchise.

I’m not satisfied with Nadya’s journey as a character. After everything that happened, by the end she was still convinced that she was only a channel for power, that any magic she cast had to come from greater beings. And by that point I was so confused as to whose powers were coming from where and why and who was truly what that I stopped caring if Nadya believed in herself. She started out a faithful servant to her gods and ignorant because people made sure she understood little. I can respect that. But by the end she was still just a sniveling mess of who-am-I, what-have-I-done, someone-please-hold-my-hold-and-show-me-the-way. Nadya, if your cause is going to be something as great as saving a nation—potentially two—you need to get over yourself. “Let them fear her”? *snorts* Yeah, right. Not one person in the book was afraid of Nadya.

Finally, the thing that officially put X’s in the eyes of this story for me: Malachiasz and his betrayal. There’s so much I want to say about this, but first give me a minute to gather up all the pieces of my broken heart.

My interpretation of the character differed vastly from the character Duncan intended to portray. How? I don’t think she got the tone of his character right for what she wanted to do with him. She took the love between him and Nadya too far, to a point it shouldn’t have gotten to if he’d truly been the calculating, ruthless, selfish character she wanted him to be. His love for Nadya was portrayed as too pure, too innocent, too tentative and unexpected to belong to someone calculating, ruthless, and selfish. He should have come off like Hans from Frozen—saccharine, smooth, too good to be true—but instead he came off like Kristoff—guileless and adorkably unsure of himself. Can you imagine Kristoff having secret motives of obtaining great power by lying, stealing, and killing his way to the throne? No.

Malachiasz's motivation was never once clear; it seemed to be by the very end, but come on—if he was calculating and ruthless and secretly focused on becoming more powerful, would he have just left Nadya behind to be his downfall? With the power she supposedly unwittingly possessed—which I know he recognized because of his “the things you could do” comment in the closet—as naive and trusting and easily manipulated as she was, wouldn’t he have had more plans for her than to just have her kill the king? Couldn’t he or anyone else have done that? Wouldn’t he want her blood?

“He fell in love with her, that’s why he didn’t use her further.”

That makes zero sense. If he truly fell in love with her, he wouldn’t have been able to betray her trust and do what he did in the end. He wouldn’t have chosen his corrupt country over her. Besides, it couldn’t be that he was in love with her, because that was all a lie, from what I understood. None of it adds up.

So yeah. I don’t accept his betrayal. I refuse to choke down that the power-hungry, apathetic Malachiasz of the climax was the same Malachiasz from the rest of the book. It was such a 180 for his character that it’s absurd. It felt as wrong to me as blood magic felt to Nadya.

“But that’s the point,” argues someone who wants their teeth kicked in. “He totally pulled the wool over all their eyes and used each and every one of them. The seeds were planted in the things he said.”

I understand that intention, and that most others will probably be perfectly fine with that. I do. But that doesn’t mean I, myself, have to like it or appreciate it, or that I’m going to exalt over it as a some clever piece of storytelling. Because it was just dumb. It was a cheap twist at the expense of an otherwise strong, amazing, charming, endearing character. It undermined the Malachiasz who’d been a damn good hero up till then, the Malachiasz who was earnest and considerate and afraid and vulnerable, the Malachiasz who realized he was not only capable of love, but of loving someone whose ideals were so different from his own. It also undermined Nadya’s character, her self-respect and dignity, as well as our respect for her; it undermined the beautiful “two enemies shedding their prejudices for a greater good of love and peace” theme; it undermined the reader’s emotional attachment to Malachiasz.

It undermined the whole goddamn story.

And—the final nail in the coffin—it undermined the character of Kylo Ren, who provided inspiration for the character of Malachiasz. That pissed me off.

Overall, Wicked Saints turned out to be a fantasy too caught up in itself to realize it would be entirely ruined by the terrible misjudgment of a good character and of what would make a good plot twist. I would give it one star, but Duncan really is a great writer, prose-wise, so I’ll give it two. As a storyteller, she’s not to my taste, and I doubt I’ll be reading any more of her books.

Also, afterthought—I’m not sure why it’s called Wicked Saints. Other than the epigraphs at the beginnings of chapters—the purpose of which I’m also not sure about, aside from world building—and Anna’s warning to Nadya not to become a martyr, saints, wicked or otherwise, weren’t really present?

noapologybookreviews.com

How could you not love this forebroding dark fairytale?! This captivated me and held me hostage until the end! I cannot wait for the next book!

There were moments in this book that I loved - the world is interesting, the theology is interesting, the theory of magic is internally consistent and interesting, the characters are diverse, the alternating points of view are well done. And, I always appreciate it when fantasy isn't set in some pseudo medieval France - this is Russian(ish). However, there were unfortunately also a lot of moments where I was just confused - sometimes by the passage of time, sometimes by the sequence of events, but mostly by the character development and their motivations which felt a little rushed.

Some of this is admittedly my bias in reading fantasy - I always want more court politics and less wandering around in the mountains getting to court. I'm not narratively sure how you would shorten the first half of this book to get them to court earlier, but I feel like I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if someone had figured that out and then spent a lot more time at court doing politics and explaining the intersecting power struggles before the grand finale showdown. Your mileage may vary depending on your preferences in fantasy novels.

I assume that this is part of a series, because there are a lot of dangling plot threads at the end of the book and I have many many many questions some of which may be addressed in a sequel, and some of which I really feel like should have been answered in this novel. Overall though I'm curious enough about the characters and where we left them to want to read the theoretical sequel.

I gave this book a 4 star rating overall.

First can I just say that this book sucks in you right from the start, tears out your heart, and then stomps on said heart until there's nothing left.

Okay, with that being said....

The main character of our story is Nadezhda Lapteva or Nadya for short. She spent most of her life in a monastery being trained to use her powers granted to her by the gods. After said monastery is attacked, Nadya is in a race to save her life and her country- as her country as been in a century long war with the neighboring country.

She then joins up with a group of others who are plotting to kill the king of the other country. But not everyone is whom they seem to be and friendships are tested and ended and romances ensue.

I loved how fast paced this story is from start to finish. The characters always keep you guessing and you never know if you should love them or hate or possibly both. The world was a bit lacking, but the explanation of the magic was done very well.

I only had a couple of minor problems with the book. First, the names. I know this is a fantasy world and thus have some far out names, but I tend to get hung up on names that I can't pronounce and so it took a few chapters to actually get into the story. That is more on me and not the author, but just a heads up in case you are the same way. Also the author uses several words/phrases many times throughout the story, again not a major deal breaker, just a heads up.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. The only thing that's sad about it, is that I have to wait another year to find out how the story continues!

ARC provided by Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been having difficulty forming my thoughts after finishing this book. This is definitely a quiet, slow-burn of a story. There is a romance, gorgeous writing, a unique magic system, and lots of dark politics.

Wicked Saints mixes politics, royalty, and godly powers. There are two rival nations: Kalyazin and Tranavia. We follow Nadya, a cleric who has been trained to communicate with a plethora of gods, wielding their powers through the touch of prayer beads. Then there’s Serefin, the prince of Tranavia but also a powerful blood mage. And then there’s Malachiasz, who, in my opinion, stole the story. He’s a rebel blood mage who allies with Nadya as they both flee from Serefin’s army. He's the "dark and mysterious" type which immediately caught my attention.

While there are two POVs in this book (Nadya’s and Serefin’s) their stories cross early and soon Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz realize they all have the same goal: to dethrone the King of Tranavia (aka Serefin’s father.) Y’all, this is a very densely political book, where oftentimes I felt it overshadowed the magic system…

Which leads me to say that I wish Nadya played a bigger role. I expected Nadya to be the main character in this book, but instead she felt more like a side character to Malachiasz and Serefin’s motives. In fact, most of the time Nadya just went along with everything Malachiasz did, and I kept wanting her to unleash her fury. But instead, she dwindled into a naive love interest. She quickly went from being a character I admired to being one of my least favorite characters in the book.

I actually enjoyed Serefin’s chapters the best, because we really got to see and feel his horrible relationship with his father. The King of Tranavia is… how do I say this… a real piece of sh*t. He’s abusive and is totally fine with sacrificing his own family in order to possess the power of the gods. I also think Serefin had the most character development, and I loved his dynamic with his two guards, Kacper and Ostyia. I would read an entire book about this trio!

I wish I could say I liked Malachiasz. I did in the beginning, as he was low key reminding me of the Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy, but then I just stopped caring about him. He is supposed to be mysterious, so I am not going to say any spoilers, but I just didn’t like how his story played out. It felt really cheesy and there was no build-up to the finale.

I think I would’ve enjoyed this book more if we got to see more of Nadya communicating with the gods and seeing her use that power. She was a pawn in a man’s story, which just feels kind of bad. I was so frustrated during the last 10% of the book, but I am now high key needing the sequel ASAP!

I think the politics is super fascinating, and I adored how each of the gods Nadya communicated with all have their own personalities and quirks. The book starts out with a bang and while there may have been some issues with the characters for me, I felt like it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Duncan’s writing is incredibly beautiful and creative. I am still genuinely impressed with how she built this world, and how she created each of the gods. This was some high-fantasy level stuff that still tackled important themes for a young adult audience, and I think so many people are going to love this book.

I enjoyed Duncan’s action-packed world full of secrets, romance and darkness. The story drew me in from the beginning as Nadya is forced to be on the run. She has the ability to talk to the gods for help and she is her country’s only hope.
On the downside, I found this book to be a bit slow in parts and there were many names that I had difficulty pronouncing, which seemed to take away from the story for me. Overall it was enjoyable.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wicked Saints to the extent that I am not sure I put it down once I started reading. The world Duncan creates is both compelling and terrifying, with characters that grown and develop along with the lusciously detailed plot. My only complaint is that I want more! It felt as though the story ended right as it reached its climax, which is typical of many series, but I was still disappointed to be left with such a massive blow. Sign me up for the next book, please.

Strap in for this one and get ready for a roller coaster of emotions, twists, and turns. I would highly recommend this to lovers of YA fantasy and fans of Leigh Bardugo especially.

"The girl, the monster, and the prince." - wicked saints

This dark fantasy started with a bang and didn't stop. Emily Duncan has created the perfect dark morally grey world where you can't decide who to love most and which team should be rooted for. The world of Gods built in was absolutely perfect and I seriously can not wait to see how it plays out.

Nadya is the main POV you follow for book one along with her maybe helpful gods, Nadya is as far we know the only cleric left to have the gods help for her kingdom. Malachiasz is our second POV he has serious misguided dark vibes and I'm so in love with his character even though I'm afraid to be. Serefin is our final POV mixed into this crazy mess. He is our dark prince thrown into the world of war and trying to save his kingdom from it all.

ahhh so many feels wrapped into this puzzle. Who will win in the end of this war? Will there be anything left to save or is everyone wrong about their end goal? Only time will tell!

I highly recommend you check out this book if you love dark, goth fantasy, nevernight, mythological stories or an action packed journey!

*Complete review will be posted on April 5 2019 as part of the blog tour. Check it out here: https://dmcireadsblog.wordpress.com/ *

If you love Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy, you will surely love this new incoming amazing series! Get ready for a darker and bloody Grishaverse that you’ll ever read this year!

The world building in this book is phenomenal. Two worlds are at war – Kalyazin (Russia) and Tranavia (Polish) – they’re colliding perfectly and seeing the darker sides of both protagonist is really good. The alternating of the protagonists balances the story to know the both sides of our major characters. So many things going on this book. It’s fast paced and every next page and next chapter are tight read. You can’t easily put it down. When the action started like a “BANG!” I already know that this book will be one of my favorite. It’s also a NON-STOP “BANG!” actions with a brutality and gruesome and dark – there’s also a hint of parental abuse. But one of the downs that I'm struggling while reading this book is that there are so many information that overwhelms to take me in especially on Nadya’s side. Many theories and things to take in and it’s kind of confuses me while reading so I tend to re-reading the chapter again before going to another chapter. Then the NAMES, oh no, so hard pronounce the names. It’s pretty complicated so I hope there will be like “how to pronounce names” section on the finish copies itself.

Overall, I was really in shock on reading Wicked Saints. There are so much to say but I really can’t say anything. All I can say is, just grab the book once it published because you don’t want to miss this awesome book. Now, I have to survive and wait until 2020 for the second book. That’s a pretty long wait, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it ;D

Wicked Saints was amazing and I was taken by surprise a few times!
Nadya can commune with the Gods and they grant her great power. The story opens to war and Nadya and her friend Anna find themselves alone trying to run from the Prince who wants her for her powerful blood. He's a blood mage (uses magic through the power of blood). 
Nadya and Anna find themselves meeting up with a small group of strangers who want to kill the king and put an end to the war, but they need Nadya's help. Will she help these strangers instead of returning to her own king to learn what he wants her to do. She's spent her entire life inside a monastery letting others fight and die to protect her, but she's done. She doesn't want to lose more loved ones and she is ready to fight and find out how much power she really has. 
Ducan pulled me in quick and it was hard to put the book down, though there were a few slow moments, the book was full of twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next. I cannot wait for book 2. This is a must read for the year. I highly recommend it.

Action packed, brutal, and layered with mountains of secrets, this read sinks in its claws and leaves a mark.

Two countries are at war. One worships the gods. The other has set themselves against them. Nadya lives in the first of these and is a cleric, the only one to whom all gods speak with and funnel their powers through. Her magic is strong, and she knows it will one day be her duty alone to stop the war. But when the enemy forces unexpectedly attack the abbey she's been training in and her best friend dies, her goal changes. She wants revenge. Running for her life, she runs across one of the enemies, a boy who not only wields the sacrilege blood magic but claims he's turned against his own king and wants to destroy him. Nadya agrees to help and sneaks into the enemy castle with one intent—kill the king.

From the very first page, this read grabs and holds. Nadya immediately finds herself in danger and grabs empathy as she tries to escape from the sudden attack. The tension shoots off right away, and the author even manages to make the entire scene open up with logic and no holes. Nadya is determined and strong, and yet, unsure as she has to embark on her destiny much earlier than she expected. She doesn't feel ready, and it's exactly this which makes her easy to relate to.

This is not a read for the more sensitive adventurers but embraces morbid aggression, brutality and rivers of blood. The blood magic is not a light endeavor, and the dark side of it is not masked. Nadya is on a dangerous mission and for very good reasons, and the author does not play this down.

The other characters in the story embody gray areas as well as outright evil. Nobody seems to be completely pure, which makes Nadya shine all the more...and teeter on her own morals. It's a game of walk the fence, where it is always clear where the correct path really lies. It's exactly this fight along what is right and what is really wrong which digs in deep.

With all of the wondrous world building, intrigue and tension, there is also a romance. While this played along a very intriguing line and worked to pull some interesting strings at the end, it wasn't laid quite right, and the chemistry didn't convince to the extent it had to. Even the ending didn't hit the required note as the characters progressed too much in a certain direction and too quickly...even a little confusingly. The state they reach, unfortunately, shot past what I was able to relate to and care about, making me question how anything can advance in the next book on a scale which makes the characters easy to relate to.

Still, it's a tense read and one darker fantasy fans are sure to enjoy.

I received a complimentary copy through Netgalley and was completely pulled in by this read.

Nadya might be her country's last hope. She is one of the last clerics - folks who can talk to the gods . And while most clerics only can talk to one god, Nadya can speak with all of them. While honing her skills and powers at a monastery, the monastery is unexpectedly attacked by a neighboring country, and Nadya must go on the run. Not long after fleeing the palace, she meets up with a rag-tag group of rebels, who only want to stop the war. Nadya joins them as their plot starts with murdering the neighboring country's king.

Clearly, Emily Duncan has read and enjoyed some Leigh Bardugo. As a fellow Leigh Bardugo fan, I was not mad about how much this series was obviously inspired by the Grishaverse. Its got the same Russian inspired atmosphere, and its more than a little evil. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I didn't even mind the love interest, even though it was instalove, predictable and often angsty. I raced through this to get to the conclusion, and really loved how bloody it was. The bits where Nadya was talking to the gods and struggling with her religion were fun to read and thought-provoking at times. That said, this book is pretty clearly a debut. The writing gets a bit purple at time, twists are telegraphed early, and you read all that stuff I just said about the romance, right? Nonetheless, the book is fast paced, and while I skimmed parts, I ultimately enjoyed it.

If you are looking for a fun, if occasionally cliche YA fantasy, you'll devour this one. Otherwise, give this one to teens who can't get enough of Leigh Bardugo. They'll immediately want the sequel. 3 stars - I liked it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday books for the advance copy, which I received in exchange for an honest review. Wicked Saints will be available for purchase on 02 April, or you can put your copy on hold today!

Somewhere around 2.5 Stars.

Well let’s start off by saying that I LOVE the premise of Wicked Saints. The core of the story is amazing, the plot and ideas are fantastic. BUT... the execution was lacking and overall weakened what could have been pure brilliance. It pains me to not be able to give this book a better review or rating because I love the idea of it so much.

It ultimately boils down to lack of descriptions and world-building. You have these characters, that you could mostly visualize, but it’s as if you could only see a couple feet beyond them and then it’s just blank. You walk into a room and be told there’s a chaise and a table but nothing else. Is it opulent? Is it austere? There was no detail.

The characters would be traveling for miles and miles, and after multiple chapters, suddenly it’s mentioned one of them is mounting a horse. They’ve been traveling by horse? I had no idea. They’re in snow or marshlands or entering a city, and there’d be a little description but not enough. Once again you could only see a couple feet beyond each character.

Lastly, the author used a turn of phrase that irks me, and she used it A LOT. “This boy”, “This broken boy”, “This monstrous, beautiful boy”, “This adjective, adjective, adjective boy”. Every third page seemed to have a variation of this phrasing. And it wasn’t limited to describing one character. If it doesn’t bother you as a reader, then okay. But for me, it’s a style of writing that feels unpolished and unimaginative. I cringe.

But man-o-man I wish none of that were true. Because I really do love the core of this story, the author has thought up something amazing, and it needs to be a bigger book (even for just being book 1). I just wanted so much more from Wicked Saints.

* I received a free digital copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book didn't quite live up to all the hype that I had built up in my head. While it wasn't what I planned, it did live up to the darkness aspect it promised because there was so much blood and horror. So if you would be triggered by blood, violence and self-harm, I would stay clear of this book.

Another major problem I had was with the main character Nadya, whom for some reason becomes a secondary character in her own story. The book--through Nadya--becomes a book about Malachiaz. It made my sad because I thought we (YA world) had moved on from this type of story telling. I wanted more for her instead she's reduced to a love interest/one dimensional character. I kept waiting for the twist and turns from this frustrating trope but unfortunately that never happened.

I have been anticipating this book for so long now and let me tell you it did not disappoint! Secrets, Saints, romance, light vs dark. I do not want to give this book away but please give it a try! It will blow you out of the water!

2 Stars - DNF

I wanted to like this book so badly. An upcoming fantasy release about two warring countries, each with their own type of magic and religion and a story about the characters at the center of it all sounded like a book that I would really enjoy. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into this story. It ddidn't capture me and I really tried to give it a chance before I finally gave up about halfway through.

My first big issue was with the names of the characters. I understand that when writing a book set in a foreign country the names should reflect that, but when I couldn't pronounce then there wound up being a bit of a disconnect. That by itself wasn't a huge problem, but rather one of many. In this book there were so many names though, names of saints, of gods and of course, of characters, all of which I could hardly pronounce which lead to much confusion and skimming. I also didn't find myself connecting much to the characters themselves. Nadya was an orphan who grew up in a monastery, so her back story was practically blank, leaving little to develop upon and connect with. There seemed to be little depth to all of the characters in the story.

While the plot had promise, I was bored most of the time while reading. A few interesting scenes kept me going and I really liked the ideas behind the different types of magic, but I found this book incredibly easy to put down. I had to push myself to read it or to pick it back up. I don't know if the writing wasn't compelling or that I just didn't feel connected to the story, but after a couple days of trying to force myself to read this book I finally decided to just set it aside.

I really wanted to like this book, but sadly I didn't really enjoy reading it. I never felt connected to the characters, I couldn't pronounce a lot of the names, which lead to a lot of skimming and confusion and I didn't find the story compelling enough to push myself to finish reading the book. I normally love fantasy novels with intricate religious systems, but all the saints and gods of the religions in this book were just too much. I found it hard to make myself care about reading this story. Wicked Saints was overall a huge disappointment for me.

When I first began reading this book, I drew parallels to the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo--the Russian inspired setting, the religious magic connection. (This is a great thing, I love Bardugo’s worlds). This book also became its own world. Wicked Saints follows two perspectives on either side of a religious war, Nadya and Serefin. Nadya is a Kalyazi cleric, granted divine magic of the Gods.Serefin is a Tranavian prince and blood mage. Nadya’s world is turned upside down when Serefin destroys her home in search of capturing her. She narrowly escapes and is forced to team up with a rogue Tranavian named Malachiasz and two refugees. Nadya struggles with this alliance with a “heretic,” as well as keeping her faith strong. The story follows the four of them sneaking into Tranavia to kill their king, and Serefin’s struggle to thwart his father’s (the king’s) plot to murder him. What I probably loved the most about the book was the vivid setting and religious history, which was so well crafted and vivid. However, I had a few gripes about the book. First, the characters fell a bit flat; I wish we had gotten to know more about their backgrounds, especially Nadya. I wanted to love the characters, but I was a bit detached. Additionally, Nadya contradicted herself many times, and the pacing was a bit uneven. Despite these problems, the story kept me engaged, wanting to know what came next. Additionally, the ending left me excited for where the sequel. I am hopeful that we’ll get to know the characters better in book 2, and I’m excited to see where the story goes next.