I’ve desperately wanted to read this book ever since I saw the blurb on Goodreads. Unfortunately, as with most things that are over-anticipated, it was a bit of a let-down. On the bright side… that is an absolutely epic series title.

I suspect that a bit of my disappointment has to do with the setting. Wicked Saints is, essentially, set in a fantasy version of Eastern Europe: the land of Kalyazin serves as a thinly-disguised Russia, while their enemy – the neighbouring country of Travania – is basically Poland. (There’s also Akola, aka India, but it only exists on the sidelines).

Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so too. Russia has always been an INCREDIBLY popular location for fantasy worlds. I am, of course, mostly thinking of Leigh Bardugo’s fabulous Grisha Trilogy. I could forgive the setting for Duncan’s book being a bit cliché if there was awesome worldbuilding behind it. Not so. The first half of the book took place in snow-covered forests – well-described, but typical stuff; in the second half, the action shifts to the main court of Tranavia. This didn’t even have the benefit of being well described. It was very hard to visualise the actual physical backdrop to the characters’ actions. What did the buildings look like? The clothing? The people? Beyond a passing reference to onion domes, I have no idea.

Luckily, the characters were a lot more interesting. At least… the main ones were. Nadezhda Leptova – known as Nadya – is a Kalyazi cleric; this means she was given the ability to commune directly with the gods. They’ll do almost anything she asks for, as long as she prays nicely. She’s the only cleric to have existed in Kalyazin for a long, long, time. Nadya is actually something of a state secret – she grew up secretly in a mountain monastery, and Kalyazin is planning to deploy her against the Travanians to turn the tide of the century-long holy war. Tranavians are blood mages, heretics who don’t acknowledge the power of Kalyazin’s gods, and the two countries have been battling to impose their beliefs on the other.

Nadya was mostly a good heroine. I thought she trusted a bit too easily, but then again she did grow up in an isolated monastery, no matter how viciously she’s been trained. So I cut her some slack. When her monastery is attacked, she flees and comes across three other people: two Akolans named Parijahan and Rashid, and – more intriguingly – a defected Tranavian named Malachiasz. As an ex-Vulture, a member of an elite blood mage corps who’ve had their powers tortured into them, she doesn’t trust Malachiasz as far as she can throw him. But she needs his help to sneak into the Tranavian court so she can assassinate the king and hopefully bring peace.

Conveniently, the king’s only son Serefin Meleski is being forced to hold a bride-hunt, giving Nadya the perfect disguise to slip into the court. Serefin was an awesome character. He’s the warrior-general High Prince of Tranavia, whose job it is to hunt Nadya down and who was responsible for the attack on the monastery. He’s spent his whole life on the front line; he has no desire for a bride, but his father – jealous of the son whose power is outstripping his own – has ordered it. So Serefin uses alcohol to self-medicate. He was by far the funniest character in the book, with a droll sense of humour I really appreciated.

Malachiasz’s character was a bit too enigmatic for me to fully get behind. He was all over the place – awkward and anxious one moment, icy and reserved the next. I couldn’t quite attribute this to a deliberate choice on the author’s part, because his personality felt somewhat unpolished. Hopefully this will clear itself up in the next book. Fellow fantasy author Roshani Chokshi compared him to the Darkling, which I have to say felt like a huge stretch. The Darkling’s power and personality absolutely barrels off the pages and slams into readers with the force of a truck. In fact, everyone’s personalities in the Grisha Trilogy does that. Here, nearly everybody except Serefin and Nadya felt like either clichés (the mad prophetess in the tower) or cardboard cut-outs (Parijahan and Rashid). There was just simply nothing behind them.

On a related note, while I don’t really have any objections to the development of the romance between Malachiasz and Nadya, Serefin’s sudden bout of lust was astounding. He calls what’s essentially a random girl with two prior appearances ‘the only person in the court he trusted’! It was incredible, and completely out of character.

The writing was pretty good, just tried a bit too hard to be atmospheric. Like ‘her scream was blood and nightmares and teeth’… that sort of thing. Sadly I didn’t become as immersed in it as I was hoping I’d be.
While this was a somewhat raw book, and definitely felt like the debut novel it is, I anticipate a lot of my issues resolving themselves in the sequels. I’ll certainly be reading them! To end on something which I found pretty amusing… a constant refrain throughout the book is the phrase ‘blood and bone.’ After that massive blow-up between Tomi Adeyemi and Nora Roberts, that made me laugh.

Initially, I was drawn to this book because I saw a promo that mentioned Joan of Arc. Emily Duncan herself mentioned that this is not a strict Joan of Arc retelling, so if you are looking for that you may be disappointed. This book has a lot to offer in the vein of religious war, gods with questionable motives, and deep well-developed villains so I was overjoyed with my choice to read it asap.

Wicked Saints has 2 primary POVs. Nadya and Serefin provide the perspectives, and there is also an omniscient narrator. I never found myself struggling to keep up with who was where, or who knew specific information. I think the dual POV really helped push the pace of the story along.

The pacing in this book is very quick! The action starts almost immediately and doesn’t really let up till about 2/3 of the way through. There is a bit of a slow down at that point for character development (and relationship development, wink-wink-nudge-nudge) and then it’s a mad dash to the ending. Even with the fast pace of the plot, and the occasional curve balls that were not wholly character driven, I found it easy to get to know the characters more and to really start to care about their success or failure.

“Blood and blood and bone. Magic and monsters and tragic power”

Love interests are not always a big selling point for me. Romance is definitely not something I talk about a lot, but I am here for the romance in this book. It had a bit of darkness to it, but it was not entirely unhealthy (like some popular YA novels I can think of). I don’t want to say too much about it, but I think if I enjoyed it that anyone who gets into the romance in fantasy novels will dig it as well.

Something I could not get enough of in Wicked Saints was the attention to religion, specifically questioning one’s beliefs. At several points throughout the story, characters are drawn into thought-provoking conversations where they are asked to question and consider the beliefs they hold. I felt that this was done in a very artful way that respected the faithful while making it clear that having doubts is not a crime. The presence of this line of thinking in a YA novel is something that’s very important to me. It’s something I would have benefitted from a great deal as a teen, and I think it will speak to a lot of readers who may be questioning their own beliefs.

“Truly we are fortunate our enemies are heretics”

As I write, I keep thinking of more elements of the book I loved. There are travel sequences that barely registered as travel sequences because they were so meaningful to the development of interpersonal relationships. The magic was fascinating, the action sequences were brutal and beautiful, and one character really stole my heart. I’m calling him now, Vulture Boy is mine.

I really can’t say enough good things about this book. I am stunned it’s a debut novel, and I cannot wait to see what Emily Duncan writes next. I am definitely in for the long haul with this trilogy. Be sure to vote for it on Goodreads lists, and add it to your holiday wishlist!

All quotes are taken from an advanced copy of the book and are not final.

4 out of 5 stars

The Wicked Saints is a dark ya fantasy novel about a girl who can communicate with gods, whose country is on a brink of destruction and who is struggling to find her own identity. It is well written, with great characters and a very interesting world.

While I enjoyed the book and the story, I found that I put the book down and forgot about it for weeks. Don’t get me wrong - the story is good, it just didn’t grip me to the point where I couldn’t put it down. Also, the language I found a bit baffling - it’s a mix of slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Slovakian and Polish), but every single nation speaks the same mix? It was a bit confusing - that the nations didn’t have a distinct language. Cause I can assure you, Polish sounds NOTHING like Russian and nothing like Ukrainian.

It is also dark, but not grim dark, yes it has blood and gore but it’s not overpowering. I think the best way to describe it is as a gothic YA story - gothic as in the original meaning of the word - dark and twisted. And like any YA book it has a love story (but really well done, not in your face), it has great friendships, princess, villains, gods and monsters.

Overall I did enjoy the book, I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the magic and the world, and I will definitely continue with the series. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Leigh Bardugo books or Sabrina (Netflix) series.

I loved this book. I loved the balance between the violence of the war and the (usually) gentle nature of the characters. I loved the suspense, I loved not knowing how it was going to resolve or who I should or shouldn't cheer for. All of it. Enjoyed every minute of it.

Nadezhda Lapteva (Nadya) is a chosen cleric of the goddess of death and magic, Marzenya herself. Nadya has the ability to call on any who reside within the pantheon of the Kalyazin gods and ask for their assistance. If they’re feeling so inclined, they lend her their power and with it, she becomes a mortal instrument of their will, a human sword eager to swing in the service of the deities to which she has devoted her life.

She is the first cleric Kalyazin has seen in over 30 years, the secret weapon that could actually turn the tides of this seemingly endless war once and for all.

When the Tranavians, godless heretics, brutes and blood mages, show up on the steps of her beloved monastery where she’s lived her whole life in peace, she knows she can no longer hide. As the only life she has ever known burns behind her, she pushes forward into the unknown, eager to use her sacred power to end this war and bring Tranavia to its knees.

The friends (?) she makes along the way and the truths (?) she uncovers could shatter everything she’s ever defined her life by. Is this what she wants? Is this what the gods want? Do the means to the end even matter?

There was so much I liked about this book. I was afraid I would get bored with the *~everything is not how it seems ~* vibe I was getting, but wow was I wrong. Duncan’s fully formed characters and her masterful plot movements made this unique story all the more fun. I legit didn’t know how this tale was going to unfold. I had no idea where we were going, but I loved where we ended up.

Duncan’s debut is messy and bloody and ruthless and tender. ‘Wicked Saints’ doesn’t drop until April 2, 2019, and I’m sorry to tease you, but I can promise you it’s worth the wait. She hasn’t even mentioned anything regarding book two but I’m HYPE.

Woah, this was a wild ride. Full confession: I wasn't too into the book in the beginning because it felt like a lot of walking with not much payout. The opening scene and the introduction of the Vultures were really cool, but other than that I felt a little disconnected from any action. But that all changed halfway through once Nadya and co reached Grazyk. The pacing became fantastic at that point, and I loved the plot with the rawalyk and the disparate squads working through their plan to kill the king.

The characters are a real strongpoint in this story. Malachiasz is especially amazing. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is going to fall in love with him. He's incredibly complex and likable, and everything that happened at the end with him was wild. It just made him even more compelling. I'm so excited to see what happens with his character as the series progresses. Nadya is a good heroine as well. I liked seeing her struggle with her faith and I think the whole chosen aspect is handled a bit differently than every other Chosen One trope. She's a living saint, who hasn't really performed her miracles yet. You know she'll go down in history though, and that's very cool. Serefin is pretty funny too. I found myself laughing at his perspective more than once. I like what happened to him in the end, too. None of it makes sense and I am here to learn more! I feel as if we don't know him very well, but based on where his story was in the end, we are certainly going to see a lot more of him in the next book.

The darkness of this story is handled really well. The blood imagery got a little too heavy for me at times, but that's a small complaint over all. That scene with the blood raining on the cathedral on the end was so freaking cool. Very Castlevania, very nice. General warning though, this book is DARK. In the YA scene, I can only compare it to Jay Kristoff's Nevernight, which is right up my alley but definitely not for everyone. Think The Grisha Trilogy on crack.

The mythology is one of my favorite things about the series. The Vultures are so well-crafted, and I'm really excited to get to know more about their order, especially since it seems we will be seeing a lot more of the Black Vulture in the next book. That whole thing, along with Malachiasz just make this a fantastic book. I think it's a great start to a series. The first half felt a little slow to me, but the second half was perfectly paced, with an explosive ending. There is so much room for development and I am thirsty for it. I am certainly excited for the development of this series. If I could read books 2 and 3 right this second, I would.

*Spoiler free, 4.5 stars*

This book has been on my radar for awhile. I didn't know much about it at the start, but the more I found out, the more I wanted to read. So many people have adored it and the premise sounds dark and bloody.

This book is really, really good. Without taking anything into a account anything else, at its core, it is just so solid and so amazing. It doesn't feel like a debut novel and after reading it, I'm shocked that it is.

It's as bloody as it sounds. But, its done with class? I dunno how to explain it, haha. The blood magic is handled gracefully and it got its point across without being too graphic, which I really appreciated. It allowed the story to stand on its own and not rely on shock value.

It's hard to describe how vivid this world is. I can practically feel it. While it didn't come across as strong while reading it, as I think back on scenes, everything is so strong and so clear. I know that's weird, but I think it says something for the writing. I got such a clear picture of the world, the characters, and even the magic system.

There were some parts of this book where I was starting to think things were going to go downhill and I wasn't going to be a fan of some plot points. But, a few chapters later SURPRISE! NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS! And those plot points are completely different and completely amazing once again. The twists came at just the right points and jerked me out of whatever calmness I thought I might have found.

The world is nothing like I've read before. It has political intrigue, while also having an overflow of monsters. Which is amazing. I can't wait to see this world expanded on and some bigger, badder monsters take center stage. And while this world is strong, the plot still moves along smoothly and the characters are still incredibly well developed. I even got attached to side characters and I felt such a connection to their little rag tag group.

This book is something else. I never thought you could put religion, monsters, and holy wars into one book and yet here we are. All the hype is definitely worthy. I cannot wait to see where this story goes, cause I think the next two books are going to be even better than this one.

WICKED SAINTS was one of my most-anticipated reads of 2019 and it did not disappoint in the slightest. This book is full of everything I love - monster boys, magic, and dangerous clerics. Though brutal, the story is also surprisingly humorous at times and I immediately latched onto each of our protagonists. If you're a fantasy lover like me, this is the dark and wintery read you've been waiting for. I think Emily Duncan's book earns its place on the shelf next to Leigh Bardugo and Katherine Arden. My only regret is that I'll have to wait so long for the sequel!

Phenomenal. Wicked Saints is a treasure. Flawed and authentic characters paired with dazzling worldbuilding make for an exciting read. This book is wonderfully researched and excellently executed. The tight prose and nail-biting plot thrilled me and made me beg for more. I cannot wait for this title to release so I can buy a million copies and support the author.

Magic. A society at war. Fantasy. Strong heroine. All the ingredients for a young adult novel that I enjoy. The dual narratives was cool. The set up of the book was typical but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

This book was a bit of a surprise for me. I went in thinking I had a good grasp of what the plot was going to be about based on the synopsis, but as I continued reading, I learned that this book was so much more than a historical retelling.

Wicked Saints is a story about Nadya, the first cleric her country of Kalyazi has seen in many years. She is able to communicate with multiple gods, who grant her magical powers that she uses to help her fight and defeat the heretics from Tranavia with whom the Kalyazi have been fighting for a very long time. At the forefront of the Tanavian army is Serefin, a High Prince, and a gifted mage. His goal is to defeat the Kalyazi, capture the cleric, and end the war. Nadya soon joins a ragtag group of people who only have one goal in mind, to kill the king of Tranavia, and end the war between the two countries.

I loved the world in this book. We have two countries, both of which have two very distinct magic systems. It is hard enough for an author to create and explain to the reader one system of magic, but this author created two and, in my opinion, explained them really well. The world was very robust and well rounded. I really appreciated that there were not super long info dumps, which is fairly typical in a young adult fantasy book in order to help the reader understand the world the novel takes place in. Instead we had short bursts of explanations throughout the book, which helped to flesh out the world. There were moments were moments where I did feel a little confused about something in the world, but it was almost immediately explained, which I loved. I also loved the historical setting of the book. Even though it was obviously a fictional world, you could really see the real-world influences in the descriptions of the architecture, cities, and other surroundings.

I also really enjoyed how the book started us in the middle of action. It really helped me get into the book and I was engaged right away. I did think there were parts that dragged in the middle, and some parts of the narrative felt a little disjointed. We jump between Nadya and Serefin's perspectives in this book, and there were some points between their POVs that I felt could have linked a little more clearly, as I was left a little confused as to where we were in terms of time and place. Although there was a slow middle, the ending made up for it. There was a lot of action, twists, and turns happening, and I found myself flying through the last 20% or so.

Nadya was an intersting character and I liked seeing her going from despising those who were different to her, to learning to accept people for who they are and not where they are from and what they believe in. I also enjoyed Serefin's character, but I wished we could have seen more development from him as a character, but I am sure we will see that in the next book. To me, the most intersting character was Malachiasz. We never got to see into his head, as a reader, so he was always slightly mysterious and I never knew what he was going to do next. I also have a soft spot for morally ambiguous characters so I loved that about him as well. The only thing I didn't love about the characters was the romance in this story. I felt Nadya was a very strong, and independent young woman but she spent so much time pining after her love interest and worrying about that instead of her mission. It just didn't quite match her character, in my opinion.

Overall, this book was great! I loved the plot and I am very excited to see where it goes in the next books in the series.

I liked the story, I didn’t like the characters. Nadya was annoyingly whiny and obnoxious for being the main hero of the story. I wished her dead multiple times. While the premise of the plot was interesting the writing was redundant and lack luster.

SciFi is not usually my favorite genre but the description sounded really interesting so I requested it. Tripped over the complicated names a few times but it was well worth it. This book has it all: action, adventure and some romance. Interesting premise with the different powers (blood mages). Lead character was pretty good, not a wimpy airhead but a pretty strong girl. I really like how she finds peace with former enemies. If only it was like that in real life. Oh, now I have to wait for the next one? Ugh... I hope this author will crank it out fast!

Something Dark and Holy indeed. Wicked Saints was one of the best books I've read this year and it doesn't even come out until next April. This was a book about right and wrong, and the grey area in between. I got serious Grisha Trilogy vibes but also my girl, Joan of Arc. A story filled with many twists and turns. Characters change their alliances and trust. Nadya was a fantastic morally grey character. She was given a mission and you saw as the story progressed, her motivations change. If you were a fan of Alina from Shadow and Bone, than you will really fall love with Nadezhda Lapteva. Great character development for not just the MC but also the secondary characters. A fast-paced book that I just couldn't put down. I loved this book.

It's not Emily Duncan's fault that hers is at least the third book this year that I've read with the same general premise and structure: a world torn apart, warring factions - magic vs non magic or different systems of magic, a boy, a girl, one or both of whom is powerful, one from each side, alternating points of view. To Duncan's credit, hers is by far the best I've read, even as I wish for slightly less of a "cooky cutter" narrative.

At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. There was the afore-mentioned basic similarity to a lot of other books. It also had a bit of a "Final Fantasy" feel to the magic system (mages carrying round spell books, ripping out pages to cast them). But I was won over by the characters; not just the main characters (and I commend a wise decision by the author in terms of how much of themselves she allows us to know), but the relationships between them and others. I don't want to say too much more, because spoilers. But the plot was exciting; although there's a certain amount of blood and thunder, the violence didn't feel gratuitous, and there's a really interesting moral ambiguity that feels earned rather than arbitrary. Towards the end, I couldn't put it down, and I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series.

Review based on a digital ARC provided via Netgalley.

Nadya is a girl who can speak with the gods and channel their powers. As such, she is the great hope for her country of Kalyazin, which is at constant war with its neighbor. When the war comes to her doorstep and she is forced to flee, things get real really fast! As other reviewers have mentioned, there is blood – lots of blood – but there are also some great characters. None of the characters are perfect, they are all flawed in their own way, grappling with what it means to be powerful, what it means to hold the fate of your country in your hands, what it means to be loyal…Enter two dark young men, mysterious and deadly, with great powers to rival those of Nadya. One is the prince of Tranavia, and Nadya’s sworn enemy. The other is potentially much more dangerous – and compelling. As the story moves along at a fairly fast pace, we begin to see that things are more than they might seem. Will Nadya achieve her goal and save her kingdom – or will something get in the way, something she never could have predicted?

This story is dark and twisted, bloody and romantic. It ended with much promise for its sequels. I can’t wait.

A dark, thrilling novel with magic, gods, love, and war. Three seemingly enemies come together to end the endless war between the kingdoms of Kalyazin and Tranavia. They have the same goal but have different underlying motives. Told from alternating viewpoints from two of the main characters, Nadezhda and Serefin, we find that some characters who are evil may not be so evil after all.. Nadezhda is a cleric in Kalyazin who can speak to the Kalyazin gods and is fighting to restore their power in the enemy kingdom Tranavia. Serefin is the High Prince of the Tranavia who is fighting the idea of gods championing magic over faith. He is also involved in a personal battle against his father,the king. Malachiasz is a dark, powerful character affiliated with dangerous political faction in Tranavia fighting a battle against himself and the kingdom. Many plot twists and turns keep readers interested while character insights show that the bad guys may not be so bad at all.

Duncan's character's are thriving off the page and are all so uniquely different and interesting that I just want to know them more. This story is about three different characters that I would never be able to do justice to describe. There's a drunken prince, an amazing and powerful female cleric and a really troubled bad boy. The three of them live in a world of blood magic and chaos. There is sabotage, war and betrayal! It's amazing! Reader's won't be able to put this book down.

WICKED SAINTS by EMILY A. DUNCAN is an immersive bloodthirsty fantasy that will have you squirming in your seat and desperately turning the page to see what happens next. Though I can see why some have compared this book to the GRISHAVERSE series (which is a series that truly holds a special place in my heart), I truly think WICKED SAINTS is amazing enough to stand on its own without comparison.

A holy war driving countries to do unholy things, a cleric that can speak to a pantheon of gods, disgustingly delightful blood magic, mad kings, and gang of lovable misfits who will commit murder quicker than you can blink an eye. This book isn't all black and white. It operates in varying shades of grey and toys with your moral compass every which way.

I give this 4 out of 5 stars. Why?

1. The prose was engrossing.
2. The world-building was drool-worthy.
3. The characters practically leaped off the page.
4. The ending made me want more.

However, I was not fond of the pacing. The start of the book began with such a bang that even though I was intrigued to know what happened next, the middle slowed the pacing up until towards the end.

I wish I had known it was not a standalone. Interesting, descriptive, magical. I really enjoyed the dual narrators.

I just completed this wild, wicked, wonderful book, and I am shattered. I didn't want it to end. I was left reeling, screaming, cheering, gasping, letting my cups of coffee grow cold because I couldn't tear my eyes away from the page to even risk a single sip. The characters were vibrant and flawed, the story was lush and dark. There was so much at stake, so much to gain and everything to lose. It was a violent, bloody, nightmarish, perfect jewel of a book and the beginnings of what I'm sure will be the next bestselling trilogy. I look forward to digging my claws into a physical copy as I await the next installment.