Despite the intense marketing hype behind "Wicked Saints", I was unable to finish it. I found the premise of the book to be intriguing, particularly the contrast between religion and magic. I was uncomfortable with the self harm since the magic required blood. I also thought the characters were underdeveloped and the plot from what I read was rushed. Neither the plot nor the characters held my attention enough to finish this book.

I really wanted to like this book. I thought I would relate to the main character with her prayer beads, religious devotion, and martyr/saints/ gods being s former Catholic. But no. This book dragged and repeated itself. There was insta-romance with an equally flat character and conflict that seemed to be miserly in people’s heads. I liked the world building and the plot got better toward the end of the book but the characters and their relationships needed more definition and life in them. Not sure if I would bother with the next book. But the cover was really pretty.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought when I read the description of this book that it sounded like it could be good. I was surprised though how much I got into it and how much I liked it. I thought the plot was unique in the sense that you have Nadya who has a connection to all these different gods and can talk to them and use their power. Then you are left questioning as you go if it is a good thing or a bad thing that she is favored by the gods. I like that even the people with magic use it in a different way. They have a spell book, but eventually it runs out and they have to get a new book; so it really makes you think about how they have to chose what spells to use because then they are gone.

The characters I thought were well written, you learn small background pieces about them as the story moves along. It is interesting because you see right at the beginning the different groups of people who don’t like each other and are fighting against each other are having to work together. There is a twist in one of the main character’s personality at the end that leaves you hanging and thinking wait I need to know what is going to happen now.

The writing was well done and the story moved along nicely and was easy to follow. I like that there were a few small twists that you didn’t really see coming and you also get to see the characters change as the story continues on. I think the ending sets it up nicely for the next book; minus of course that it is a cliffhanger and I have to wait! Needless to say I can’t wait till it comes out so I can see how this story is going to play out.

I would definitely recommend this book.

I really didn’t enjoy this book. It was a struggle to make myself read it because it was both slow and confusing. I felt like there was a lot of backstory I needed that I didn’t get when I needed it and I just had trouble caring about anything that was happening.

What a solid debut!

I'd heard whisperings about this book for a long time, and when I finally had the chance to sit down with it, I had high expectations. This is always the hardest thing for any book, because it's rare that something lives up fully to the hype we've created in our heads.

I think the most glaring issue is the pacing in terms of character and relationship development. Sure, it's easy to point out where things are going to develop in certain ways, but I think that I expected these relationships to be more drawn out and develop over the course of a longer timespan. The book, however, sped such development up which is more than a little disappointing for me. Sometimes books can get away with accelerating the natural development of people's relationships, and sometimes not...I'm left a little unsure as to whether this book fully pulled such acceleration off.

There were also some things about the plot that felt like dangling tangents -- they never quite went anywhere, or maybe I just missed their direction entirely. It felt like there were some choice edits made to the point that large chunks of the story were absent. And yet in contrast, there were story points that smashed us over the head so repeatedly that I was numb to them when they actually occurred. It's a strange dichotomy and I'm sad that it's something I noticed in an otherwise entertaining narrative.

On a positive note, though...the downright aura of this book is PHENOMENAL. There's a pervasive darkness that permeates every page and it never lets up. Whether it be blood, body horror, self-harm...this book has no problem taking it to 100 with its blood magic and never letting up. That is a consistency that I appreciate and adore. I'm always here for some good darkness.

We are all monsters, Nadya. Some of us just hide it better than others.

It’s really been a while since I’ve fallen head-over-heels for a fantasy series in this obsessive, letting-it-take-over-my-time-for-a-week way, and Wicked Saints did that for me. I had one or two problems, yes, but overall, I was so completely engrossed in this novel and in this world.

→ worldly worldbuilding ←
Okay, so, this is Russian-inspired fantasy, with blood mages, and also clerics. The Kalyazi can contact gods, sometimes, and these people consider Tranavian blood magic to be unholy. This has caused a war. The characters in this book are on both sides of that war; indeed, our two POVs are essentially the strongest Tranavian character and the strongest Kalyazi character. Something I loved about this was the way in which divinity becomes both a question and a force within the book: characters are motivated by religion, but the story does not become one entirely about a fight for religion.

I think what got to me about this world is just how expansive it feels. Wicked Saints does an excellent job juggling many moving parts in the wheel of both characters and world. It feels expansive in the way good urban fantasy like The Infernal Devices feels expansive: you’re juggling a great deal of side characters without points of view but you’re intrigued to see more about almost every one.

→ plot and structure and all that ←
The plot doesn’t twist and turns too much in the first half, and is indeed a bit oddly structured; to use film language, the first act is a bit long, meaning the narrative as a whole feels as if it’s taking a while to actually get going. It was the rest of the novel that had me completely hooked. The final conflict had me absolutely screaming.

→ characterization blah blah blah ←
in other words: sign me the FUCK up 👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌th 👌 ere👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my selｆ 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠＯOOＯOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit

This book is told via two points of view:
→Nadya Lapteva, a mage who can speak to all of the gods. Currently coming into her power.
→Serefin Meleski, a blood mage prince, bi icon and honestly my favorite character. This character grew on me a lot: I loved seeing him develop.

There is also a ridiculously good cast of other primary characters, including:
→Malachiasz, a blood mage looking for a home in the world. The villainy love interest.
→Anna, Nadya’s helper and trainer
→Parijahan, an Akolan who committed murder to avenge her sister. my other favorite.
→Rashid, another Akolan who allies with the group.
→Ostyia, Serefin’s partner-in-crime and professional murder lesbian. my OTHER other favorite.
→Kacper, Serefin’s other partner-in-crime. possible love interest to one character… maybe?

→ let’s talk about that romance ←
So. Honestly. One of the best parts of Wicked Saints is that this is one of the best uses of enemies to lovers I have seen in years and years. And I think I get why it wasn’t always quite as popular with others reviewers; the romance, at times, feels like the general villain love interest dynamic we have all seen so many times before, in that Malachiasz is Bad But Has Hidden Depths. Yes, I get it. I also genuinely don’t hate this trope as long as it’s not good girl x bad boy. (You can read this: as long as they both are kind of evil it’s fine.)

It’s just that the overall arc of the burgeoning relationship here is just… it’s so tense, but also has so much genuine growing care, and I’m a slut for that. Their actual dynamic in the second half of the book is just… it’s tender, okay?

→ cliches, tropes, and derivativeness ←
The major negative / positive / okay certainly a fact about this book is something that really didn’t affect my actual reading experience, but has been sort of bugging me in the weeks past, and that is the fact that this has a lot of similarities to the Grisha Trilogy. This was first pointed out by other readers, but the more it’s pointed out, the more I can’t help but notice the similarities: the Russian-inspired world, the evil love interest, and the structural similarities in the reveal of the love interest’s powers.

I think at some point we should probably have a conversation about degrees of inspiration and how narratives, in their basic construct, will almost always take thematic inspiration from other sources. The question comes in where our personal lines are between thematic inspiration and essential fanfiction that cannot be divorced from its inspiration. For me, it was not a struggle to read these characters as individuals separate from their possible inspiration; in fact, I didn’t even notice until I’d already read the book. These characters all feel strongly characterized on their own; Nadya does not share a backstory with Alina or anything along those lines. (Had I seen this as fanfiction, I would have hated it; I absolutely hate the Alina/Darkling ship. Sorry.)

I also just frankly… think this is a whole lot better than the Grisha trilogy? I mean, I found Grisha too poorly written to be enjoyable (Leigh Bardugo’s later Six of Crows is a huge improvement on this front), with character work that got shoddy in places. I think if you were to look at the two books comparatively, you can almost read Nadya’s character arc around magic as a direct interplay with magic in the Grisha series: for her, gaining more power is not a descent into darkness in the same way.

I don’t know. I don’t know. I think this is a bigger conversation than just this book.

→ what i’d like from the sequel ←
This was a 4 1/2 star read for me, which means I genuinely really enjoyed my experience and was absolutely addicted. But also that there are things I would like more and less of. For the sequel: more of that juicy side character development. I am ready for Parijahan and Ostyia to be on every single page. But generally, I want to get a little more of Nadya’s humanity. I liked her characterization here fine, but I definitely felt there were moments in which she lacked agency in her own story. I would like a villain love story where she can still kick the love interest’s ass, and the ending to this book certainly made me optimistic on this point. The point is, I’m optimistic, and excited as fuck to see where this story goes.

TW: self harm imagery (blood magic.), torture, parental abuse.

✨Arc received from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

Arc received in exchange for an honest review.

Warning, this book contains quite a bit of self-harm.

God, what a book. It had a bit of a slow start, and a few minor issues, but for the most part I absolutely adored it and the darkness it contains.

The Girl, Nadya, is probably the most standard of the three main characters as a YA protagonist. Blessed with powers not seen for decades, she desires nothing more than to stop the war that has been tearing her country apart for the last century, and return the gods to the heretical country of Tranavia. Her personality is, again, kind of standard for the genre, but I found that her religion, and the questions she is forced to ask that challenge her faith throughout the novel, rather engaging.

The Prince, Serefin, is the other point of view character and is a bit more complex than Nadya. He's introduced as a villain, and for a while you assume he will be her main antagonist in the story. Gradually, however, his own complexity comes to the surface, as do the complex politics of his kingdom. I'm still not quite sure what happened with him at the end, but I'm fascinated to see what happens with him in the next book.

The Monster, Malachiasz, was by far my favorite character of the story and I am absolutely intrigued with his story in this book and moving forward in the series. An anxious, vulnerable boy who is also a monster? Yes, please, give me more of this. Also, in the acknowledgments, it's pointed out that the author used Kylo Ren as reference for him, which I can definitely see, but I would say he's much more complex and nuanced than the Star Wars character. I hope in the next book he is actually a point of view character, as I just want to see more of him.

The way that the blood mage magic works bothered me a bit due to the self harm and how little it is actually acknowledged as such, even though it is an interesting magic system that I want to understand better. The way that the book was formatted bothered me as well just due to how at the beginning, a very clear pattern is set up, with Nadya's chapters starting with passages about the gods and Serefin's with passages about various saints, but about halfway through the book, this pattern is broken. Additionally, it starts switching character point of views mid-chapter, but this isn't too much of a problem as it is always clearly marked. It's just... kind of weird.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a darker story that's actually, well, dark.

5 out of 5 stars.

Interesting and engaging book with lots for readers to grab onto. It is dark and has a creepy vibe, and I enjoyed that.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review, "Wicked Saints" by Emily A. Duncan. I just could not get into this one. I love YA and I like the premise of the story but the story itself fell short for me. There was nothing that kept me wanting to read it. I have picked this one up a few times to give it another chance. Maybe sometime in the future I will try to read it again. Other people may enjoy this book more than myself. Please realize this is just my personal opinion, this may be the perfect read for someone else!

THIS BOOK. MY SOUL. OH MY GOD. It’s such a brutal, monster-filled bloodbath and I straight up devoured it. I guess it’s safe to say I’m complete trash for Wicked Saints now?

So this story features Nadya (draws power from gods and will straight up cut anyone who wrongs her), Serefin (blood mage prince with serious daddy/alcohol issues and tons of flirt), and Malachiasz (tortured monster boy mage with secrets). I must say that love them all a ton because they were so well developed and I need more!

I must speak about the romance in this story because I can’t contain myself. Basically, I stopped breathing and my heart might have stopped during a certain scene. The tension was torture and the chemistry was insane. Bad boys…need I say more?

Did I mention how this book just gets real dark?! There is so much betrayal happening and someone always seems to end up in a pool of blood. Everyone just kind of wants to fight everyone, but it’s fine. Some of the twists are downright diabolical, but I have some theories!

The magic in this book is also kind of amazing too, because there are different kinds and some that require sacrifice. It was interesting to see the two sides of the war as well and get some context behind how it all started.

I am weak for these characters and bloodthirsty for the sequel already. The ending actually killed me and I was screaming at it! When I flipped the last page I felt like my soul was shredded. Basically, this is a must read for fantasy fans and I can’t wait to see where the series goes!

TW: self harm involved in magic.

Sadly I did not finish this. I was bored. The story didn’t grab me and I found myself not caring for any of the characters. I’ve seen many people compare this to the Grisha trilogy and the Darkling but this doesn’t even come close to the amazingness of those books. I know people like this but it wasn’t for me. Maybe I’ll try again but I’m not holding my breath.

When I first heard about Wicked Saints, I was so excited to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to my (admittedly high) expectations. I did enjoy the book, especially toward the end, but it took a while for me to feel committed to finishing it. At times the story (and particularly the relationships) felt a little rushed and I didn't understand how quickly the characters trusted each other, despite claiming to be enemies. However, I have hope for future books in this series now that we are acquainted with the main players and have a better understanding of their motivations.

There is so much to like about Wicked Saints. It’s a refreshing twist on a normal tale of magic, girl, boy and monster.
I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll be vague.

The book is told from two different perspectives, the magical cleric who can speak to the gods (Nadya) and is granted power from them, and the blood magician who is hunting her (Serefin). Little do they know, they may have more in common than they think.

I like how fresh the world seemed. Sure it’s a magical fantasy world, but there was a lot of fun with Nadya’s particular powers, her religion and her loyalty and devotion to gods she doesn’t understand. Then there’s Serefin who doesn’t believe in the powers from the gods and is thrown back to his kingdom in a time of war to be… married off. But something isn’t right and Serefin finds himself in the center of a dark and sinister plot.

I really love how the setting came to life. Two countries in a long war where neither side is winning and both are losing in many other ways, these characters are thrown together to determine values of life and magic.

Nadya meets friends along the way, especially a boy named Malachiasz who seems to understand her in ways others do not. Together, they hatch a plot. Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz are all so compelling as individual characters. Nadya is questioning everything she thought she knew. Serefin is broken and paranoid and sees darkness and betrayal around every corner. Malachiasz is as mysterious as he is scarred. Even switching back and forth between Nadya and Serefin didn’t bother me as each storyline was full and complete by itself.

The plot does begin fast paced, but slows down about a quarter of the way through the book. It picks back up again during he last half and I’m glad I stuck with it.
I can’t wait for book two.

While reading this book I was on the edge of putting it down and continuing reading - you think this book is good/great or hate it.
The story is about a girl that can contact gods - cool right? Well, this means that you can feel like you are above others but that's valid. This made h annoying and somehow unlikeable but while the read she's changing and I started to like her in the end.
Main H was good as he played his role - I got attached to him and wanted to know what will happen next. I have high hopes for him in book 2.
The storyline was fragmented like good part then boring, then good and so on. There were more good ones

This book is a hard review for me. On one hand I enjoyed it, but on the other hand it felt really drawn out at times. The character building was great and I liked the magic and different types of magic being used. I know a lot of students who will enjoy reading this book and I look forward to reading future books by Emily Duncan.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy of Wicked Saints to review! This book was a highly entertaining read and the pages all but turned themselves to the end. There were so many quotable lines that I found myself wanting to highlight! I am greatly looking forward to reading more from this author.

I read this a while back so I can't remember everything, BUT, I do know this book was one of the darkest, bloodiest books I've ever come across in a while and I loved that.
The relationship dynamics between characters were also interesting, and kept me invested in trying to figure out everyone. The characters themselves could've been fleshed out more, but since this is the start of a series I'm hoping they'll get better.
And that plot twist! I did not see it coming tbh. Plot twists with the villain reveal are usually at least a bit predictable these days, but this one managed to get me.
I thought the pacing was all over the place though? It switched from super fast during battle scenes to dragging on forever during long expositional conversations. (Which could've been reduced in my opinion)
But all in all this is a great debut and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

I really loved the first half of this book. I thought it was interesting and fun, but then things sort of fell short. The middle was slow and it took me almost 2 months to finish Wicked Saints because I wasn't interested in what was happening. I liked the ending okay, but I'm not 100% sure if I'll continue on with the series.
I really like Serefin's character and storyline. I felt that he grew the most throughout the story and at times I wished it had been more about him than Nadya. Nadya started out a strong character and I was ready to engage in her story, but throughout the story I lost interest. It felt like she didn't grow or change much in the book and I wasn't interested in her romance (which I found sad because I love romance!) All in all it was an okay read for me.

Wow, I have absolutely no words because this book just blew me away. I already went into this with high expectations because I have seen so much hype about this book on Twitter for the longest time. And I am shocked to say that this book met all of those expectations plus more.

The only downside was that it was a little confusing in the beginning especially with the introduction of all of the gods that Nadya had access to. There were so many to start off with and they all had different powers/abilities that it was just a tad confusing to me to try to keep things organized in my head.

However, other than that though, I absolutely enjoyed this book. I loved the dynamic between Nadya, Malachiasz and Serefin. It was interesting to see that despite their natural dislike for each other (Nadya vs. Malachiasz/Serefin) due to the fact that their countries have been at odds with each other for centuries, I enjoyed that slow and gradual change from dislike to trust to possibly something more.

There is also a very delicious slow burn romance in this book between two of the characters that I adored so much. I myself am also half in love with him because he is just irresistible with that bad boy vibe plus a dash of vulnerability on the side.

The magic system in the book was also very unique. I loved finding out the difference between the clerical magical versus blood magic. And as most wars in the past, the war between the two countries stem from the belief that the other magic system was “heretical” or “weak” and so they are at odds with each other.

This book was also written in both Nadya and Serefin’s perspective but I think it would have also been fascinating to see things from Malachiasz’ perspective as well. At the same time though, I also understand why his POV wasn’t in this book but hopefully his voice will be heard in the sequels. And that ending!!

Oh my, that ending caught me so off guard because I honestly thought something was going to happen and when it didn’t happen the way I expected it to, I was simply shook. Also, when is the second book coming out because I am dying to get my hands on it now! I have unanswered questions and I need to find out what happens next. If you enjoy slow burn romance, gorgeous world building as well as complex and unique magic systems then I highly recommend this book. I would also describe this book as a darker and grittier version of Strange the Dreamer so there’s that too!

It was a pretty great book. Sometimes I thought it was a little hard to follow. It's one of those book where you need to read big chunks at a time. I was reading 20 mins here and 2o mins there and it was to get submerged in book. When I read for an hour at a time it was great. When the book started you pretty much dove right into the story line. Overall it was a great book and I cannot wait to see what happens next.