I absolutely fell in love with Wicked Saints, the first book in the Something Dark and Holy trilogy by Emily A. Duncan. It connected with me on a level that I can’t fully explain; all I know is, it was one of those rare books where I read the ARC and went out to buy the published version that very same day.

Needless to say, I have been eagerly awaiting the sequel, Ruthless Gods, and was overjoyed to receive an ARC for it. I’m a bit disappointed to say that it didn’t resonate with me as strongly as its predecessor did. Its strong points came through splendidly, but its low points were detracting and, in some cases, downright annoying.

Those strong points take the form of Duncan’s creepy, weird, and morbid world-building. I am still as enamored with this Eastern European-inspired world that’s full of saints, gods who may or may not be gods, blood magic, and magic that’s decidedly other. I love how the lines dividing them all began to blur until they were indistinguishable. Duncan’s descriptions of horror—body, cosmic, and bloody—came through here as even more rich and liberal than in her past book. Every single interaction with Velyos and the Kalyazi witch Pelageya left me filled with delight, and watching how our main characters’ magic has each shifted toward something monstrous was equal parts exciting and worrisome.

The other reason for the high rating, however, goes to one character in particular: Serefin Meleski. He was easily my favorite character in Wicked Saints, and that sentiment is the same here—with a notable difference. I was fully invested in his journey, trials, and character arc more than I was in any of the others. In fact, Serefin’s poor back must be close to breaking because my boy carried this entire novel by himself, so his exhaustion through the entirety of the book comes as no surprise.

Without giving away spoilers, Serefin has a time of it, and his self-deprecating humor is put to the test like never before. I would like to wrap him in a blanket and give him something warm to drink that’s not alcohol, but I’m pretty sure Kacper and Ostyia beat me to the idea and were first to be rejected. These three have a relationship that I came to fully appreciate here, and I support them wholeheartedly.

If those were some of the highs, then what were some of the lows?

Right off the bat, it’s Nadya and Malachiasz’s relationship. I didn’t fully get it in Wicked Saints until the end, and I was so excited because Ruthless Gods seemed to be following a path for them that I understood and was eager for. Nadya going underground into the Salt Mines to confront him when he’s in full Black Vulture mode was my brand. It was the actual villain/monster/heroine romance I had sorely missed through nearly the entirety of Wicked Saints. Malachiasz chose power over Nadya! Her love and his attraction to her weren’t enough compared to the power he could obtain! He’s fully a monster and no longer completely human and maybe a god! But something in him recognizes her and still wants her! But the power!

The way the Black Vulture was toying with her, trying to learn her secrets and why she is important to him was so good. How Nadya was toeing the line between her feelings for him and the horror he had become, how she was trying to get what she wanted out of him while making sure he stayed interested enough to not kill her, how she strategically used his name as a weapon—it was all so good.

And then it was over.

Then Malachiasz, the anxious, nervous boy who picks at the skin around his fingers because he’s so anxious and nervous was back. The troubled boy who’s a monster but also such a tragic boy was back. The boy who Nadya loves but he betrayed her, and she should keep her distance but she just can’t because this poor foolish monstrous boy was back. And I was never allowed a moment in Nadya’s POV to forget it.

I had to realize that I just don’t understand how Duncan chooses to write Malachiasz. I never know why she chooses to have him act kind of like his Black Vulture persona—a dark and in control kind of person—and when she’s going to have him be a nervous wreck who flinches for the third time as Nadya calls him a monster or reminds him that he betrayed her. I just do not get it. And I don’t get their romantic beats at all. One second Nadya’s thinking to herself how she’s going to betray him this time, how horrific he’s become, how she should stay away from him, how nothing is forgiven, how everything between them has been doomed from the start—and then in the next scene, they’re tracing each other’s palms tenderly or she’s letting him sleep beside her because it’s the only time he can, or they’re making out after he’s pulled her from a pool of blood. And fam, I just don’t get it. Why am I getting this soft boy? I don’t want it. Put him back how he was, with the iron claws and the blatantly unrepentant attitude and the inclination to kill.

What’s tragic about this situation is I truly like Nadya’s character and her journey she’s on. Any time Nadya struggled with being rejected by her gods or was trying to figure out the true source of her magic, I was on board. Any time she was pushing herself toward her goal no matter the consequences, I was rooting for her. But it seemed like no matter what she was doing or reaching for, her thoughts inevitably turned to Malachiasz and making all of her actions, her thoughts, her being about him—and none of it was anything new. It got to the point where I dreaded reading Nadya’s chapters because I knew I was just going to go around in circles with her about her messed up feelings for Malachiasz for the twentieth time. And I don’t care about Nadya and her nervous boy.

I care about Nadya and the Black Vulture. I care about the actual pining of this monster—in form and deed—who doesn’t want or fully grasp his desire for her, claiming it’s about the power she possesses and nothing else. I care about this saintly girl who has darkness of her own that’s inevitably drawn to his while being revolted by what he’s chosen to become. That’s the relationship I want to sink my teeth into. Not this same dance that Malachiasz did in Wicked Saints of, “Well, I’m just going to act pitiful, so she’ll trust me again. It’s me, but it’s not.” It was not needed. Nadya already needed him to come with her, was already suspicious of him (though that didn’t matter), so this act was redundant and frankly painful to read about. It made me feel like I was reading Wicked Saints all over again, but it wasn’t as good for me because I expected more.

Now, the increasingly tangled relationship between Serefin and Malachiasz? I could’ve used so much more of that. The nature of their relationship shifted in such a small yet significant way that I felt like a puzzle piece found itself in the right place at last, and it was so satisfying to experience. I bought Serefin’s position toward Malachiasz so much more than Nadya’s. I was instead begging Nadya to please find a purpose outside of him, any purpose. I didn’t care. Just something else.

I’m so thankful she had Rashid and Parijahan to talk to, even though their conversations with her became about Malachiasz more times than I care to remember. In fact, I was disappointed that these two took more of a backseat once Malachiasz returned to the narrative. These two Akolans intrigue me so much more, and I am increasingly concerned about Parijahan and the choices she will make, what her role in all of this will be.

Kostya was also a worthy addition that I’m glad Duncan brought back and didn’t forget about, even though I also wasn’t surprised about certain story events surrounding him. I loved that Nadya and Kostya still cared about each other as best friends even though they were no longer on the same page and never could be again. Each of them experienced life-changing and traumatic events that shifted their views on the world and each other, and neither of them could ever fully understand what the other had been through. Though their interactions were rocky and painful, I enjoyed reading about them because of how real they felt as these two friends fought to reconcile their memories of how they used to be to the reality of who they’ve each become.

Another character was introduced that I did also like, but I’m not really sure at all why she’s here besides prophecy shenanigans. Or why she so willingly went along with Serefin on his journey when he’s the enemy king. It’s not due to romance at least, and I am looking forward to learning more about her. I just thought the whole thing was a bit too easy.

And okay, fine, I’ll go ahead and say it. There wasn’t nearly as much action or blood magic usage in this book, and frankly, I missed it real, real bad.

Then there’s the forest. I was so ready for each of our characters’ paths to collide in this forest that was full of ancient malice, cosmic horror, and monsters your mind could barely perceive waiting to hunt and kill you. I saw Serefin visit it in his head, heard Nadya recount tales of it, so once we got there, I was thinking it was going to get a bit nuts.

To my surprise, Duncan barely describes the forest at all beyond it being alive and our heroes being trapped to wander inside it. At one point, a few of them are hunted by an ill omen, but before I can “see” this monster, the book cuts away to another character who didn’t see it, and I later learn that Nadya somehow killed it with her magic off-screen. That was a huge let-down because Duncan demonstrates that she can describe these kinds of things well when she chooses to; instead, I got more page time dedicated to Nadya and Malachiasz’s nonsensical relationship.

However, once we all got to our final destination, the ending ignited and soared, even though one particular character and their willful ignorance made them look like a complete fool, but whatever. Once again, I was genuinely surprised by certain events, and I look forward to the ever-changing states (and continued suffering) of Serefin and Nadya and all their friends. Also, getting answers. I certainly learned things about Velyos and the other beings compared to the canonical twenty gods, but so many more questions got opened up.

Even though Ruthless Gods suffered from a bit of second-book slump for me—with the rating probably being closer to 3.5 than 4, but rounding is hard—it was mostly because of a romantic relationship I don’t care for or understand (but still hope to one day). The actual plot is still a hit for me, the world-building and descriptions sing to my soul, and I’m still highly invested in most of the characters in this trilogy. I still love Wicked Saints, and I hope I will love the third book just as much if not more.

If anything, at least Serefin will be there! I’m not kidding. I love that guy. I would follow him to the ends of the earth and all the way to hell and back. For the comedy and the drama.

I will not be reviewing this book because i just couldn't get into it. I will try again at a later time but right now the story doesn't pull me in .

Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who--and what--he’s become.

That is a pretty decent description of what is going on in this second installment of the Something Dark and Holy series. The action picks up a little past the halfway point. Up until then it is a bit meandering. I enjoyed the story but was a bit confused with the sheer number of Gods. I think we are up to possible 40. Also there is so much bleeding. All I can picture in my head is how many scars these characters must have along their arms and hands!

There is one major thing in this book that might cause me to pause before picking up the next in the series. I am not okay with the relationship between Nadya and Malachiasz. They are contantaly lying and betraying one another. How in the world can you have any love for a person when you don't even know who the heck they really are? I am not a fan of toxic relationships and theirs is as toxic as they come.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an eARC to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me access.

This took me FOREVER TO FINISH! Okay, so 12ish days isn't forever, but it is when you usually read a book a day.

I won't lie, this wasn't my favorite read. I struggled with Wicked Saints...twice and thought it was because I listened to the audiobook and the narrators are bleh. So I figured I would give Ruthless Gods a try and hoped for a better outcome.

Well that outcome was just a dream.

I didn't find myself actually enjoying the book until about 60% of the way finished. Heck, I even took a break and read 10 other books because maybe I was just in a funk and needed a break from this one.

The story all over the place and was getting confused between who the character was around/talking to. I had to go back and reread just to make sure I wasn't crazy...well, any more than I already am.

Even though this book didn't meet my standards of entertainment, Duncan does an amazing job at creating this world we are in. With the gods and the Vultures, and clerics and all of the different casts of magic. I could imagine it perfectly in my mind.

The ending was my favorite part, not because it was over, but because it wasn't your typical ending. No spoilers, but I need more endings like this. Just saying. Because of the ending I'll bump my rating from 3 stars to 4 stars.

Maybe it's me/my mood/spring/covidì19 but even if I loved the style of writing and the world building the plot didn't keep my attention and it was hard to finish it.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A great second book of this series. The story continues to grab our attention and not let go. You will so enjoy this book. I highly recommend

For the first half of this book, I was really worried that I had fallen directly into a sophomore slump of a story. Once I got further in, however, an actual plot started to unfold! I might be in the minority, but I really enjoyed Wicked Saints. In a sea of overhyped YA fantasy, it was honestly a stand out for me. Ruthless Saints picks up right where we left off in Wicked Saints, with our characters trying to deal with the fallout of the events in the first novel. I obviously won't go in to any detail, but let's just say, shit went down.

Ruthless Gods was an enjoyable read and I'm very much looking forward to the next installment. We got to explore the dynamics between the characters so much deeper in this one, and I honestly really love most of the characters. Relationships progress in the most satisfying ways and thats all I will say about it, but get excited. The side characters are equally engaging and I found myself caring deeply about their well being.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. My biggest complaint is the length of time it took to get into what I feel like was the actual meat of the story. I am probable closer to a 3.5 instead of 4 stars, but I feel like Ruthless Gods deserved to be rounded up.

Chaos is happening and we are witness to it, and that’s all that’s guaranteed in Ruthless Gods.

Ruthless Gods is an aesthetic wonderland filled with perpetual influence and betrayal-- from the gloomy, dark tones, villains and monsters to the bone chilling landscapes dripping with mystery and suspense. With darkness often comes a sense of horror and dread. Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz are at the epicenter of all this, contemplating their eternal damnation as they try to avoid plunging the world into darkness as they try to save it from dominant powers hostile to humanity. This sequel delivered and firmly sets things up for the finale.

As soon as I first heard about this series last year I found myself to be in love with both cover and blurb. I was lucky to be able to join the blog tour for Wicked Saints and had a fantastic time reading what was a dark, gothic and simply glorious read. YA fantasy sadly tends to be on the sappy side, but Wicked Saints most definitely had none of that! I’ve been looking forward to the sequel ever since, and I was stoked to discover my Netgalley wish was actually granted a few months ago. I was fully expecting to fall in love with the sequel too, but somehow that didn’t happen… It might have been my own fault as I didn’t reread the first book to refresh memories or it might have been the fact that my mind simply wasn’t able to cope with high fantasy right now… But the sad fact is that I was seriously underwhelmed by this sequel. I’ll try explain briefly why. First of all I have to state that the beautiful writing is still there, and Ruthless Gods still has that dark and gothic feel. BUT. I felt the spark of the first book was missing, and I struggled to stay focused and interested in the story. There were a few elements that probably contributed…

We have the plot, or rather lack of a proper plot. I felt that there was no solid plot to follow in the sequel and the story felt more like a filler between book one and what is still to come. This made it harder to stay focused… The multiple POV structure and setting changes had the same effect, and distracted instead of enriching the plot and structure of the story. Not only do we have to juggle multiple POVs, but all those strange foreign names and chapter introductions with more foreign names and saints can become confusing and it’s a real chore trying to keep up with them all… On top of that, I wasn’t able to connect to the characters in the same way as I did in Wicked Saints. I struggled considerably with this sequel and even started skimreading at some point as the constant bickering, overdose of strange names and lack of plot really got to me. And no, even the beautiful writing couldn’t rescue that. This might have been the wrong story for me in these strange times, but the fact is that this series has lost its enchantment for me… Don’t give up on this series yet if you enjoyed the first book though, because I’m having a feeling that my reaction to this story resulted into one of those unpopular opinion reviews all over again.

I have such mixed feelings about Ruthless Gods. On one hand, I really enjoy this world, magic, and mythology. However, I can't ignore the confusing and messy plot. The plot is extremely convoluted and never seems to unfold in a logical fashion. There aren't enough foreshadowing and bread crumbs so events and reveals feel as though they happen randomly with no planning. The plot structure is messy. I think this series has a LOT of potential and a super intriguing concept. But, it is falling short of that potential because of the lack of organization and thoughtlessness when it comes to executing the concept.

I really, really wanted to love this book.
I wish I did.

I didn't hate it, but I just didn't really care.
I didn't care about the characters and what was happening to them, I felt like they kept making stupid decisions.
I just couldn't connect with any of them.
I'm really bummed.

I really wanted to love this story.
But I guess this one just wasn't for me

I was very disappointed in this book. It was disjointed and I didn’t enjoy the writing at all. There were a lot of cliches and repetitive phrases.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
•
2,5*
Pros: Beautifully described world-building. Interesting take on slavic folklore and heritage. Further development of the leading characters. Interesting scenes with a touch of horror in them. LGBT representation.
.
Cons: If ignoring red flags was a sport, this girl would take home gold. I lost count of how many times the word "monster" and its derivatives were used in this book, heck, in each sentence. Extremely repetitive. Jumbled logistics and mechanics. Useless arcs. Secondary characters used as props. Too many dangling threads.

I really enjoyed the first book but felt like book two was a bit of a mess. At times I felt like the plot kept withering way to dust then something convenient would come to resurrect it. I still really enjoy these characters... I just wanted more. Going to hold reviewing on my blog until I reread after the current life stressors of COVId19 die down.

What a riveting follow up to Wicked Saints - the characters are just as memorable and compelling, the world building is subtle but thorough, and all the unanswered questions and unresolved issues come into full force in Ruthless Gods. If you were waiting as long as I was for this sequel, you won’t be disappointed.

Well, Emily A. Duncan, you've manage to reduce me to a hot mess of emotions yet again. This second installment in her Something Dark and Holy series was just as action-packed and heart-wrenching as Wicked Saints. I loved seeing all the old gang again and meeting new characters--even if they continued to tear my heart into tiny pieces.

It was so interesting seeing all of the character development. I loved how everyone had a very unique perspective on what was happening. There were a few times when I got a little annoyed with the abundance of angst, but for the most part I felt their feelings and emotions were understandable and tugged at my little heart.

Also, world building. I am so impressed with Duncan's ability to build such an interesting and complex world. It was fun to be able to dig deeper into this world and learn so many new things. While I don't know if I'd actually want to live there, I do feel like I could step right into the world she's created.

All in all, this sequel was a powerhouse of a book. I loved it just as much, if not more, than the first one. I'm so interested to see where she takes the story next and can't wait to read book three!

I anxiously waited a year for this beauty after really loving Wicked Saints. Wicked Saints had great world building, blood magic, feuding kingdoms, and characters that I enjoyed.

Ruthless Gods was such a let down in comparison. Rather than using the second book to further focus on the world that was initially built and dive deeper into the magic system that wasn’t explained as well as it could have been, this one was essentially a character study of the three main characters (Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz) with little focus on magic.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for further character development, but even with the new revelations in this book, these characters didn’t grow or develop. Instead, I’m left wondering what was really the point of this sequel.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for my gifted copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

After the murder of Serefin’s father, the king. Serefin has been having trouble keeping his more noble subjects in line. The war between Tranavia and Kalyazin continues even though Nadya feels that she has done what the Gods have asked of her.

Nadya and Serefin, along with their companions set out on a journey to the salt mines to retrieve the tools they need to fix their mistakes. Afterwards they will travel to the far reaches of Kalyazin, to the Gods seat in order to right what has been wronged.

The sequel to Wicked Saints, Ruthless Gods was not what I thought it would be. I very much enjoyed the first book, Wicked Saints. I feel like Ruthless Gods has fallen short of my expectations.

Overall, the book was enjoyable to read. It is a very slow read and if you where to draw it out with only reading a few chapters a day it might not be so dry. I feel like many thoughts and actions where overplayed, overstated, and repeated way too many times. I felt like the only character in the story that had some growth was Serefin and that Nadya regressed into something very annoying. Her love/hate relationship with Malachiasz as well as the Gods and all Tranavia is just annoying. She has an internal monolog about this every time that she thinks about any of these things/people.

Malachiasz is also a very tricky Character and because he doesn’t have internal monologue or parts of the story written in his perspective much it is hard to say where some of his actions come from.

I was very confused at how Serefin, and his group seem to know that Nadya is with Malachiasz when he has been taken into the forest and into Kalyazin. They meet up with the princess of Kalyazin and go to look for Nadya but decide to track Malachiasz to find her. But they shouldn’t know that he is with her since they left before Malachiasz joined the group.

This book also dodged all the places where a cool action/fight scene could have livened up the book and made it more interesting. I feel like it could have been better. The book taking out some of the rambling would have helped. The last six chapters were the best and sadly with the epilogue I’m not sure I would read a sequel to this book.

Some of the quotes I enjoyed from the book:

“Is his destruction worth your salvation? What a choice. Can we love someone and ask them to shatter themselves for us?”

“Truly, I am terribly sorry this isn’t a time for senseless slaughter. My heart weeps.”

” He wasn’t a god-as much as he wanted to be. He was a monster, a horror, a nightmare. He was only a boy.”

I wanted very, very badly to love Ruthless Gods. But, the more I forced myself to find engagement with the text, the more it justified my aversion to finishing it; it's just not good!

Let me help you visualise my growing frustration with Ruthless Gods and Emily A. Duncan. Imagine baking cookies: Duncan has a promising batter in her hands (I mentioned as much in my previous review) filled with gorgeous bits of chocolate but she's missing some vital ingredients like baking powder.  Instead of refining the lumpy and misshapen dough by adding in baking powder, she goes on with it like nothing is wrong. And you get sad, deflated cookies that has lost all the former glory of it's beautiful dough. Plus, it leaves a strange taste in your mouth.

Normally, I recount the plot here for you. Although there is no semblance of a coherent, unified plot in Ruthless Gods, I will do my best. The first-eighth seemed promising, detailing the aftermath of Serefin's death and subsequent rebirth, Malachiasz's transformation and Nadya new unholy powers. It was a strong start.

Then, the plot began to lose all sense of direction. It went on forever in circles about Serefin, his star eyes and moths, Malachiasz being some not-a-god monster and Nadya constantly moping about her damaged, soft boi. It isn't looking good. Then, there comes some some political turmoil in Tranavia with some court members conspiring to overthrow Serefin and finally, finally the plot goes somewhere. In an attempt to save his crown (starting with rescuing a Vulture Zaneta), Serefin and Nadya set out to the Salt Mines.

Nadya, of course, has every intention of saving Malachiasz for her own purposes and finding out the origin of her new powers and how it's linked to Malachiasz. Yes, it gets unnecessarily convoluted. Down in the Salt Mines, while Nadya manages to find Malachiasz and convince him to be a good soft boi instead of not-a-god monster, Serefin descends deeper into the strange powers he has inherited. Throw in an ex-love interest, a Kalyazi general, some token LGBT representation and ONE singular interesting side plot, that's where I stopped reading.

I give up. The rest of the review is based on what I have read thus far. On Kindle, my progress is 57%.

Serefin is constantly drunk (very relatable for a YA novel, of course). When he's not constantly drunk, he is a lost puppy. His inner conflict revolves around his newfound powers and coming back from the dead. Having been given a second chance at life, Serefin squanders it by doing nothing. He inherits the throne but does nothing to secure his position, he just traipses around with Nadya. And has gloomy and mysterious visions of bleeding trees and decaying somethings. Very enchanting character.

Once again, Nadya is at the whims of Serefin and Malachiasz with zero agency, zero spine and a lack of conviction that is irritating. I love an anti-heroine, on the wrong side of the track and just an awful person to like but Nadya, she's nothing. Call her what you want, naive, immature but her very purpose in this story seems to be shaped around these two men. I wanted to read about the fallen cleric, shunned by her gods and struggling to come to terms with her identity and supposed destiny. But instead, I get a character with no semblance of self, getting tugged in the direction of mopey soft, sad boi whom she loves so dearly.

Malachiasz is frustrating and not in a sexy way. He is a cheesy mash-up of the emo boys of our century, Kylo Ren, the Darkling etc. In Wicked Saints, Malachiasz presented very clear goals and intentions. Readers knew what he wanted and that guided his story. But in Ruthless Gods, I'm sixty percent in and all I understand Malachiasz wanting is to reign over the region and to cause chaos. Err, okay. He's got that. How else is that going to develop? His POVs are told mostly in vignettes at first where he is semi-aware he is a monster. When Nadya shows up, he becomes human-Malachiasz and is all soft and dangerous, like a kitten. But, I still don't know what drives him as a character, what is his arc in Ruthless Gods. He's just a sad boi for Nadya to mope over and create tension, whatever that word means to Duncan. He is an unappealing character, a caricature of damaged, vengeful characters everywhere.

Sure, the sexy times are great and ticks all the boxes for a dark, gritty and semi-kinky romance. But, is this erotica fanfiction? Or is this a serious YA fantasy?

Because Ruthless Gods wants to be serious but Duncan and the people who enable this book have completely missed the mark. Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz's plots are like Kronk and Yzma trying to catch Kuzco and Patcha: By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.

Pieces of the plot are literally dropped into places as they are needed in order to drive the story forward. Everything else is just flowery, nonsensical ramblings and in Nadya's case, endless moping. Ruthless Gods fills its 500 something pages with insubstantial material, biding it's time until the next convenient plot point/device. Things will happen that have no prior build-up or explanation. For instance, in a flashback scene to demonstrate how strong a mage Malachiasz is, he is shown to have overpowered a Vulture's spell but . . . what spell, you ask? Duncan herself has no clue. Of course, Duncan will just say you're not intelligent to understand her craft. Fair enough.

Let me give you another example. Serefin has lost his sight in a magical dimension:

Being unable to see made things exceedingly more complicated. He knew he was in a wide open space covered with snow.

Anyone who has walked on snow or felt snow would know how it feels. So far, so good. And then, it goes on to say

And the inside of this place—this temple-—didn't make sense. The ceiling was too high, and an impossible to miss, massive doorway suddenly stood before him

At. What. Point. Did. He. Regain. His. Sight.

In another instance, Marzenya begins speaking to Nadya again after the silence with zero explanation. All because Nadya started praying. As if she hasn't been praying all this while. How? Why, you ask? We have absolutely no idea except to move the plot into where Duncan wants it to go.

At risk of spoiling any more of the fun for you, I want to discuss another point that frustrated me to no end, that made the plot seem like a minuscule concern in a long list of flaws: the worldbuilding.

A fundamental of any book is to be able to paint the world your characters inhabit, to build the set in which your story unfolds. In order to create a believable world, you first have to believe in it. I don't think Duncan believes in her world at all.

The descriptions of settings are vague and generic. Ask me about any single location and all I can remember is the altar of bones that Malachiasz and Nadya tried to do the nasty on. A forest with bleeding trees, more trees, some roads, oh, look a castle, oh the Salt Mines, a cave in the Salt Mines. All the locations blend into a watery mess of Gothic colours. It is as if Duncan only had grey as an impression of the locations and did her best to emphasize that. The five senses are irrelevant. What her characters see, hear, smell, touch and taste don't matter. 

Because the moment they're off the page, they cease to exist. They're like frozen chess pieces, designed to move where Duncan wants them to go. There's nothing about the world nor characters that is tangible. I spent a chunk of my time reading this book trying to make head or tail of where the characters are and where they're travelling to.

Furthermore, Ruthless Gods attempts to include some prominent LGBT representation with Serefin (previously, the only LGBT character was Ostyia). That's right, the prince is queer. Ruthless Gods is so progressive. Oh, cry me a river. We're past the point of making a character LGBT for the sake of being woke and inclusive. Not a single moment in Wicked Saints nor in Ruthless Gods points to Serefin being queer until he suddenly realises he misses Kascper and can't live without him. What. Come again, what. So, Serefin becomes queer in order to create an emotional beat and pointless romantic line. Got ya!

The only shining beacon of hope in Ruthless Gods is in one side character, Parijihan, who has a rather compelling backstory that is teased throughout. She is also one of two token characters of colour, designed to be Nadya's friend. But I didn't read far enough to find if anything comes out of her side story.

I have many more things to say about Ruthless Gods but my hands are tired from typing.

In conclusion, Ruthless Gods seems like a poorly edited book. It was set up really well to succeed with Wicked Saints but now seems like a first draft with Duncan playing at author. I wanted desperately to love it. After all, I really enjoyed Wicked Saints and its many flaws which I expected to be addressed and refined in a sequel. But instead, Ruthless Gods threw all caution to the wind and allowed Duncan to run wild with the book. Perhaps when I revisit Ruthless Gods in the future, my thoughts will change. And if that happens, I will update my views here.

From inconsistent prose to poor plot lines, frustratingly one-dimensional characters and barely there worldbuilding, Ruthless Gods hides behinds its author's significant social media presence to give it any semblance of success. And that is no success at all.

3.5 stars sounded up to 4 stars...

Thank you Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Ruthless Gods, sequel to Wicked Saints, is a great book trying to escape some unfortunate literary choices. While I enjoy the world-building and general concept of the characters, monsters, and gods present, there are a few gripes I have. First, I feel like this author overuses some words that should carry impact, but instead generate an overall eye roll. If everything's "dark", is anything "dark"? Second, do Nadya and Mal have to continually engage in problematic relationship behavior over and over again? Betray me once, shame on you, betray me thirty times, I'm dumb.

I liked a lot of the grit and violence on display here, and I like the direction the story is taking overall. I think that in the last book, this series still has potential. I just think that there needs to be more literary variety and some resolution or solidification on certain relationship issues which could help provide needed plot and tone focus going into the final stretch. If you liked Wicked Saints, or wanted to like it, Ruthless Gods is better, but if you're on the fence, you can probably do better unless you have a distinct thirst for stories about the gods.