Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for release of this review copy!

This is book 2 in a series and guys I highly recommend you make sure you check this series out. Book one was good but book 2 was amazing! There was so much more in this world and I am so glad I continued on with this series. The author has done a great job building us a great cast of characters and amazing world building to follow. This story has been so much fun!

*4.5 stars*

This sequel to Wicked Saints didn't disappoint!

Is it epic and traumatic in equal doses?

Yes, yes it is.

Do the characters have to make heartbreaking (and often bloody) choices?

Yes, of course!

Am I looking forward to the next book in the series?

Yes!

Just one quibble:

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book, because the pacing at first is slow. Once it gets going, however, holy moly!

Let me just say, if you loved Wicked Saints, you'll love this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC!

It’s no secret that I love Emily’s books. I loved her writing way before she got published and I still love it now. so when I got a copy of wicked saints early almost right after she announced she was going to be published 2 years ago, (I think it was I could be wrong I’m terrible with time.) I read it as soon as I could and I did the same when I finally managed to get a copy of ruthless gods.

To start off OMG this book it’s heartbreaking.

Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz are dealing with the consequences of what happened in wicked saints.

Nayda, questioning herself and her faith and her gods who she can’t hear anymore. what is a cleric if they can’t speak to the gods? She’s questioning her relationship with Malachiasz who is now turned into even more of a monster then he was before.

Serefin, who is dealing with a forgotten god in his head, and becoming a king and not knowing what to do about either of them. He just a broken drunk after all? A high prince turned king no one really wants. He’s being threatened by one of the nobles to return their daughter to them who was taken by the vultures, he tries with the help of Nayda and fails.

Malachiasz who doesn’t remember what happened, who is more monster then human now. who agrees to help Nayda and I can’t tell if he was playing her the whole time or if he really did/dose care a little bit.

I love these characters I love how broken they are and how they question themselves. I love how they try to push though and keep going even if things seem bleak and things do get bleak the further they travel the more broken they become.

I love the way Emily has written them both individually and as a group. Together they felt like a group of friends traveling on a journey. I loved there banter and how they do care for each other even if their supposed to be enemies. As individuals they are each playing a part of a game each holding their breath for the right time, to see who will attack who first.

I love the relationship between Nayda and Malachiasz I think they really do care about each other. I enjoyed all the small moments between them when it’s visible. I also think there not good for each other there relationship like them is broken. It can never be fixed and it’s toxic. They have been placed in a loop of betrayal and lost trust and manipulation I don’t think there ever going to get out.

I love the world building we get to see more of Kalyazi in this book and hear more about some of their monsters, (though I do wish that there was some more explanation for them instead of just dropping names and expecting us to know) .

This book doesn’t just border on horror it is horror. Emily has taken the cosmic horror she placed at the end of wicked saints and threw it at us with full force. Monsters with too many eyes, gods that have been forgotten and left to rot, a forest full of monsters that traps it victims and doesn’t let them go and so much more.

I loved this book just as much as I loved the first one. It’s beautifully dark, it’s blood filled, it’s heartbreaking. I need the third book now please?

So I enjoyed the first book but struggled with some of the magical elements. I enjoyed this sequel a lot more now that I have some more knowledge of the characters. I enjoyed where the story went and the world building felt a lot more refined in this book.

I was super excited to receive this ARC because I had been anxiously waiting to find out what happens next! I thought this was a good sequel to the first book and it had me hooked from the beginning. It started off right where the first book left off so you are just thrown right back into the story.

The characters were basically all the same from the first book, but you get to learn more about them as the story goes along. I always like the sarcastic banter between Nadya and Malachiasz. I am always rooting for them to find a way to be together. I like that they test each other and then at the same time almost compliment each other. We learned more back story of the other side characters and it was interesting and make you want to learn more about them.

The plot of this story moves along nicely and keeps you entertained and wanting to see what was going to happen. I like the chapters are different perspectives of characters so you get to see different parts of the story. I am very interested in seeing what happens now that Serefin has severed his connection with the God trying to take him over.

I really overall enjoyed the book and am now eagerly anticipating the third one so I know what is going to happen now that it seems all hell has broken lose in the world! I definitely would recommend this book.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an earc of this book.
As this is sequel, it’s a little harder to review without mentioning book one, so this contains a few spoilers Wicked Saints!

Ruthless Gods is full of gothic imagery, eldritch horror, blood mages, a very unsettling forest, insane divinity and a lot of chaos. It is also full of some very stupid teenagers – which I say with a lot of affection. It’s pretty safe to say that I loved it. Gothic horror imagery is definitely my kind of thing, and this book delivers it in bucket-loads. It contains eyes where they definitely don’t belong, pools of blood, monsters, mythology, razor talons, blood magic and snarled black hair filled with bone fragments. There’s a fair bit of body horror, so it’s not for the squeamish, but it was one of the things that made this book stand out from anything else I’ve read recently, and I loved it for that. All of this combined definitely left me desperate for book three!


The setting for Ruthless Gods (both Tranavia and Kalyazin) is beautiful and bleak, menacing in its darkness and I really enjoyed how each place seemed to reflect what was going on with the characters. There was a lot of internal struggle, fighting and despair going on, and the settings (especially that of the forest) became part of that fight. I’m torn between wanting to visit them, but also wanting to run as far away as possible from the very idea of them. The struggle that Nadya, Serefin, Malachiasz had because of their settings never really changed over the duration of Ruthless Gods. Everything had a sense of displacement. Everyone was uncomfortable, no matter where they were. Their longing to be in another place, or further along their journey made them seem unsettled. Even when they were in their ‘homeland’, everything was still against them, and added to the tension of the book.


I really enjoyed Nadya so much more in this book. She’s become stronger and more determined. She still followed the path others set out for her, but she grew in strength, started questioning things, became her own person and a character I really care about! Nadya is fierce and brave even though she’s scared. I love her relationship with Malachiasz, which really built upon the foundations laid in Wicked Saints. They are so bad for each other, and yet their magic is tied together, and they can’t escape the draw that they hold to each other. I loved their banter, their journey and their romance. Malachiasz is probably my favourite character. He’s morally grey, morally questionable, a monster and also just a boy who is really out of his depth. He’s got so much going on, physically and mentally and I honestly just want him to be OK. I loved seeing more sides of him, and he is my favourite chaos monster. Finally, we have Serefin to round off our unholy trio. He has a really tough time in this book. After dying in the last book, I really didn’t think things could get much worse for him, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Not that the other characters didn’t suffer too, but I really felt for Serefin. Please, someone just let him have some alcohol in peace! I honestly love so many things about all the characters in the books, their interactions, their journeys and most of all, some really stupid decisions they make. The new characters we met along the way were also a lot of fun, as well as getting to see more of Kacper, Ostyia, Rashid and Parijahan, who we learnt more about, and who I also love (especially Kacper). I can’t wait to find out what awaits them next.

For me, one of the best parts of Ruthless Gods was that questions of morality and mortality are looked at in a way which makes everything so confusing. Everyone thinks that what they believe in is right, even when they’re questioning the outcomes. There are so many questions about the divine and the self. Every character has a crisis of faith and self after the events of Wicked Saints, and yet they all keep holding onto their beliefs despite that. Their faith is constantly shaken and confronted by something new, making them have to call into question every aspect of their lives. The unquestioning belief in their country/religion vs the truth of what they have seen and learnt keeps shifting their desires, and makes everyone seem so much more human.


One thing I really wanted more of in Wicked Saints was getting to know more of the history of the pantheon, more about the gods themselves and what divinity really means in this universe. We started to slowly get answers here which made everything feel like it’s slowly coming together. The monstrous and divine are so enmeshed in this series in a way I haven’t seen before. The conflicted imagery is so perfect, and it’s one of my favourite things about this series. Definitions of divinity from the different perspectives are also fascinating here, and I have so many questions.


I really can’t wait for book three. Ruthless Gods was a chaotic masterpiece of a book, and the only downside for me was that there were a couple of things I would have loved to see more of, or have further explanation on, but I’m hoping I will get those in the next book. I’ve pre-ordered my finished copy already, and I’ll definitely be re-reading it soon.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read Wicked Saints last year and didn't love it but also didn't hate it. The ending was enough to push me to continue on with the series. Sadly, I didn't love this book. All the issues I had with Wicked Saints were here but more in book two. I think this is a me thing because I know a few people who loved this book. I think I'm just burnt out on YA fantasy and all the tropes galore you find in the genre.. I won't be continuing.

I had kept putting off the first book as I had heard so many mixed reviews so when I saw this book on NetGalley I knew it was finally time to delve into this world.

Oh my god, I am obsessed.

This world, these characters and Emily A. Duncan’s Writing style are just captivating.

These characters are so morally grey but I can’t help but love them all, including the side characters. Nadya and Malachiasz’s relationship is so infuriating but I can’t help but finding myself wanting more! It was interesting to watch the two’s character development along with Serefin who goes through so much in this book that my heart honestly goes out to him.

There were points in this book that I had to re-read paragraphs as there is so much information to take in and one little distraction leads to confusion on my part. It was also a little bit hard to get my head wrapped around the new gods and monsters that were introduced in this book but after a little while it all just clicked into place.

The book also felt a bit slower in places in comparison to the pacing of the first book Wicked Saints but the more I read on I realised that this was needed in order to set up for the end of the book and the next book, which I am honestly so excited for!

Overall this was an amazing second novel with twists and obstacles which will have you hooked. I honestly do recommend giving this a read!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Ruthless Gods is a bloody knife in the dark!

Emily’s writing style is contemporary and yet not. There is something very studied and antique about the worlds she paints, and I felt like I was reading some lost religion book about a world filled with monster-gods. It was gothic YA at its bloody finest.

The plot slowed a bit in the middle, which is why this is a four-star read, but that ending alone was worth all the stars in Serefin’s eyes—even though it ripped my heart out!

The romance between Mal and Nadya continues, and while Emily almost made my heart explode with some of the more precious scenes of them together, I felt like I still didn’t have a clear grasp of what they meant to each other. Of course, this was done by Emily’s choice, but I felt like the second book was the time to tighten that part of the storyline. Who knows, maybe it will be revealed in book three, but knowing Emily, she’ll probably choose to torture us with the unknown:)

Speaking of book three, I need it now! So many things happened in Ruthless Gods, and I can't wait to see how it all ends.

*Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan*
E-ARC Review
Release Date: 04/07/2020

I don’t even know where to start. I finished this book half an hour ago and I’m still weeping like a baby. I had originally read Wicked Saints to get over a book slump to which I did and I didn’t know what I was going to do if I had to wait till April to read Ruthless Gods so I went on NetGalley and will be ever grateful the book overlords decided to accept my request.

I would like to start by saying this book is one of a kind and the only book that even comes close to it is Shadow and Bone but only because of the love interest between the Darkling and Alina. I will fully admit I did not look at the pronunciation guide and yes, half the names, I know how I say them are not even close but that’s beside the point. The detail in the culture of the book is amazing there was no questions or plot holes or anything that didn’t add up. I am 75% sure this is Russian and that made me love it even more because I could just visualize Tranavia and the characters. I have never read a book that I didn’t want to skip over a page but alas, here this gem is, every single word was immaculate and perfect. If you haven’t read the first book I won’t spoil anything but essentially Nadya is a cleric for her Kalyazian gods, Serefin is the king of Tranavia tied to a fallen god, and Malachiasz is a boy who wants to save his country and kill Nadya’s gods. Their paths cross and the war they are trying to stop is fueled by them. Love will become poison and poison will become the new definition of love. Who will succeed in the quest and who will change there destiny?
Personally I think it is amazing that Mrs. Duncan wrote a book and it ripped our hearts out and put them back in just to repeat over and over. This is also her first series. I am so excited to see future books from her. I will say this, if you get squirmish by blood this is NOT the book for you . . . or read it and I’m sure you will still fall in love. The love interest in this story, Malachiasz and Nadya, broke my heart countless times to the point where I was just crying the last 100 pages. While I love a good love, I also was pleasantly surprised to discover Nadya would throw everything away, Malachiasz, herself, to save her people and her country. I kid you not the amount of pain this book brought my heart was so great that I would reread it 1,000 times and still feel the same.

In conclusion, I would 100% say that this book is 20 fold better than the first one and I did not know that was possible. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this before its release and thank you, Mrs. Duncan, for forever changing my world, you and your book will always hold a special place in my heart.

Darkness never works alone...

Another one of my most anticipated read of this year. I was so happy when I got en email of Netgalley saying that I was approved for an e-arc.

Ruthless Gods is the sequel to Wicked Saint and was really more dark and violent.

Nadya is struggling with both losing the voices of the gods in her head as well as with a huge betrayal that had happen months ago. Also, she doesn't trust her own magic anymore.

Serefin, him is trying to keep is sanity as he's hearing a voice inside is head that doesn't belong to him and trying to get is kingdom to be taken by the Ruminski.

Malachiaz fail is attempts to become a god and is a war with himself and what he's becoming after killing his father and become the Black Vulture.

I really have loved this sequel and looking foward for the last book in the trilogy with how the end left us.

I was so excited to get this arc from NetGalley! I loved the first book so much, and the sequel did not disappoint! Like Wicked Saints, it was unpredictable and unreliable and I loved EVERY MINUTE! I cannot wait for this to be released into the world!!

I absolutely loved this follow up to Wicked Saints. As soon as I dove into the first chapter I knew I was in for a crazy ride. The extra world building and new politics were so cool as well as the character development. I so can't wait for everyone else to read this book because I need people to gush about it with!!

After finishing (and enjoying) the first book in this series, Wicked Saints, I was left with a lot of questions about this world of magic and gods. How exactly does all this magic work and where does the power come from? Why are there different kinds of magic? Are the gods the good guys or the bad guys? Whose side is the witch on? I was hoping to get some answers in this second book, Ruthless Gods.

Now that I have finished Ruthless Gods, I think I have a couple answers. But I still have so many questions! I know there is still another book to come that will (hopefully) help me to understand this world and what is going on it, but after reading two books, it is a little frustrating to get to this far into the story and still have so many unanswered questions.

Ruthless Gods jumps in where Wicked Saints left off, and I'm not going to include a summary because I don't want to spoil the first book. There were many parts of Ruthless Gods that I liked. I like Maliachasz and his twisted relationship with Nadya. Even though it is toxic and unhealthy, I am still routing for them to make it work, for better or worse. I also like Serefin and we get see more from his perspective in this book, but I wanted to learn more about him. I liked the overall plot of the story-- with the whole group of characters setting out on a road trip through a dark and dangerous forest leading to a showdown with the gods...it's a great setup for an interesting adventure story.

But this book is really long, and ultimately, not a lot happens. There is plenty of blood and gore and darkness. This is a creepy book for sure! But it's not action packed and didn't end up being the adventure that I was expecting. Much of the book felt like "filler" material, which seems to happen often with second books. I think this second book could have been much shorter, with more action and less introspection from each of the characters.

In the end, I didn't love everything about this book, but I am still invested in this story and eager to find out how it will resolve in the third book.

Fantastic read with twists and turns and bitter discoveries. Ruthless gods follows up on Wicked Saints seamlessly and fills in the missing gaps to continue the story with intrigue. Well done on a secondary installment.

This was an amazing sequel to an equally fantastic 1st book! Can’t wait for more! I enjoyed it very much.

4 Stars

So the word "boy" in this series is starting to make me react the same way as I do to the words "male", "female" and "mate" in the ACOTAR series (that is to say, to hiss aggressively and cower away like a vampire exposed to the sun), but that is honestly the main thing that bothered me about this book. That, and the fact that the main romance really doesn't work for me sometimes.

Don't get me wrong - I love the constant threat of betrayal and the rather refreshing (for YA) way in which the characters put their own interests above their love interest's to the extreme. However, the actual romantic bits? Blegh. I think at least half of it's the "boy" thing, to be perfectly honest. Like a few times is OK, but it was seriously overdone to the point it was just annoying and infantalising rather than implying some kind of vulnerability in Malachiasz. Show don't tell, please!

Pretty much everything else about the story I loved, however. Yes, I was often a bit confused (partly because the plot is WILD) but never in a way that deeply impacted my enjoyment of the book. Moving onto characters, I still absolutely adore Serefin. He's a Nikolai type, so of course I was always going to like him, but my love for him only grew in this instalment. Katya is a new fave of mine, and I enjoyed there being more of a focus on Parijahan's story too. I do wish Kacper and Ostyia got more screen time (especially Ostyia - she seemed to keep getting lost throughout the story!), and Rashid deserves more attention too, but what we do see of them is great. I also really appreciated all the Serefin and Malachiasz scenes - that last one in particular really got to me. I think they might have been some of my favourite parts of the novel.

In theory I shouldn't really like this series. I've never really been drawn to "edgy" stories in any genre, and this definitely seemed to be aiming for edgy in a way that would usually make me go "uh, no thanks". But Something Dark and Holy has a tender heart, and its blood runs warm. I'm really looking forward to the next instalment.

There will be spoilers for book one (Wicked Saints) in my review.





Wicked Saints was one of my favorites last year, so I had pretty high expectations going into Ruthless Gods.  It didn't disappoint me.  I *may* have even liked it more.  The book took me about two hours longer than normal to read, but there was so much to take in.  This book is dark and detailed.  I love Emily's writing.




Ruthless Gods starts off months after Wicked Saints ended.  Malachiasz is gone and Nadya had been hiding out with Serefin.  He is back from the dead and needs to be the king.  Serefin isn't sure why he's hiding an enemy, but he does it anyway.  Until someone decides they want to take over and they know Nadya is there.  The witch had some predictions before they left.  




Nadya hasn't been hearing from the Gods anymore.  Serefin has an old God living inside of him.  There are actually two people and they use his eye to make him see.  The voices are constant and getting to Serefin.  Malachiasz is lost being the Black Vulture.  His humanity is almost gone.  He and Nadya are connected somehow through magic.  She has to find him, make him realize who he is, and take him to a holy place that will likely kill him.  Nadya both loves and hate Malachiasz.  The boy she fell in love with is still there, but the Vulture is always there, too.  She has to choose between her country and the gods and her love for this boy.  Nadya woke up something dark that she needs to stop.




"Things are waking up.  Old things, dark things.  The old ones who have slept for so very very long.  You set it into motion.  You and that Vulture."




Everyone in the book is battling something in their heads.  Serefin is getting worse every day.  The God inside him is slowly taking over.  Nadya is battling with her feelings for Malachaisz, her new power, and that she had been kept in the dark about a lot of things by the people who loved her.  Malachaisz battles to keep any part of himself.  Parj has a secret she battles with.  So many enemies are working together for different outcomes.  There is a closeness between all of them.  None of them are all good or all bad.  They believe their reasoning is right, even when it tears them up inside.




"But things are as simple as good and evil."  "Are they?"  Nadya thought about the voice, about her dreams filled with monsters.




The old Gods were banished and kept secret from Nadya.  They are not content and seek revenge.  Malachaiz is needed for it in some ways.  For Serefin, Velyos needs Serefin to kill Malachaiz.  Nadya needs him to enter into a forest that will likely kill him.  Malachaiz has this power inside of him, begging to come out.  Nothing good can come out of the plans any of them made.




"What happens when a monster tries to become a god?"




My review is so very random and vague, but I don't want to ruin the story for anyone.  So much happens.  There is so much blood and death.  The darkness is larger in this one.  Betrayal is definitely a big theme and I had to remember that I couldn't trust anyone.  And again, we were left with a twist at the end of the book.  I am so sad that I'll have to wait over a year for the third book, but I know it will be worth the wait.




Warnings for cutting, blood magic, war, and death.  Pretty much everything from Wicked Saints.




Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.  I gave this book 5 stars.  Quotes were taken from an early copy and may change before final publication.

Cannibalism. That’s right cannibalism. It feels like the YA
books coming out in the past few years try to push boundaries of what should be alluded to in books for young adults and what should not even be there. This has some of that in it. It is incredibly violent in parts. If this were a film, the MPAA would rate it R. Which speaks to what the proper market for the book should be. That being established, the rating from me would be higher if it were marketed as an adult fantasy.

Duncan has firmly established herself, in my mind, with the likes of Jay Kristoff with this violent, gothic, conflicted narrative. I also feel she successfully bested her first in the series, Wicked Saints. In Ruthless Gods, readers get a bit more character development, the plot is not as linear, and the mystery of the old gods and where the magic comes from slowly unravels itself. Sure, it lags a bit on the way, but Duncan has done some research work into the incredible complex world that is medieval Russian/Polish folklore and mythology. Like any other historical writer, it is completely okay to show off the knowledge and work a bit. Those craving some intellect to go along with their fiction will/should appreciate it.

The drawback for me, in addition to the content not matching the audience, is the insane amount of melodrama. While it works for some, I’m not into it. The doomed love dynamic took up the entirety of the book, and many of the side characters I grew attached to suffered from lack of exposure because of it.

While I realize some who read my review may be thinking, “then don’t read it.” I don’t just read for my enjoyment. I teach students who read YA. There are parents who still care what media their children are exposed to, so when I get asked about a book, I know what to tell them and don’t just stand there uselessly shrugging my shoulders at them. This one will definitely come with content warnings from me.

I was so overwhelmed by WICKED SAINTS, the first book in this series, that I was unable to ever really formulate a solid review that wasn't just incoherent keyboard smashing and yelling about monster boys and kissing and blood magic and horror. So now take all of those feelings and dial them up to a 10 and you have my feelings about RUTHLESS GODS.

Emily's got a real gift for writing these characters who are at times complete moronic cinnamon rolls and also capable of extremely horrific magic that oh yeah, is also very gruesome. Our 3 main characters - Nadya, Malachiasz and Serafin - both deserve all the hugs in the world and also a good solid shaking to knock some sense into them.

If eldritch horror, a magical system that truly does make you pay a price for it, and enemies to lovers (seriously, Emily makes no bones about the love interest being very bad but also very tempting and that is why we love her) is your thing, do yourself a favor and pick up this series right now! As a sequel, RUTHLESS GODS is bold, exciting and risky. Trust me when I say there's no sophomore slump happening here.

Oh, and if lots of eyeballs freak you out...read at your own risk.