Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!!!

This was a great follow up to Wicked Saints and a perfect read to kick off October! There was a lot more character development in the follow up and lots of twists and turns to keep things interesting. Ruthless Gods is not for the faint of heart. The characters are so broken and this book is filled with so much angst and betrayal its hard to read at parts, yet you can't look away. The second installment was filled with MORE, more romance, more horror, more gore. Malachiasz is EVERYTHING and my heart breaks for Serefin. You can't help but love these monsters. Ruthless Gods answers some questions left open in Wicked Saints but opens the door to so many more! Emily Duncan is a really innovative writer and you can't help but be drawn into her dark and gothic world. The ending will leaving you dying for the next book. It can't come out soon enough! Counting down! Full review to come closer to the release date.

I requested this book as I was reading the first book at the time but unfortunately it was not for me. The writing was hard to understand and the character were hard to relate to.

Kinda ambivalent about this sequel (as I did with the first one). It has such a beautiful setting and characters with so much potential, but ultimately the plot drags on and the ending seemed to leave it at the same place, where the first one ended. Mysterious powers, uncertainty, and questionable intentions.

Six months have passed since the ending of the first book, Serefin is king but the country is in turmoil after the death of his father. The nobles are also trying to overthrow him through political machinations. He's got a voice in his head that keeps trying to manipulate him. Malachiasz has become the Black Vulture and rules from the Salt Mines, where eldritch horrors exist. Nadya on the other hand no longer has her gods and she decides on something that involves bringing Malachiasz back.

This plot is the main focus of the book. Nadya finds Malachiasz, she helps him remember and then they travel around the country until the climax of the book. Sure, there are some other cool things like Serefin meeting the actual queen of Kalyzi, who wears a necklace made out of vulture teeth, and her helping him. But that's it. The whole book is centered around Serefin battling the voices in his head, being whisked away to an enchanted forest and then magically finding Nadya headed in the same direction as him.

Honestly, the ending of the book was the most interesting part of the story because stuff actually happened. Spoilers ahead. Malachiasz reveals to only be interested in dethroning all the gods and ancient beings and restructuring the divine hierarchy. Serefin wakes up the ancient beings, who want revenge. And Nadya hints at finally becoming dark by betraying Malachiasz. In fact, the ending is enough to keep me wanting to read the next book to find out what happens.

Overall, the slow pacing and Nadya's characterization and lack of clear motives were my biggest issues with the book. I've always wanted a young adult book that featured a questionable male love interest, but I don't find Malachiasz that interesting. He wavers between being forbidding and simpering, which is more annoying than unique. Nadya's obsession with him seems to have ulterior motives, but we really never get an explanation or a clear indication of her future plans. In this book, Nadya questions the source of her power and it leads her to somewhat of an existential crisis, but this primarily left in the background. And while I'd really like an ~*evil*~ female heroine, Duncan is not really clear on where her protagonist is going or what she's thinking.

The word boy is used 185 times in this book, and most of those are in reference to Malachiasz, and I just really wish that number were cut down by at least half.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book in the near future with an honest rating and review.

Ruthless Gods, the sequel in the trilogy Something Dark and Holy, picks up right where the first book ended and throws the reader right back into the depths of emotional turmoil and heart-wrenching decision making that could alter the entire course of history for Tranavia and Kalyazin forever. Though many questions are answered, there is still so much more to learn, leaving the reader yearning to find out what happens in the last book of the trilogy. The way the author develops this story guides the reader through the trials and tribulations the characters face, leading to an unexpected journey and whirlwind of an ending.

***I would like to add that this book makes the reader fall in love over and over and have their heart broken by the bad guy, the enemy you never knew you wanted to love, just as many times as Nadya. I can’t wait to see how it all fleshes out in the final installment!***

I was glad to see the development of many of the side characters. This addition helped to provide background information for questions the reader might have left over from the previous book. I also feel like the author did a better job world building in this book, allowing the reader to have a better understanding and visualization of the entire mythos of the world the characters live in. However, some of the organization within the book confused me while reading. There were times where I needed to go back and reread a passage because it seemed some things jumped around and there was a quick turn of events that didn’t feel like a smooth transition.

As a youth services associate, I would suggest this book (and series) to any teen that loves dark fantasy/adventure with a deep cut of hopeless romanticism in a world where gods and monsters exist. It’s a fast-paced, page-turner that could easily become a favored series to many of the teens I work with. This is definitely a title our library would purchase, as I could see this series becoming a bigger hit with each new book.

Altogether, I would highly suggest this book to my teens and even my fellow coworkers! I had fun reading it!

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read Wicked Saints when it came out in April of this year and it had to be one of the bloodiest and darkest novels I have ever read. But Ruthless Gods takes the cake, it is bloodier and darker than its predecessor by 100 percent

I did find the story to be a bit repetitive. It felt like I was rereading Wicked Saints with more blood and gore. I did really like this better than the first of the series, which is saying something because I truly enjoyed Wicked Saints.
The pace in this book was much faster than the first book and the action definitely keeps you in suspense and glued to the page.

The ending had me really confused, but I think that it was part of the books magic because even the characters seemed really confused. My heart breaks for Nayda. I really just want things to work out for her. Malachiasz and Nadya will be the death of me, I am sure of it. I just want them to get their happy ending. I find their story so compelling and I just want all the happiness in their chaos ridden lives.

I cannot wait for the next installment. It is such a good read. I hate that now I have to wait even longer since I got this one early!

Thank you so much to Emily Duncan, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for sending me a digital copy of this book for review. This review will be posted on www.featheredfables.wordpress.com closer to the publication date.

Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow. This sequel was everything! It was filled with blood, horror, romance, deception, magic, and of course, betrayal! It hurt so so good!

We finally get to see the mess these characters have created for themselves. And they are then thrown into so much more mess. Nadya is struggling with her magic, and with hearing her gods. Serefin is struggling with a voice and his new magical eye. Malachiasz is struggling with... well, being Malachiasz. All of them are tied together and their journeys wind up on the same path. I'm not going to spoil what that path leads them to!!

This book is much much darker than the first book. You have been warned. There is much more blood, much more gore, and much more overall dread. It is absolutely spectacular. This series feels like it was made for me and I will not stop talking about how great it is!

"'I'm going to push you into this river.' 'I can't swim!' 'That's a shame. I guess you'll die.'"

THE ENEMIES TO LOVERS CONTENT WE'VE ALL BEEN SEARCHING FOR IS RIGHT HERE! Nadya and Malachiasz have stolen my heart. Again. They remain my OTP. I will never not root for them. They hate each other, they love each other. They try to kill each other, they kiss each other. They tell one another to go away, then they're right back to snuggling. I AM NOT OKAY, OKAY?! Every tender interaction between these two made me want to weep. They are just so. freaking. cute. I'm pretty sure I highlighted all of their scenes. I love them and I can't stand them. If Ms. Duncan does not make them endgame I don't know what I will do but my life will be over. They were made for each other and I will die on this hill.

"'You're horrible.' She leaned up on her toes, kissing him once more."

Serefin, our Bisexual King, finally gets his romance too! (Which I did see hints of in book one!) I don't know if it's a spoiler so I won't say who it's with but they are adorable. It's not really a main focus (yet) but still! Serefin deserves to be happy. They all do, but Serefin just seems The Most Tired Of This Shit. Serefin's eye is...weird. It causes that poor boy so much stress and pain and misery. And trouble. There's a lot of eye bleeding in this book, in case that freaks you out! Like I said, it causes him a lot of trouble! Just like the first book I wasn't as invested with Serefin as I was with Nadya. He's great he's just...not Nadya. I found myself much more interested with her chapters although his story was engaging as well. Sorry to all the Serefin lovers!

I've never read about a stranger group of people. They all care for each other but they are also all trying to kill each other. It is fascinating. We meet a new character in this book. Tsarevna Yekaterina Vodyanova, or just Katya. She is amazing, and she is GAY, and I hope she and Ostyia have endless flirting in book three! She's also a Vulture hunter and, yes, she also wants to kill Malachiasz. Basically, everyone's MO is to kill Malachiasz. My poor baby. I don't know how they're all going to make it safely out of the mess they've created. I don't know if they all will make it out safely. The ending of this book was Pain x1000. I just want peace and happiness for this deranged little group. It's all I want okay? That and for Nadya and Malachiasz to live happily ever after ;)

I adored this book. It's language is rich, as are its characters, religion, and legends. Like truly good horror, I was cringing quite often and sometimes wanted to look away, but couldn't.
I loved what the author says is "cerebral" about this novel. There are moments where I had no idea what was happening and it made me feel out of control--as if I were one of the characters, too. It is vivid and lovely and dark. It is not for the faint of heart. Ms. Duncan has outdone herself here. I'll be stuck with these characters for a very long while.

The story was good. A little less action than the first, but the characters and plot more than made up for it. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

This book was received as an ARC from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own Thank you so much Wednesday Books @wednesdaybooks

The stunning sequel to the gripping New York Times bestseller, Wicked Saints
A nightmare full of unseen terrors! The author has masterly created an intricate web of terrible myths, Godlike monster so terrifying and real when you are reading about them you can actually feel them. I love this book because it's so confusing and violently dark. and weirdness makes it stand out from other books.

The writing hooked me from page one and guided me through this feverish dream called Ruthless Gods... A monster book effortlessly and beautifully that for one of this years unique and creative books of 2019.
This sequel answers many questions that I was left with after book one, but there are so many more unanswered questions. While most of Wicked Saints took place in Tranavia, this book takes places in Kalyazia and you learn more abou the magic and history.
What a dramatic cliffhanger hanger of an ending.
I am patiently waiting for more of the dark blood soaked torn world of Emily Doncan

*This is a non spoiler review, I will be posting an updated version on my Book blog and IG account, closer to the release date.*

“The forest is alive and wants to eat you.”

"RUTHLESS GODS opens the door to a world of fallen gods and eldritch horrors... Gruesome, grotesque, and so, so glorious." -


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Okay so, first off, I was given an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley, I have died.

I loved WICKED SAINTS and was so excited for RUTHLESS GODS, but with a healthy helping of nerves that it wouldn’t live up to my hopes and dreams. Nerves? Don’t know them. This book exceeded my expectations! The body horror, the constant sense of dread, the hopelessness, the dry exhaustion of my three favorite terrible people. I love it.

Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz are all disasters and you know they’re trying their best but wow what a mess. I have never rooted for such soft but at the same time horrible people more in my life. On top of a great primary cast, the side characters add so much to the story. Kacper and Parj, especially seem to keep everyone somewhat level.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series and will continue yelling about it to strangers who mention an interest in books or Eastern Europe (or moths.)

I knew what I was getting myself into with Ruthless Gods.

Like Wicked Saints, I was expecting blood magic. To be transformed into a beautiful gothic landscape involving saints and voices and visions. The second book in this series far exceeded my expectations. The first book had teeth, this one has bloody fangs.

I can't wait to see what happens in book 3!

I really struggled to get through this book. I enjoyed Wicked Saints and was really looking forward to the sequel. I just got lost so many time when reading this. The plot tends to be needlessly complicated. I love the three main characters and they are what kept me going. However, there were so many secondary characters that I struggled to remember who was who and where everything was taking place. I will still purchase this book for my library collection because the first one has been checked out multiple times.

** Will be posted on my blog http://pastmidnight.home.blog on March 7, 2020, closer to the publication date**

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Wow, Ruthless Gods. So I just finished it and I amstill processing how I feel about it. I keep wavering between 3.5-4 stars so I’m just rounding up and keeping it at 4 stars.

Wicked Saints, the first book in this series was bloody and dark. I think Ruthless Gods is bloodier and darker…but somewhat at times repetitive. Malachiasz (I will never know how to spell or say his name right off the bat 🤷🏻‍♀️)has turned into a monster after his quest for knowledge and power. Serefin is possessed by some god he doesn’t believe in, and Nadya is bereft that her god has stopped speaking to her and is still confused by her feelings for Malachiasz. Their descent into hell, or this war between gods, seems to have only begun.

The mood for this brutal, strange, scary world is spot on. It is dark, bleak and full of monsters or should I say gods? There is nothing shiny and bright in this world – there is bitter winter and darkness for the setting. The author definitely does a great job creating an atmosphere that is full of mysticism and things we humans cannot quite comprehend. At times I didn’t understand what Malachiasz even was…does anyone really know? Is he a god? Or does he just have god powers? Is he still evolving? Sometimes I felt like this book was one big question mark. It questions magic, divinity, power and humanity.

Serefin is in an internal fight with a god who is trying to control him. He is such the opposite of Malachiasz who wanted all the power and knowledge. Plus if you thought there was a lot of self-harm with the blood magic in the first book…well, this one takes it there and then some! Some parts were just gruesome, at least for me since I’m weak when it comes to horror.

Malachiasz, this boy…seriously. I don’t trust him, at ALL. And he has turned into something so monstrous. Nadya shouldn’t be trusting him at all either…but he is her weakness. They are such a strange couple, sweet at times, totally bad for each other most times and a bloody mess together (literally) all the time. It just gets messier between them by the end of the book. There is so much angst between them, a little too much for me. I just wanted someone to make the right decision and stick with it (looking at you Nadya!).

And Nadya…she might have frustrated me the most because no one knows what she is or what her power is. All the speculation was starting to test my patience. I’m just ready to find out something more concrete about their situations. I did enjoy the break from these three main characters when a new character enters the story to shed more light about the gods.

Overall, as a second book I think it was better than Wicked Saints because it was faster paced and with a greater sense of urgency that I thought was missing from the first book. There is more suffering, more wondering, more horror in this book but that’s pretty much the tone of the story, destruction and rebirth. Emily A. Duncan is definitely creative and staunch in her world building. If you want bloody, she give you bloody in this book.

I’m ready to see how this series ends and I wonder if any of them make it out alive.

Wow! I normally don't say this with second books, but it was so much better than the first. If you were one of those people who were disappointed by Wicked Saints and thought it was just "meh", then I encourage you to give Ruthless Gods a try.

Wicked Saints fell flat for me because I went into it thinking it was going to be something new and different, but it turned out being similar to things I read before and fell right into certain tropes I thought it would avoid. For example, I figured something would happen between Nadya and Malachiasz, I just didn't expect it to be so insta-love. I know a lot of people liked Serefin's chapters, but I thought they were boring. Overall, I figured if I came across Ruthless Gods in the future I might read it, but now I am anxiously waiting for the third and final book.

Ruthless Gods is so much better than Wicked Saints. I loved Serefin's chapters and didn't want to skip over them like the last book. There is plenty of action going on that keeps the characters busy, and we dive deeper into the 'Gods' storyline. I love books where the characters are questioning if their Gods are really Gods at all. I'm also really happy that Malachiasz wasn't absent for most of the book like I thought he was going to be. Another thing the author did that I liked was to scatter in a couple chapters from different characters. I love having a different character's POV from time to time.

There were plenty of things I didn't like about the book, but the fast paced plot kept me interested enough to mostly overlook them. For example, sometimes I felt like I skipped a chapter because the characters would just know something or say something and I would think "Were we supposed to know this already?" Some things are still unclear to me. Another is Nadya and Malachiasz's relationship. How many times is she going to keep forgiving him? She also spends most of her chapters thinking about how she shouldn't trust him, he's obviously lying, but his feelings must be real so she'll kiss him anyways. It got old after a while. There were some other things here and there, but as long as you're more focused on finding out what happens next it shouldn't be a problem. With that said, if you loved Wicked Saints you need to read Ruthless Gods. If you didn't love it, you need to read it anyways.

** Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
Please don’t read this review if you haven’t picked up book one, aka Wicked Saints. **

I really hoped to see some improvement in the name and confusion department, but I guess that was only a problem to me. Again, I found myself somewhat confused on the main topics, I’m not even sure I totally understand what’s up with Nadya’s magic, and what really happened that night on book 1 when Malachiasz stabbed us all in the back.

Why did I keep on reading? The plot is interesting, and now that I think about it, maybe we are meant to be confused, because we can’t know who is the bad guy, they all take turns in doing some terrible things. They are trying to do what is best for their people, and that comes first, always.

My favorite was Serefin, he is scared, confused, but funny and keeps going no matter what. He has a demon-god slowly taking possession of his body. I mean, cut the guy some slack!

Nadya is her usual questioning self. Where is my magic coming from? What are the gods? What am I? same questions from book 1, and really not many answers.

Malachiasz is a monster, literally. But he still shows glimpses of that quirky boy we all loved, and then resented. Not sure what his end game was during Ruthless Gods.

Overall, it was fun but extremely long, and unnecessarily so, like I said we didn’t get much answers. Nothing much changed.

5 stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and
St. Martin's Press for the e-arc!

What can I say? I loved this story, a lot more than the first. This one pulls you deeper into the drama, chaos and you seriously dont know who to trust but you love them all and are attached to so many of the characters. A part of me is still like wtf is going on and wtf is happening bc so much really does happen on this story - along with heartbreak. I couldn't out this book down, I love that this book goes more in depth with the characters and world and magic and I hope to understand the gods more in the next book. If you like queer representation, enemies to lovers and a bunch of liars that you cant help but love and magic, lots of magic then you will love this story.

This is your final chance to avoid spoilers! Turn away or face the consequences! (I am going to try to limit spoilers for Ruthless Gods itself. However, you may want to proceed with caution if you don’t want to know anything about it. If that’s the case, just know it is even better than Wicked Saints and you should definitely read it.)

I really enjoyed Wicked Saints and it left me desperate for more of the world. I wanted to peel back the layers and find out more about the mythology that Emily hints at in her debut novel, and I especially wanted to see more of the gods’ darker sides and the Black Vulture’s power. Ruthless Gods delivers all that and more. You are not prepared. I had the opportunity to meet Emily at Cleveland’s CleReads Book Festival this summer and she told me that book two was basically “the last hundred pages of Wicked Saints, expanded,” and yet I was not prepared for her to deliver that promise.

Pacing
Ruthless Gods moves quickly. There was not a single scene that dragged on. I was slightly surprised considering how long the book is. I expected the Black Vulture to be an elusive presence throughout the first half of the book, but he actually shows up pretty early. In an effort to avoid spoilers, I won’t tell you how his reunions with the other characters go, but know that you will feel all the feels one feels towards awkward, manipulative Malachiasz. Things get rolling pretty quickly thanks to this frustrating-yet-lovable character.

Setting
As in Wicked Saints, there’s a lot of walking in Ruthless Gods. However, this is not just a repeat of what we read in the first book. I have to give Emily props for that accomplishment. Rather than heading into gods-forsaken Tranavia, our characters head deeper into Kalyazin, and it is in these lands that we finally, finally get to see the mythology hinted at in the first book. There’s monsters and gods and fallen gods, creepy temples and sacred spaces. With two characters who can now commune with the “divine” (or not-so-divine) you can bet there’s some pretty interesting divine intervention that occurs.

Characters
Even though we met Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz in Wicked Saints we get to see different sides to these characters in Ruthless Gods (especially because Malachiasz spends a lot of time – I won’t tell you how much – as the Black Vulture). I think what makes these characters interesting this time around is that they all wrestle with their identity. Nadya can’t understand who she is without her gods. Serefin, the heretical blood mage, is tied to the divine. And Malachiasz can’t even remember who he is most of the time. In addition to their struggle with identity, all three also have to struggle with what sacrifices they’re willing to make for what they believe in.

In addition to the three core characters, we also get to meet a handful of new and returning characters. The best thing about the supporting cast is that they aren’t just background props. These supporting characters actually support our main characters and aid in moving the plot forward. Of course there’s Ostyia and Kacper, without whom Serefin would probably be a drunk, useless lump. Parj and Rashid also make a comeback – and they are definitely more involved than in Wicked Saints, especially Parj. We’re reintroduced to someone from Nadya’s past (no spoilers!) who makes Nadya both question herself and more sure of herself. Pelageya makes a return, which was one of my favorite parts about the book. (Pelageya is one of my favorite characters and I really want to see more of her!) And that’s just the characters we’ve already met!

And, of course, we cannot forget our cast of gods and fallen gods….

So I read the first novel pretty quickly and had a total love/hate relationship with it, but the moment I saw this one floating around on NetGalley I HAD to read it, and I was fortunate enough to get approved for it too. I had less of a hate relationship and more of a love one with this sequel, even though this one took me a little while longer to read. I think it was because this go around dealt with the divine so much more, but it also hurt a whole lot more. There was so much more at stake, and the characters were all coming into themselves and being damaged to such a worse extent. I'm almost sad that I read this so early, because now I have to wait for eighty-four years to get my hand on a hopefully to-come third novel. This sequel definitely pushed the bar after the first novel, and it will absolutely have you on the edge of your seat for these dumb, lovable characters.