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emilym53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
melmmh's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not very eloquent with my reviews, but I absolutely loved this follow up to Wicked Saints. Especially the character development and the twists in the story. Definitely looking forward to the final book!!
jenhurst's review against another edition
4.0
**Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review**
This is a continuation of Wicked Saints and left right where it left off. Nadya does not trust her magic anymore and the Prince, the monster have their fates intertwined. The Prince is hearing voices in the night, the voices Nadya thinks are her gods and Malachiasz want to meet. These voices want a stake and will not be silenced any longer.
This is a bit of a middle book, I wasn't as into it as the first book. I did like how it kept how dark the first one was and felt like a natural continuation. I will say that I found it a bit forgettable, but that could be because I was reading it on my computer, not a physical book. I'm kind of worried if by the next novel, I will have forgotten everything that happened....
I liked how the characters aren't likeable and mess up in the novel. It makes them a lot more realistic and actually made me like them a lot more. They have some major flaws for sure, but it was very calculated and very well done. I'm really interested to see how this trilogy ends! The dark and gothic feel of the story just makes me so happy.
But I still did enjoy what i read (and remember), I love the world. The mixture of gods, magic and war is really intriguing to me.
4/5
Anyone who's a fan of YA fantasy or the Darklings should read this one.
This is a continuation of Wicked Saints and left right where it left off. Nadya does not trust her magic anymore and the Prince, the monster have their fates intertwined. The Prince is hearing voices in the night, the voices Nadya thinks are her gods and Malachiasz want to meet. These voices want a stake and will not be silenced any longer.
This is a bit of a middle book, I wasn't as into it as the first book. I did like how it kept how dark the first one was and felt like a natural continuation. I will say that I found it a bit forgettable, but that could be because I was reading it on my computer, not a physical book. I'm kind of worried if by the next novel, I will have forgotten everything that happened....
I liked how the characters aren't likeable and mess up in the novel. It makes them a lot more realistic and actually made me like them a lot more. They have some major flaws for sure, but it was very calculated and very well done. I'm really interested to see how this trilogy ends! The dark and gothic feel of the story just makes me so happy.
But I still did enjoy what i read (and remember), I love the world. The mixture of gods, magic and war is really intriguing to me.
4/5
Anyone who's a fan of YA fantasy or the Darklings should read this one.
cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition
1.0
What a beautiful day to give racist Emily Duncan 1 star rating.
amazingracerose's review against another edition
I was rereading my review of the first book to refresh my memory on the series, and I remembered I came across some very concerning allegations of racism and antisemitism against the author, so I will not be continuing to read this series I had forgotten to take the sequels out of my TBR
jyeetreads's review against another edition
2.0
read a bit over 200+ pages and then skimmed the rest
First third was fine. I appreciated the improved writing. Then, it got repetitive. And then, after they got Mal back, all of that just don't make any sense. Welcomed him kinda with unexpected open arms. No caution. All the plot pieces always seem to fit too well. I also don't get Nadya & Mal. Nadya began to irritate me with her "mal is did all these bad things to me but yet I want mal" 1000x and everytime Mal does something her "heart cracks" or "a fissure in her heart opened" 1000x ... I'm tired of the heart-cracking!! The romance makes no sense. The plot pacing is so spotty and jumpy overall. Betrayal after betrayal after betrayal also gets kinda repetitive.
I do appreciate the witty quips and the writing can be nice.
Also, heard about the issues raised about author Duncan in April. After researching about it and reading her apology too, I can say what occurred has helped me solidify me decision not to read the last book in the series.
I remember reading the synopsis of wicked saints and being so excited, bc it had promise! I am sadly disappointed.
First third was fine. I appreciated the improved writing. Then, it got repetitive. And then, after they got Mal back, all of that just don't make any sense. Welcomed him kinda with unexpected open arms. No caution. All the plot pieces always seem to fit too well. I also don't get Nadya & Mal. Nadya began to irritate me with her "mal is did all these bad things to me but yet I want mal" 1000x and everytime Mal does something her "heart cracks" or "a fissure in her heart opened" 1000x ... I'm tired of the heart-cracking!! The romance makes no sense. The plot pacing is so spotty and jumpy overall. Betrayal after betrayal after betrayal also gets kinda repetitive.
I do appreciate the witty quips and the writing can be nice.
Also, heard about the issues raised about author Duncan in April. After researching about it and reading her apology too, I can say what occurred has helped me solidify me decision not to read the last book in the series.
I remember reading the synopsis of wicked saints and being so excited, bc it had promise! I am sadly disappointed.
mubangak's review against another edition
5.0
SPOILER WARNING
Okay...holy frigging crap.
This got 5 stars. 5 stars and I'm about to tell you why.
So I read Wicked Saints a few months ago and I left an honest review and I was like I liked this but I didn't love it for various reasons. I will say one thing, Ruthless Gods was a BEAST. It was so much better than Wicked Saints, I can see now that Wicked Saints was just a foundation for something bloody insane. So lets get into it shall we?
The plot went from a horrible holy war to a straight up cosmic BATTLE. We got to see so much more of Kalyazi which was amazing, and also got to understand a little more about why this war started and how it started. The entire atmosphere was just cold and dead, utterly horrifying. I loved how the eerie sense of dread was just a constant, there was always anxiety and I was straight up panicking because I didn't know what was going to happen. The plot in this book was definitely better, more rounded and in depth. Having to walk through a divine, eldritch forest to get to the seat of the gods??? HELL YEAH.
The characters were incredible. I think it was hard to get close to them in the first book purely because we were thrown into this world with all these characters. But I have to say I love them all so much. Nadya IS badass (a little stupid, I have to say) but she is a great heroine. I've never read a book where every character is just crazy. In most book you have a group of friends all working together to fight some great evil but this book? lmao these lot are here backstabbing the HELL out of each other and I'm so here for it. All of them were like yeah let's defeat this great evil but my way not your way and if you get in my way I will kill you. Or I might kill you regardless.
DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE ENDING???
Malachiasz betraying Nadya AGAIN, Nadya betraying Malachiasz in turn?? SEREFIN MURDERING MALACHIASZ. Yeah. WTF. These characters need literal therapy.
The pacing was much better this time.
Honestly, I loved this book so much. I loved it so much, I loved the characters.
Okay...holy frigging crap.
This got 5 stars. 5 stars and I'm about to tell you why.
So I read Wicked Saints a few months ago and I left an honest review and I was like I liked this but I didn't love it for various reasons. I will say one thing, Ruthless Gods was a BEAST. It was so much better than Wicked Saints, I can see now that Wicked Saints was just a foundation for something bloody insane. So lets get into it shall we?
The plot went from a horrible holy war to a straight up cosmic BATTLE. We got to see so much more of Kalyazi which was amazing, and also got to understand a little more about why this war started and how it started. The entire atmosphere was just cold and dead, utterly horrifying. I loved how the eerie sense of dread was just a constant, there was always anxiety and I was straight up panicking because I didn't know what was going to happen. The plot in this book was definitely better, more rounded and in depth. Having to walk through a divine, eldritch forest to get to the seat of the gods??? HELL YEAH.
The characters were incredible. I think it was hard to get close to them in the first book purely because we were thrown into this world with all these characters. But I have to say I love them all so much. Nadya IS badass (a little stupid, I have to say) but she is a great heroine. I've never read a book where every character is just crazy. In most book you have a group of friends all working together to fight some great evil but this book? lmao these lot are here backstabbing the HELL out of each other and I'm so here for it. All of them were like yeah let's defeat this great evil but my way not your way and if you get in my way I will kill you. Or I might kill you regardless.
DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE ENDING???
Malachiasz betraying Nadya AGAIN, Nadya betraying Malachiasz in turn?? SEREFIN MURDERING MALACHIASZ. Yeah. WTF. These characters need literal therapy.
The pacing was much better this time.
Honestly, I loved this book so much. I loved it so much, I loved the characters.
brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
There was just something about this that I couldn't get into, and I wasn't enjoying reading it at all. I didn't really love the first book, so I'm okay with not finishing the second. I may try to come back to it again someday, but likely not because there are just so many books out there that I want to read.