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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
I didn’t love this as much as the first one and that was disappointing after devouring “Wicked Saints” in as few sittings as I could reasonably manage. The first 100 pages retained many of the elements that I loved about “Wicked Saints,” but then the plot became wandering and prolonged at best. About halfway through I looked at how much I had left to read and thought “Is this going anywhere?” It felt like the author just wrote to see where things went rather than having a concrete plot plan.
Nadya and Malachiaz’s relationship felt really repetitive too — like, we get it, they’re both kinda messed up people who love each other even as they’re actively plotting to betray each other. The twisted relationship dynamics worked well in the first story, but this time around, it felt like the author was falling back on tropes she likes rather than allowing her characters to grow and progress in meaningful ways. The betrayals didn’t feel shocking or powerful by the end of the book because Duncan had already pulled that rabbit out of the hat so many times.
Other complaints: The magic system was still over-complicated and never sufficiently explained; many of the less important characters felt flat and unnecessary to me; and the writing was a little cliched and often got snagged on run-on sentences and/or overuse of particular words (I have never known one writer to be so obsessed with the word “eldritch”).
I still loved many of the gothic horror elements in this story world, and Serefin was a consistently compelling figure in a sea of static and/or underdeveloped characters. That cover is every bit as gorgeous as the first book’s, and the ending set things up nicely for the final book of the trilogy (which I’ll still read when it comes out in a few months). A common (and fair) criticism I’m seeing for this book is that it’s gothic, blood-drenched cotton candy, but you know what? Sometimes I’m in the mood for cotton candy. I just wish this had been more satisfying.
Nadya and Malachiaz’s relationship felt really repetitive too — like, we get it, they’re both kinda messed up people who love each other even as they’re actively plotting to betray each other. The twisted relationship dynamics worked well in the first story, but this time around, it felt like the author was falling back on tropes she likes rather than allowing her characters to grow and progress in meaningful ways. The betrayals didn’t feel shocking or powerful by the end of the book because Duncan had already pulled that rabbit out of the hat so many times.
Other complaints: The magic system was still over-complicated and never sufficiently explained; many of the less important characters felt flat and unnecessary to me; and the writing was a little cliched and often got snagged on run-on sentences and/or overuse of particular words (I have never known one writer to be so obsessed with the word “eldritch”).
I still loved many of the gothic horror elements in this story world, and Serefin was a consistently compelling figure in a sea of static and/or underdeveloped characters. That cover is every bit as gorgeous as the first book’s, and the ending set things up nicely for the final book of the trilogy (which I’ll still read when it comes out in a few months). A common (and fair) criticism I’m seeing for this book is that it’s gothic, blood-drenched cotton candy, but you know what? Sometimes I’m in the mood for cotton candy. I just wish this had been more satisfying.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
(I accidently deleted one of my shelves, so all the books I had on there got removed)
Originally I rated this 4 stars but I no longer wish to bring praise to Emily A. Duncan's books.
By all means read what you want to read, I am in no way policing what books you consume, this is just a personal choice.
Originally I rated this 4 stars but I no longer wish to bring praise to Emily A. Duncan's books.
By all means read what you want to read, I am in no way policing what books you consume, this is just a personal choice.
DNFed at 42%
This is not something I do often, but found out that the author acted a certain way and said certain things that have severely put me off of this series. Incredibly sad because I was enjoying it and was planning to continue the series, but will now no longer be finishing.
I enjoyed it for what it was and looked forward to seeing what the rest had to offer but that was before what I learned. Ignorance is bliss I suppose.
(info is on their twitter, and you can learn more from the quote rts on their tweet from last year, 4/6/21, which happens to still be the most recent)
This is not something I do often, but found out that the author acted a certain way and said certain things that have severely put me off of this series. Incredibly sad because I was enjoying it and was planning to continue the series, but will now no longer be finishing.
I enjoyed it for what it was and looked forward to seeing what the rest had to offer but that was before what I learned. Ignorance is bliss I suppose.
(info is on their twitter, and you can learn more from the quote rts on their tweet from last year, 4/6/21, which happens to still be the most recent)
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.
Any of you who have read my Wicked Saints review will think it quite obvious that the sequel, Ruthless Gods, was one of my most-anticipated releases of 2020. I absolutely loved Emily A. Duncan’s review when it came out last year. I loved every minute of it. And I couldn’t wait for more. When reading the first book, I found that I needed a little bit of time to find my bearings in this cold fantasy world that Duncan has written for us. But I found that I quite enjoyed it once I figured out how most things work! I was also completely smitten with the romance plot (which should come as no surprise to those of you familiar with my tastes, haha).
I found the writing to be a little different from what I had normally been used to, but that it also had a beautiful edginess to it. And I ended up becoming a fan of Duncan’s writing style by the end of book 1 as well! But, you’re not here to read another review for Wicked Saints, haha (though I promise that this was all relevant and a lead-in for my review for book 2)…but I will turn to Ruthless Gods now.
I wasn’t sure where the second book would pick up based on where the first book left off, but I think...
Read the rest of my review here: https://flaviathebibliophile.com/ruthless-gods-review/
Merged review:
A copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.
Any of you who have read my Wicked Saints review will think it quite obvious that the sequel, Ruthless Gods, was one of my most-anticipated releases of 2020. I absolutely loved Emily A. Duncan’s review when it came out last year. I loved every minute of it. And I couldn’t wait for more. When reading the first book, I found that I needed a little bit of time to find my bearings in this cold fantasy world that Duncan has written for us. But I found that I quite enjoyed it once I figured out how most things work! I was also completely smitten with the romance plot (which should come as no surprise to those of you familiar with my tastes, haha).
I found the writing to be a little different from what I had normally been used to, but that it also had a beautiful edginess to it. And I ended up becoming a fan of Duncan’s writing style by the end of book 1 as well! But, you’re not here to read another review for Wicked Saints, haha (though I promise that this was all relevant and a lead-in for my review for book 2)…but I will turn to Ruthless Gods now.
I wasn’t sure where the second book would pick up based on where the first book left off, but I think...
Read the rest of my review here: https://flaviathebibliophile.com/ruthless-gods-review/
Any of you who have read my Wicked Saints review will think it quite obvious that the sequel, Ruthless Gods, was one of my most-anticipated releases of 2020. I absolutely loved Emily A. Duncan’s review when it came out last year. I loved every minute of it. And I couldn’t wait for more. When reading the first book, I found that I needed a little bit of time to find my bearings in this cold fantasy world that Duncan has written for us. But I found that I quite enjoyed it once I figured out how most things work! I was also completely smitten with the romance plot (which should come as no surprise to those of you familiar with my tastes, haha).
I found the writing to be a little different from what I had normally been used to, but that it also had a beautiful edginess to it. And I ended up becoming a fan of Duncan’s writing style by the end of book 1 as well! But, you’re not here to read another review for Wicked Saints, haha (though I promise that this was all relevant and a lead-in for my review for book 2)…but I will turn to Ruthless Gods now.
I wasn’t sure where the second book would pick up based on where the first book left off, but I think...
Read the rest of my review here: https://flaviathebibliophile.com/ruthless-gods-review/
Merged review:
A copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.
Any of you who have read my Wicked Saints review will think it quite obvious that the sequel, Ruthless Gods, was one of my most-anticipated releases of 2020. I absolutely loved Emily A. Duncan’s review when it came out last year. I loved every minute of it. And I couldn’t wait for more. When reading the first book, I found that I needed a little bit of time to find my bearings in this cold fantasy world that Duncan has written for us. But I found that I quite enjoyed it once I figured out how most things work! I was also completely smitten with the romance plot (which should come as no surprise to those of you familiar with my tastes, haha).
I found the writing to be a little different from what I had normally been used to, but that it also had a beautiful edginess to it. And I ended up becoming a fan of Duncan’s writing style by the end of book 1 as well! But, you’re not here to read another review for Wicked Saints, haha (though I promise that this was all relevant and a lead-in for my review for book 2)…but I will turn to Ruthless Gods now.
I wasn’t sure where the second book would pick up based on where the first book left off, but I think...
Read the rest of my review here: https://flaviathebibliophile.com/ruthless-gods-review/