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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
My heart aches and my head hasn’t quite wrapped itself around what it just read. This book was downright haunting and cerebral in so many ways and I loved every minute of it.
*more incomprehensible screaming* This book wrecked me in the best way. The emotions! The double crossing! The LGBTQ representation! Literally the entire second half of the book feels like one giant lead up to EVERYTHING HAPPENING in the end. I’m here for all of it.
I read the first book a little while ago and adored it and was fortunate enough to get a chance to read Ruthless Gods early through Netgalley. Let me just say, that this book blew me away. I stayed up very late reading it and I truly did not want to stop reading. The story takes place very shortly after the events of Wicked Saints and the action keeps coming. The characters are wonderfully done and literally everyone has an ulterior motive, which keeps you guessing about what will happen until the very end. Slight warning though, for anyone made uncomfortable by blood or eye horror, this book does get a bit gruesome, but its brilliantly done. The dark, gritty atmosphere was wonderfully written and I adored reading about this world. I can’t wait until the third book! I will definitely be buying a copy of this book on release and recommending it to all my reader friends. If you love dark fantasy, you will love this. Also there is a kick-ass heroine and the right amount of romance. Loved this book and it guaranteed that I will be reading everything this author writes.
Rating 3.5 stars
If you liked the first one, rest assured you'll like the second one too. It has doubled the good stuff from the first one : more gore, more action, more sexy and more Gods.
However, it also still has the same flaws : flat characters and very repetitive writing (Oh so many questions about beliefs and emotions). That second flaw is what made me go through this so slowly, because it affects the pace quite a lot.
I'll end on a warning : the start is not very "here's-what-happened-in-the-last-book-in-case-you-forgot" friendly. I had to go through Wicked Saints to remember things to properly get started. So, yup.
If you liked the first one, rest assured you'll like the second one too. It has doubled the good stuff from the first one : more gore, more action, more sexy and more Gods.
However, it also still has the same flaws : flat characters and very repetitive writing (Oh so many questions about beliefs and emotions). That second flaw is what made me go through this so slowly, because it affects the pace quite a lot.
I'll end on a warning : the start is not very "here's-what-happened-in-the-last-book-in-case-you-forgot" friendly. I had to go through Wicked Saints to remember things to properly get started. So, yup.
Ruthless Gods is the second in Emily A. Duncan’s Something Dark and Holy series, the sequel to Wicked Saints. Ruthless Gods actually just came out in April and it was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. It definitely delivered!
If you like dark, fantastical stories with powerful forces like gods and monsters waging war look no further. If you like forbidden romances and creepy forest vibes, read this. While there is a war on the battlefields in this series, the focus moreso lies in the much bigger war, one that most people don’t realize is even happening. There have been powerful beings at work, manipulating humans (along with those who have become not so human) for a very long time. Our main characters seem to be irrevocably wrapped up in the goals of these higher beings and in this second book, we get to see even more of what that means.
As always, I adored the fairly twisted relationship between Nadya and Malachiasz. It’s just done so well. I was also really stoked to get all this new Serefin development. I love the characters in these books and the interesting dynamic of their interactions with each other. Is Serefin my new favorite? It’s so hard to say! It’s also hard to say which I love more about these books, the characters or the rich world building that gives me so many D&D and Skyrim vibes with a gothic edge. And that ending...wow. The first thoughts I wrote down at the end of reading this book were, and I quote, “Ummm whaaaaat????”
Sometimes I like making playlists for books I read (though it’s a bit scattered, like my reviews haha). Here’s the one I put together for Ruthless Gods:
1. “Didn’t Break It Enough” / Griff
2. “What Have You Become?” / MNQN
3. “Never Enough” / Loren Allred
4. “Don’t Matter” / Derik Fein
5. “Unbecoming” / STARSET
6. “Doubt” / Twenty One Pilots
7. “Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts” / Trevor Morris
8. “My Demons” / STARSET
9. “all the good girls go to hell” / Billie Eilish
10. “Animal” / Miike Snow
11. “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” / Florence + The Machine
12. “Enemy” / Mystery Skulls
Wicked Saints: 4/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Ruthless Gods: 4/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
If you like dark, fantastical stories with powerful forces like gods and monsters waging war look no further. If you like forbidden romances and creepy forest vibes, read this. While there is a war on the battlefields in this series, the focus moreso lies in the much bigger war, one that most people don’t realize is even happening. There have been powerful beings at work, manipulating humans (along with those who have become not so human) for a very long time. Our main characters seem to be irrevocably wrapped up in the goals of these higher beings and in this second book, we get to see even more of what that means.
As always, I adored the fairly twisted relationship between Nadya and Malachiasz. It’s just done so well. I was also really stoked to get all this new Serefin development. I love the characters in these books and the interesting dynamic of their interactions with each other. Is Serefin my new favorite? It’s so hard to say! It’s also hard to say which I love more about these books, the characters or the rich world building that gives me so many D&D and Skyrim vibes with a gothic edge. And that ending...wow. The first thoughts I wrote down at the end of reading this book were, and I quote, “Ummm whaaaaat????”
Sometimes I like making playlists for books I read (though it’s a bit scattered, like my reviews haha). Here’s the one I put together for Ruthless Gods:
1. “Didn’t Break It Enough” / Griff
2. “What Have You Become?” / MNQN
3. “Never Enough” / Loren Allred
4. “Don’t Matter” / Derik Fein
5. “Unbecoming” / STARSET
6. “Doubt” / Twenty One Pilots
7. “Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts” / Trevor Morris
8. “My Demons” / STARSET
9. “all the good girls go to hell” / Billie Eilish
10. “Animal” / Miike Snow
11. “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” / Florence + The Machine
12. “Enemy” / Mystery Skulls
Wicked Saints: 4/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Ruthless Gods: 4/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Thank you Wednesday books for sending me a copy of RG!
This book is definitely the superior installment, and I think everyone who told me this, along the fact that every aspect of this book was amplified was RIGHT.
There were many great elements of this book, but the best one to me was the relationships. During Wicked Saints, I didn’t particularly find myself drawn to anyone. Serefin MOSTLY, but I wasn’t entirely sold on him. Other than that, no one really stood out to me. Nadya was just a naive girl who’d fallen for a sketchy fellow who turned out to be just as sketchy as we thought.
During this one, I feel like she becomes less Naive—which is literally stated in the book. She grows more of a backbone and faces obstacles head-on. She doesn’t hide from her feelings for Malachiaz. Which—their relationship—was amazing. I loved them. I loved how they were truly enemies who somehow still managed to flirt and kiss and hang all over each other and it....WORKED. Emily paved that path wonderfully and I enjoyed every moment her and Malachiaz shared.
Serefin just BEING Serefin...I could die now and be happy because he never changed. Sure, things changed around him, things changed that affected him, but he—as a person—stayed the exact same. Drunk, bi, and amazing. I love him the most and this book just solidified any confidence I have in our Travanian King. Plus he and Kacper are all that matters now. Yum.
The plot is where I felt a little...let down. In most second installments we usually learn a lot more about what’s going on, but I feel like we weren’t delivered the knowledge we were promised in this second installment. Like, I feel just as confused about the gods and the vultures and Nadya as I did in book 1. It just makes me wonder how all the big reveals will play out in the last book. Not that I have any doubts Emily won’t execute the finale to the best of her ability, I’m just curious.
This was still a very enjoyable book, and I cannot wait for that ending! Gimmieeeeee....
This book is definitely the superior installment, and I think everyone who told me this, along the fact that every aspect of this book was amplified was RIGHT.
There were many great elements of this book, but the best one to me was the relationships. During Wicked Saints, I didn’t particularly find myself drawn to anyone. Serefin MOSTLY, but I wasn’t entirely sold on him. Other than that, no one really stood out to me. Nadya was just a naive girl who’d fallen for a sketchy fellow who turned out to be just as sketchy as we thought.
During this one, I feel like she becomes less Naive—which is literally stated in the book. She grows more of a backbone and faces obstacles head-on. She doesn’t hide from her feelings for Malachiaz. Which—their relationship—was amazing. I loved them. I loved how they were truly enemies who somehow still managed to flirt and kiss and hang all over each other and it....WORKED. Emily paved that path wonderfully and I enjoyed every moment her and Malachiaz shared.
Serefin just BEING Serefin...I could die now and be happy because he never changed. Sure, things changed around him, things changed that affected him, but he—as a person—stayed the exact same. Drunk, bi, and amazing. I love him the most and this book just solidified any confidence I have in our Travanian King. Plus he and Kacper are all that matters now. Yum.
The plot is where I felt a little...let down. In most second installments we usually learn a lot more about what’s going on, but I feel like we weren’t delivered the knowledge we were promised in this second installment. Like, I feel just as confused about the gods and the vultures and Nadya as I did in book 1. It just makes me wonder how all the big reveals will play out in the last book. Not that I have any doubts Emily won’t execute the finale to the best of her ability, I’m just curious.
This was still a very enjoyable book, and I cannot wait for that ending! Gimmieeeeee....
Note: Changing this to a 1 star because of the authors recent actions. Don't feel like giving such an author anything above a 1. Would remove from library entirely but I don't think that changes anything, I still supported a toxic author and I am not looking to erase that. I am stuck on whether or not I will be reading book 3. I had already bought the sequel before this came out on Twitter and I can't return it. I think I will be finishing Rin Chupeco's Bone Witch series instead.