Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Merciless Saviors

Merciless Saviors picks up right where Godly Heathens ended- Gem has upset the balance of power by carving away the power of the Cyclone for themselves. Poppy is on the verge of death and Marion is hungry to strike back. Gem has Enzo and Rory for comfort but how can it be enough when present danger and buried memories both seek to tear Gem apart.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t do it for me. In my review for Godly Heathens, I think I said it read like fanfiction (complementary), but some parts of Merciless Saviors read like fanfiction (not complementary). There’s a little too much “I’m the most dangerous thing in this world” for me to not roll my eyes and I felt like the Ether was poorly fleshed out in a way that works in fanfiction (set in a world you’re already familiar with) but just didn’t in this story. More description!

How can it be so much smaller than earth yet also parallel enough that they also have Taylor Swift (but screamo)? I think a few more Clover chapters could have helped ground this side of reality.

The amount of power the characters had in the Ether- especially with the lack of definition of the boundaries of their magic- just made the stakes feel squishy. (For example,

Enzo seems to no longer have power because of the imbalance Gem caused and this was interesting! But jk he actually does have power so he and Rory can have a cool fight

On a more personal note, this more a heads-up than a criticism, but I struggled with this book because of how it depicts depersonalization and sexual abuse. Edgmon does give a warning, but I’m giving my own:

I think Edgmon depicts depersonalization, especially leading up to a suicide attempt, really well. It felt very real and actually made me upset, but this made the book not enjoyable for me to read.

I think it’s good to explicitly note that Gem tries to kill themselves twice in this story.

Basically- it’s mostly well done, and because of this, a huge flag to anyone who’s ever struggled with similar.

The depersonalization felt like it followed the groundwork lain by Godly Heathens well- it made sense as part of Gem’s continued story- but the childhood sexual abuse didn’t feel as integrated into the first book. It sort of becomes everything, the linchpin of this story, and it felt odd that it wasn’t brough up at all in the first book (per my memory at least). You also cannot pull the “maybe this magical world was all created by you as a result of your sexual trauma” thing in the second book of a duology where that’s not at all what the first book is about.

It's clear that this issue is very personal to Edgmon and I don’t want to get into why its also personal to me or why aspects of how they deal with ‘recovered’ memory angered me (it’s a fantasy book, there really is some memory recovery going on via fantasy means), but all this to say- I could see it really working for someone else, but it just didn’t for me.

I could really tell Edgmon was working through something with this book and I think it could be really resonant for someone else, but for me, it was mostly just frustrating, then upsetting, then frustrating again.

Content Warnings

pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I actually liked Merciless Saviors better than Godless Heathens! I thought the first was a bit too camp, the dialogue was very edgy and didn't quite feel like teens? Merciless Saviors is more toned down with the forced quips and one-liners, they are still there, just not totally saturating the dialogue.

How the story all comes together was really heartbreaking and cathartic. A truly beautiful rendition of a child's experience with deep deep trauma. There were some parts that felt a bit repetitive, but then I thought about my own experiences and thoughts during CPTSD spirals and realized it was spot on. The evolution of the characters is really sweet. I was honestly fine with the story focusing more on the main three instead of the entire cast.

I do agree with other reviewers that the existential time crises were sometimes hard to follow, or maybe out of place? I can't put my finger on it, but something about the portrayal didn't quite mesh with the story? It wasn't enough to derail or ruin anything, just kind of distracting. There were a few confusing or convenient things towards the end of the book that I went back and read twice to make sure I didn't miss anything... but somehow I'm still not understanding certain characters survival... This is a hard part to dive into without spoilers, so I'll just leave it at that. The plot holes got me pacing.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, appreciated as always.

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gem’s life completely changed last year when they learned that they’re actually a reincarnated god. And after using the Ouroboros knife to kill a different god at the end of the year, now everything is out of balance. Because in addition to their original powers, Gem now has the power of the god of air.

Now it is up to Gem, Rory, and Enzo to put things back in balance. The tricky part will be figuring out how to do that without any of them sacrificing their lives–or their humanity. As new dangers start popping up, they have to decide if their godly powers are worth it.

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Merciless Saviors by HE Edgmon to review! I was hooked by the first book in the duology, Godly Heathens, last year, so I was excited to read the sequel. And it did not disappoint! If you enjoyed the characters and the driving plot from the first book, you will be just as hooked in the second.

Where Edgmon excels in this book is the character work. Gem, Rory, and Enzo are complex, interesting characters, and their relationships reflect that. There’s an underlying theme of found family all throughout this book, which is absolutely one of my favorite tropes. And such an important theme for queer characters as well, whose own families might reject them for who they are.

Plot wise, the beginning of the book is stronger than the second half of the book. The plot loses itself a little towards the end, but Edgmon is still able to bring everything full circle by the time the book is finished. And it is an overall satisfying ending for these characters that you’ve come to love.

I wish more series were just duologies because I think they work so much better than longer series (for the most part). Edgmon is excelling at creating dark fantasy worlds, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Content Warnings

readingwithkaitlyn's review

Go to review page

Content Warnings

itsapaxycab's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I am so extremely conflicted about this book. I love and hate it. I want everyone to read it and I want to tuck it away and let it stew in my mind alone forever.
The plot in book 2 picks up immediately, and in general, I have no complaints about the plot. It was extremely confusing at times, and I felt tied up in a knot in my brain, but I think Gem did as well, and it helped build a convincing story.
Each of the characters is unique and challenging in their own way. Being gods that have been alive for millennia on Earth at this point, each one has witnessed their fair share of ups and downs, and that is evident in the way they interact with one another. Gem (the Magician), Enzo (the Shade), and Rory (the Mountain) as our three central characters all exhibited these ups and downs, and are all very grey in morality. It is fascinating to read a book that takes a character you love, doing things you hate, and yet you are still able to accept them, and see that reflected in the other characters.
This book took a strange but not completely anticipated twist at about 50%, which shook up both the plot and the character story. If this had not happened, I would have honestly wanted just a longer stand-alone, but this helped. It was also an improvement on one of my biggest gripes with Edgmon's first duology.
The one thing I was most conflicted about was the writing. While sometimes the writing was beautiful and well scripted, I often struggled to fully feel in the moment, because as soon as I started to appreciate the writing or prose I got knocked out of the book by some offhanded comment that sounded like it came out of a friend's mouth on a walk around campus. While I get the dichotomy of gods in teenagers' bodies, sometimes it only made things more confusing. It reminded me of people who are only able to talk about themselves when they are throwing a million jokes around, never to fully be taken seriously. This, unfortunately, happened with me and this book. I loved it and the story and the characters, and I will be purchasing both of this duology to reread once it is published, but I could not take it seriously.
Overall it is a great read. The conversations around love, trauma, growing up and grappling with not being a perfectly good person were wonderful, I just wish I could take it seriously.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

Content Warnings

More...