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alphabetseeds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Animal death
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Mental illness, Cursing, and Death
princegene95's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The story invests you, wanting to know more about the dark world of the Ether and the background of its many gods.
But this story is also about a kid trying to deal with past trauma and new relationships. About someone ready to face those who have hurt them and (maybe) become a better person for it.
In the acknowledgments at the back of the book, it’s stated
As someone who has recently entered their first throuple, and is still trying to navigate how to interact with all members of the group, and this book perfectly describes those feelings.
I had really enjoyed the first book, and when opening the second to see a full list of content warnings, including things I don’t normally like to read about because it hits too close to home as someone both trans and has childhood trauma, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to read this book. But I am so glad I did. I can see why others wouldn’t like it. If they aren’t queer, or gender diverse, or haven’t dealt with trauma like this, they probably wouldn’t like it, or at the very least, not be able to relate to it like I have. And that’s something I love being able to do, is relate to the books I read. And this book is one that I can relate to, and I plan on rereading several months down the line because this is a story and a world I would like to revisit.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Blood, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
Minor: Deadnaming and Animal death
ctara2123's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Mental illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death
krisalexcole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Mental illness, Blood, and Body horror
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Animal death
lothtor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
4.75 Rounded up. My only critique is the pacing. Sometimes the pages would drag on and other moments I wanted to stay further in.
I've been waiting for the second installment of this duology since I devoured the first book Godless Heathens. Merciless Saviors starts right off where the first book ended. The book throws you in without a safety net and while there are moments of explanation in case you forgot - for me the first book and this one will be very difficult to forget. There were moments where I thought I was lost in what I was reading, which made sense once I got through that section. It really showcased the confusion that the MC, Gem, was going through during that time.
I highly recommend checking out the trigger warnings that are listed at the beginning of this book as Merciless Saviors dives deeper into the issues more than Godless Heathens. The gender commentary is not as prevalent in this book as it was in Godless Heathens, which did not detract from the impact of it. The first book had it as the forefront where now it goes to the back and is more subtle in its reveals. This book focuses on the trauma and healing of that keeping in mind the logic and emotions of what teenagers feel, no matter how messed up.
Ultimately, the duology and this book in particular are a love story. A story of self-love, looking into yourself and figuring out the jumbled mess of gender and sexuality while finding those that you can be yourself: the good, the bad, and the ugly. And they still love you because of how utterly human you are.
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Sexual violence, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Violence, Rape, and Transphobia
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, and Animal cruelty
readingwithkaitlyn's review
Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Genocide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Child death, Sexual content, Animal death, and Child abuse
Minor: War, Excrement, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Deadnaming, Cursing, Rape, and Colonisation
itsapaxycab's review
- 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
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.
Graphic: Mental illness, Gore, Violence, Suicide attempt, Grief, Animal death, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Gun violence