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A review by mubangak
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
4.0
SPOILER WARNING!
I originally was planning to give this book three/three and a half stars however the last four chapters bumped it up to a solid four. I'm going to breakdown the characters, plot, magic system, romance and writing so buckle up folks.
PLOT
The story follows a seventeen year old cleric named Nadya who is blessed by the gods and can communicate with them and use their power when she asks. She is the one who is supposed to end a century long war between her country (Kalyazi) and the second country (Tranavia). She's supposedly the most powerful person alive, and with the help of a boy named Malachiasz (yeah you're going to pronounce his name wrong 100%. I heard the real pronunciation on youtube and I lost my crap) and the high prince Serefin Meleski, she will attempt to kill the king of Tranavia.
Now *clears throat* sounds interesting right? A bloody war, a rotten king, a divine girl. I feel like the plot was good, it was interesting and captivating and the world building was actually quite nice. Even though the plot was good, it was messy and I think that was the whole point. The plot, to me anyway, mirrored the chaos going on around these three characters. No one knew who to trust, Nadya was having an identify crisis, Malachiasz was growing darker with every page and Serefin was confused and lost. Now, because of this messiness, I felt lost sometimes and didn't even understand the character motivations. It was like the plot blurred half way into the book. I really wish Emily had clarity in the madness just for our sakes because honestly the madness was great but I felt like I was losing my mind.
Secondly, I feel like the background of the plot should have been explored more. Two countries are at war, one country (Kalyazi) is religious and devoted to the gods and the other (Tranavia) has defected from the gods and chosen their own path of blood magic and heresy. Okay but why? What happened before the war, why did Tranavia break away from religion, why are they even fighting against Kalyazi? There was a whole century war going on and I had no idea why it even started. Maybe it will be explored in the rest of the series I'm not sure, I am aware that this is the first book of three with the third due to come out in 2021 so I'm hoping we get more information as the story progresses.
CHARACTERS
Nadya
Oh my sweet, innocent little Nadya. I'm going to break down her strengths and weaknesses.
Overall, I enjoyed her character. She's an orphan girl blessed with too much and controlled by the gods she serves. She was powerful and strong, she had a hard head and knew herself (mostly) and really that's all I have to say about her strengths because I found more weaknesses. First off, there was a scene where she's fighting against a blood mage but she's pretending to be a blood mage and all of a sudden she kills the girl and Serefin is like wow she's so clever and brutally cold and powerful why isn't she at the front fighting. In that moment I thought boy are we looking at the same girl right now???? which Nadya are you looking at? Emily really wanted us to believe Nadya was this ruthless, powerful, badass girl but I literally did not see it. Maybe it was the way she wrote that scene (which I'll get into later on) but Nadya does not come across as that kind of person. She's strong, yes. Powerful, yes. But when Serefin said that I had to put the book down lmao. I've read powerful and strong female characters and Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius is still holding the crown. I really wanted more from Nadya, I felt like her development could have been sooooo insane. She was brought up devoting herself to the gods, she was taught to never go against their will and here she was committing heresy, falling in love with a monster and learning the gods are not what she thought there were. THERE WAS SO MUCH OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE HER CHARACTER ARC!!!
I thought hey, she's been thrown into this destiny maybe she will learn that only she carves her own destiny. No...not at all. Maybe in the next few books that will happen but really and truly, I loved her but not the way I have loved and cried for other characters. She wasn't as fleshed out, I wanted to know more about her life and background. And don't get me started on how whiny she became half way through, every single page she reminded us that Malachiasz was a monster who didn't deserve to live like sis he's trying so hard right now please cut him some slack. We get it, you hate him but also love him. She was just holding it against him the entire book, reminding him that he was a monstrosity and that he was a liar but she was shoving her tongue down his throat? *Sigh* Chile, Anyway...
Malachiasz
I loved his boy. I love him. So much. With my whole heart. He was written so beautifully that I loved him even after his betrayal and that is a good thing! If an author can write a villain in a way that the reader still sympathises and likes them, they've written a top notch villain. Malachiasz is clearly taken from the darkling (if you like shadow and bone) but he is twisted enough that if he was a mirror, you'd see a deformed reflection of the darkling and Malachiasz. I'm hoping we get more info about Malachiasz's background because honestly, he was great. He was well written and in depth. He gave enough but not enough, he gave us breadcrumbs and my goodness the plot twist at the end was why I gave it four stars instead of three. His nature is gothic and beautiful, he's written so poetically that his aesthetic is just breath-taking.
Serefin
I did love Serafin too. In fact, I loved all the minor characters more than Nadya which is odd. His power at the end was soooooo lovely, unique and divine that I could go on and on about. We see him as his horrid, ruthless general who has killed many and I'm not going to lie I was kind of afraid of him in the beginning, but then we see his journey and we see a side of him that's charming and clever.
MAGIC SYSTEM AND ROMANCE
I lowkey don't know how the magic system works. I understand the blood magic side of it, but in terms of Nadya's power I haven't got a clue. There was a scene at the end where she 'brought down a pillar of power over the king' and I was like she what? I don't know how she works it, It's from the gods yes but in terms of how it is materialised....who knows. It's cool, though. The divine magic isn't like any magic I've come across before. A lot of magic systems I've come across are hard magic but Nadya's is kind of soft but also hard. Even though it's all up in the air, It is a cool system.
Romance. I loved Nadya and Malachiasz howeverrrrrrrrrr I didn't see the development in their relationship. She saw this boy once and suddenly her knees are about to buckle, he calls her little bird and she's intrigued by him. It felt kind of forced, there was no development. Slow burn romances are great and I feel like their relationship would have done well with slow burn enemies to lovers. I would have liked there to be some kind of hatred with subtle hints that they both cared about each other's well being or bonding over mutual trauma or something like that. I feel like Emily should have made us like them both individually first, given hints that they are good for each other, and then brought them together. I feel like the slow burn should have started in book one and then solidified in book two.
WRITING
The pacing was very rushed in places. Some parts the writing was absolutely stunning. Towards the end, the description was poetic and captivating. Especially the epilogue scene with Malachiasz. I loved that scene so much. In other places, the writing was all over the place. In fight scenes, I feel like Emily could've slowed down and explained more because I had zero clue what was happening. Who threw what, who attacked who. It was all very quick and snappy. She also didn't spend long on the characters especially the minor ones.
(Spoiler) There was one character called Zaneta who ended up BETRAYING Serafin and I know that was meant to be a shock and it was, but it would've been a bigger shock of she spent time fleshing her out. For example, in Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, Ashlinn betrays Mia and the entire ministry and I was SHOOK when I read that part. Why? because we spent the entire book loving her. She befriended Mia and Tric, we liked her, she was a good friend and suddenly boom, she betrays everyone. She was an unlikely traitor why? BECAUSE WE TRUSTED HER. Zaneta should have been the same. Emily should have built her up, she should have made us like her and trust her. She should have been close to Serefin, in fact she should have been trying to help Serefin with the issue. THAT would have been a twist. If she was helping Serefin figure out what his father was planning but all along had been plotting against him, that would have knocked my socks off. Even though the betrayal was shocking, It would've been worse if we as readers trusted and loved her.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the book but I wish it was more fleshed out.
I originally was planning to give this book three/three and a half stars however the last four chapters bumped it up to a solid four. I'm going to breakdown the characters, plot, magic system, romance and writing so buckle up folks.
PLOT
The story follows a seventeen year old cleric named Nadya who is blessed by the gods and can communicate with them and use their power when she asks. She is the one who is supposed to end a century long war between her country (Kalyazi) and the second country (Tranavia). She's supposedly the most powerful person alive, and with the help of a boy named Malachiasz (yeah you're going to pronounce his name wrong 100%. I heard the real pronunciation on youtube and I lost my crap) and the high prince Serefin Meleski, she will attempt to kill the king of Tranavia.
Now *clears throat* sounds interesting right? A bloody war, a rotten king, a divine girl. I feel like the plot was good, it was interesting and captivating and the world building was actually quite nice. Even though the plot was good, it was messy and I think that was the whole point. The plot, to me anyway, mirrored the chaos going on around these three characters. No one knew who to trust, Nadya was having an identify crisis, Malachiasz was growing darker with every page and Serefin was confused and lost. Now, because of this messiness, I felt lost sometimes and didn't even understand the character motivations. It was like the plot blurred half way into the book. I really wish Emily had clarity in the madness just for our sakes because honestly the madness was great but I felt like I was losing my mind.
Secondly, I feel like the background of the plot should have been explored more. Two countries are at war, one country (Kalyazi) is religious and devoted to the gods and the other (Tranavia) has defected from the gods and chosen their own path of blood magic and heresy. Okay but why? What happened before the war, why did Tranavia break away from religion, why are they even fighting against Kalyazi? There was a whole century war going on and I had no idea why it even started. Maybe it will be explored in the rest of the series I'm not sure, I am aware that this is the first book of three with the third due to come out in 2021 so I'm hoping we get more information as the story progresses.
CHARACTERS
Nadya
Oh my sweet, innocent little Nadya. I'm going to break down her strengths and weaknesses.
Overall, I enjoyed her character. She's an orphan girl blessed with too much and controlled by the gods she serves. She was powerful and strong, she had a hard head and knew herself (mostly) and really that's all I have to say about her strengths because I found more weaknesses. First off, there was a scene where she's fighting against a blood mage but she's pretending to be a blood mage and all of a sudden she kills the girl and Serefin is like wow she's so clever and brutally cold and powerful why isn't she at the front fighting. In that moment I thought boy are we looking at the same girl right now???? which Nadya are you looking at? Emily really wanted us to believe Nadya was this ruthless, powerful, badass girl but I literally did not see it. Maybe it was the way she wrote that scene (which I'll get into later on) but Nadya does not come across as that kind of person. She's strong, yes. Powerful, yes. But when Serefin said that I had to put the book down lmao. I've read powerful and strong female characters and Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius is still holding the crown. I really wanted more from Nadya, I felt like her development could have been sooooo insane. She was brought up devoting herself to the gods, she was taught to never go against their will and here she was committing heresy, falling in love with a monster and learning the gods are not what she thought there were. THERE WAS SO MUCH OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE HER CHARACTER ARC!!!
I thought hey, she's been thrown into this destiny maybe she will learn that only she carves her own destiny. No...not at all. Maybe in the next few books that will happen but really and truly, I loved her but not the way I have loved and cried for other characters. She wasn't as fleshed out, I wanted to know more about her life and background. And don't get me started on how whiny she became half way through, every single page she reminded us that Malachiasz was a monster who didn't deserve to live like sis he's trying so hard right now please cut him some slack. We get it, you hate him but also love him. She was just holding it against him the entire book, reminding him that he was a monstrosity and that he was a liar but she was shoving her tongue down his throat? *Sigh* Chile, Anyway...
Malachiasz
I loved his boy. I love him. So much. With my whole heart. He was written so beautifully that I loved him even after his betrayal and that is a good thing! If an author can write a villain in a way that the reader still sympathises and likes them, they've written a top notch villain. Malachiasz is clearly taken from the darkling (if you like shadow and bone) but he is twisted enough that if he was a mirror, you'd see a deformed reflection of the darkling and Malachiasz. I'm hoping we get more info about Malachiasz's background because honestly, he was great. He was well written and in depth. He gave enough but not enough, he gave us breadcrumbs and my goodness the plot twist at the end was why I gave it four stars instead of three. His nature is gothic and beautiful, he's written so poetically that his aesthetic is just breath-taking.
Serefin
I did love Serafin too. In fact, I loved all the minor characters more than Nadya which is odd. His power at the end was soooooo lovely, unique and divine that I could go on and on about. We see him as his horrid, ruthless general who has killed many and I'm not going to lie I was kind of afraid of him in the beginning, but then we see his journey and we see a side of him that's charming and clever.
MAGIC SYSTEM AND ROMANCE
I lowkey don't know how the magic system works. I understand the blood magic side of it, but in terms of Nadya's power I haven't got a clue. There was a scene at the end where she 'brought down a pillar of power over the king' and I was like she what? I don't know how she works it, It's from the gods yes but in terms of how it is materialised....who knows. It's cool, though. The divine magic isn't like any magic I've come across before. A lot of magic systems I've come across are hard magic but Nadya's is kind of soft but also hard. Even though it's all up in the air, It is a cool system.
Romance. I loved Nadya and Malachiasz howeverrrrrrrrrr I didn't see the development in their relationship. She saw this boy once and suddenly her knees are about to buckle, he calls her little bird and she's intrigued by him. It felt kind of forced, there was no development. Slow burn romances are great and I feel like their relationship would have done well with slow burn enemies to lovers. I would have liked there to be some kind of hatred with subtle hints that they both cared about each other's well being or bonding over mutual trauma or something like that. I feel like Emily should have made us like them both individually first, given hints that they are good for each other, and then brought them together. I feel like the slow burn should have started in book one and then solidified in book two.
WRITING
The pacing was very rushed in places. Some parts the writing was absolutely stunning. Towards the end, the description was poetic and captivating. Especially the epilogue scene with Malachiasz. I loved that scene so much. In other places, the writing was all over the place. In fight scenes, I feel like Emily could've slowed down and explained more because I had zero clue what was happening. Who threw what, who attacked who. It was all very quick and snappy. She also didn't spend long on the characters especially the minor ones.
(Spoiler) There was one character called Zaneta who ended up BETRAYING Serafin and I know that was meant to be a shock and it was, but it would've been a bigger shock of she spent time fleshing her out. For example, in Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, Ashlinn betrays Mia and the entire ministry and I was SHOOK when I read that part. Why? because we spent the entire book loving her. She befriended Mia and Tric, we liked her, she was a good friend and suddenly boom, she betrays everyone. She was an unlikely traitor why? BECAUSE WE TRUSTED HER. Zaneta should have been the same. Emily should have built her up, she should have made us like her and trust her. She should have been close to Serefin, in fact she should have been trying to help Serefin with the issue. THAT would have been a twist. If she was helping Serefin figure out what his father was planning but all along had been plotting against him, that would have knocked my socks off. Even though the betrayal was shocking, It would've been worse if we as readers trusted and loved her.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the book but I wish it was more fleshed out.