ARC Review: "Ruthless Gods" (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan

Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary from GoodReads

The stunning sequel to instant New York Times bestseller, Wicked Saints!

Darkness never works alone...

Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who--and what--he’s become.

As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. They’re pieces on a board, being orchestrated by someone… or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer.

In her dramatic follow-up to Wicked Saints, the first book in her Something Dark and Holy trilogy, Emily A. Duncan paints a Gothic, icy world where shadows whisper, and no one is who they seem, with a shocking ending that will leave you breathless. 

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REVIEW

I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

And wasn't this a bloody surprise! The sequel to Wicked Saints had even more monsters, blood, carnage, and romance. Nadya, Seferin, and Malachiasz along with their own allies and new friends will have to seek the deepest powers of the gods...even if their motives clash together and destroy them in the process.

I can't say that this book is all fluff and rainbows. On the contrary, I got nightmares and knowing how gruesome the Slavic folklore can be I was surprised Baba Yaga didn't spring from the pages. I loved the dark world Emily wrote, even if I'd never dare to walk in it.

Now on the romance side of the book...I found it a tiny bit troublesome. But I loved Kacper and his devotion to Seferin; that boy deserves a good rest.

Pretty much everyone needs a good sleep.

The ending was a huge cliffhanger that left me sad and anxious. Because the gods are indeed cruel and humans are nothing but pawns in the greatest game.

Cruel, ruthless and totally enchanting Ruthless Gods adds another milestone in this dark series.

And don't miss the first book of the series!

GoodReads

About the author:

“Emily A. Duncan was born and raised in Ohio and works as a youth services librarian. She received a Master’s degree in library science from Kent State University, which mostly taught her how to find obscure Slavic folklore texts through interlibrary loan systems. When not reading or writing, she enjoys playing copious amounts of video games and dungeons and dragons. She is represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.”