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Ruthless Gods
(Something Dark and Holy #2)
by
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… o ...more
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… o ...more
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it's weird! it's cerebral! everyone is sad! it nearly killed me! it's a good 100 pages longer than WICKED SAINTS!
if you like cosmic horror, forests that want to eat you, and very sad very pretty boys and very tired very done with everything girls then i have a book for you.
that's all, see ya in 2020.
edit: 6.19.19: ~we have a cover~ and i'm just going to come out ahead of arcs and put the necessary content warnings here because we're dealing with about the same level of blood/self harm as Wicke ...more
if you like cosmic horror, forests that want to eat you, and very sad very pretty boys and very tired very done with everything girls then i have a book for you.
that's all, see ya in 2020.
edit: 6.19.19: ~we have a cover~ and i'm just going to come out ahead of arcs and put the necessary content warnings here because we're dealing with about the same level of blood/self harm as Wicke ...more
4.75/5 ⭐
Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺
Y'all.
I hope you brought some torches with you for this one because it’s about to get dark.
Correction: darker.
I stated in my previous review, Wicked Saints, that while reading this book I got the exact same uncomfortable sensation I had as a child while entering my old childhood Orthodox church. The incense was strong, the saints were looking down at you from the walls and the ceiling and countless old ladies were gawking at you because yo ...more
Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺
Y'all.
I hope you brought some torches with you for this one because it’s about to get dark.
Correction: darker.
I stated in my previous review, Wicked Saints, that while reading this book I got the exact same uncomfortable sensation I had as a child while entering my old childhood Orthodox church. The incense was strong, the saints were looking down at you from the walls and the ceiling and countless old ladies were gawking at you because yo ...more
It is difficult to know how to begin a Goodreads review of a book when its author so regularly takes to Twitter to decry her Goodreads reviewers. One gains the impression that one’s review of this book, and of its predecessor Wicked Saints, is less an honest opinion provided for an audience of potential readers than some sort of opening argument directed to an audience of one. I find myself selecting my phrases not based on how helpful or informational they might be to you, the Goodreads user, b
...more
i have no idea what kind of dark and holy sorcery i was able to conjure in order to get myself an ARC of this so early, but praise to all the wicked saints and ruthless gods alike, because wow. this is EXACTLY the kind of darkness i needed to kick off my spooktober!
just like its predecessor, this sequel is so seductively wicked, so gothically bloody, so cruelly romantic; and my black soul has never been happier.
although the pacing seems to be bit slower than i remember it being in the first boo ...more
just like its predecessor, this sequel is so seductively wicked, so gothically bloody, so cruelly romantic; and my black soul has never been happier.
although the pacing seems to be bit slower than i remember it being in the first boo ...more
The Written Review
September Tier List Video is up! Check it out for all my September reads!
Heart Eyes all the way! Can’t wait to dive into this one!
Update - it ended up being surprisingly good. Very unexpected
With thanks to Macmillan Publishing and Emily A. Duncan for a free copy in exchange for an honest review
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads ...more
Ruthless Gods, the second installment in Emily A. Duncan's Something Dark and Holy trilogy, continues to bring all the dark atmosphere I cherish.
Significantly more brutal than your average YA Fantasy series, this second book especially, toed the line of Horror and I'm here for it.
Our three main characters, Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz, return and y'all, these characters go through it.
This world is extremely brutal. The magic and the landscape, it seems everything is out to get them; maybe even ...more
Significantly more brutal than your average YA Fantasy series, this second book especially, toed the line of Horror and I'm here for it.
Our three main characters, Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz, return and y'all, these characters go through it.
This world is extremely brutal. The magic and the landscape, it seems everything is out to get them; maybe even ...more
My special edition came from Owlcrate. Beautiful art under dust jacket plus a pin
I have no words! I mean I have a few. These poor broken babies!! We learn lots of things. Go through a million more. That ending!!!!! I hope for something good in next book.
More closer to pub date when I can quote and stuff
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more
I have no words! I mean I have a few. These poor broken babies!! We learn lots of things. Go through a million more. That ending!!!!! I hope for something good in next book.
More closer to pub date when I can quote and stuff
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more
The Gods are ruthless and friends can be just as bad!
This was an amazing book. So much happened and I loved it all. Like Wicked Saints, nothing in this book was predictable. It was truly an adventure fantasy. The three main characters and their sidekicks started out in the capital city of Tranavia and ended up going on an Epic Journey to the far side of Kalyazin to change life as they know it by either ending the war or freeing the Gods from whatever made them stop talking to the cleric, Nadya.
T ...more
This was an amazing book. So much happened and I loved it all. Like Wicked Saints, nothing in this book was predictable. It was truly an adventure fantasy. The three main characters and their sidekicks started out in the capital city of Tranavia and ended up going on an Epic Journey to the far side of Kalyazin to change life as they know it by either ending the war or freeing the Gods from whatever made them stop talking to the cleric, Nadya.
T ...more
Jan 23, 2019
Nastassja
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone!
Ruthless Gods is out today! Don't forget to check out the book if you haven't done it yet! Happy reading! ;)
And just because I love this book, here's some art made by yours truly:
**Many thanks to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book**
Actual rating: 4.5 starsThe world they wish is broken bones and blood—always blood.
To finish this monstrous book on Friday the 13th and on full moon is a sign. A sign that this terrible, erratic, weird but beautiful
tw: blood magic (aka blood & self harm); gore; lots of body horror (especially stuff with eyes)
I was hoping I'd enjoy this book more than I did Wicked Saints, but I largely have the same issues as I had with the first book. I did go into this installment with lowered expectations though, which helped.
This series is so deeply about the aesthetics. Duncan is very good about invoking an image, sense of dread, and overall ~mood~ that sticks with you long after reading. That was true of Wicked Saint ...more
I was hoping I'd enjoy this book more than I did Wicked Saints, but I largely have the same issues as I had with the first book. I did go into this installment with lowered expectations though, which helped.
This series is so deeply about the aesthetics. Duncan is very good about invoking an image, sense of dread, and overall ~mood~ that sticks with you long after reading. That was true of Wicked Saint ...more
I have been sitting on this review for weeks and am finally ready to tweak the final version. Here goes.
Thank you so much to Wednesday Books via NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.
I read Wicked Saints as an ARC too and enjoyed the basis of the story, although found Duncan's writing style to be repetitive to the nauseatingly "I need to skim" point of being terrible. I thought she would take that round of criticism from Wicked Saints and build a bette ...more
Thank you so much to Wednesday Books via NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.
I read Wicked Saints as an ARC too and enjoyed the basis of the story, although found Duncan's writing style to be repetitive to the nauseatingly "I need to skim" point of being terrible. I thought she would take that round of criticism from Wicked Saints and build a bette ...more
The Darkling fan fic continues in round two.
So..this had some high highs and low lows for me.
Again, like the first novel this jumped about so much for me. And it didn’t do a refresher in the first couple of pages that I enjoy books to do in a series (I acknowledge my personal preference here).
The world of the Gods is slightly more explored in this book but it’s also just as confusing and parts are explored that aren’t explained but we’re supposed to just get it? And I didn’t?
Also we have lgbt c ...more
So..this had some high highs and low lows for me.
Again, like the first novel this jumped about so much for me. And it didn’t do a refresher in the first couple of pages that I enjoy books to do in a series (I acknowledge my personal preference here).
The world of the Gods is slightly more explored in this book but it’s also just as confusing and parts are explored that aren’t explained but we’re supposed to just get it? And I didn’t?
Also we have lgbt c ...more
Jul 17, 2020
Kimberly (Deity of Books)
marked it as dnf
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reviewed
#1) Wicked Saints: ★★★☆☆
It's been a long time since I've dnf'ed a book, but I just had to with this one. It was so boring that I would choose sleep over reading this book. I got to page 250 though.
The writing is awful and confusing, even though I haven't finished reading this. I feel like the writing is all over the place. Sometimes the writing is formal (???), but then occasionally it switches to modern-day vernacular (ex: suss, flexing).
The romance between Malachiasz and Nadya is so annoying, ...more
It's been a long time since I've dnf'ed a book, but I just had to with this one. It was so boring that I would choose sleep over reading this book. I got to page 250 though.
The writing is awful and confusing, even though I haven't finished reading this. I feel like the writing is all over the place. Sometimes the writing is formal (???), but then occasionally it switches to modern-day vernacular (ex: suss, flexing).
The romance between Malachiasz and Nadya is so annoying, ...more
Aug 24, 2019
Alaina
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
fantasy,
october-2019,
2019,
2019-arcs,
romance,
mystery,
supernatural,
fiction,
young-adult,
favorites
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Holy cannoli people! Ruthless Gods was one wild ass roller coaster ride. Sort of emotional for me because I kept shipping (and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life) two people that just NEVER did anything romantic (yet). I still have high hopes and that's that.
In this, you are reunited with the gang again: Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz. Of course there are other important and lovable people but then I wo ...more
Holy cannoli people! Ruthless Gods was one wild ass roller coaster ride. Sort of emotional for me because I kept shipping (and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life) two people that just NEVER did anything romantic (yet). I still have high hopes and that's that.
In this, you are reunited with the gang again: Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz. Of course there are other important and lovable people but then I wo ...more
I feel betrayed.
And speaking of betrayals... just wow....
There were a whole bunch of them in Ruthless Gods. If you thought the betrayals in Wicked Saints was bad, you're in for a real treat here.
It's kind of ironic actually. There were so many betrayals in the book, yet at the end I also felt betrayed along with the characters.
"They had all been waiting with their knives at one another's backs. It was time to plunge the dagger home." 💀
After the ending of Wicked Saints, I was really excited ...more
And speaking of betrayals... just wow....
There were a whole bunch of them in Ruthless Gods. If you thought the betrayals in Wicked Saints was bad, you're in for a real treat here.
It's kind of ironic actually. There were so many betrayals in the book, yet at the end I also felt betrayed along with the characters.
"They had all been waiting with their knives at one another's backs. It was time to plunge the dagger home." 💀
After the ending of Wicked Saints, I was really excited ...more
When I read Wicked Saints a year ago, I thought I had found the perfect guilty pleasure to appease my inner goth teen. You can therefore imagine my excitement when I realized its sequel was coming out right in the middle of lockdown — talk about perfect timing!
Except...this book retained very little of the fun, over-the-top, romantic Grisha fanfic that was Wicked Saints. More specifically, my problem with Ruthless Gods lies in the fact that contrary to its predecessor, this book really wants to ...more
Except...this book retained very little of the fun, over-the-top, romantic Grisha fanfic that was Wicked Saints. More specifically, my problem with Ruthless Gods lies in the fact that contrary to its predecessor, this book really wants to ...more
April 6, 2021 : Though it would be easy enough to just quietly delete this review or rating in light of everything, I won't (nor would I ever). I'm holding myself accountable for this ignorance instead of burying it. However, I want to now preface this review to say that I apologize if anyone picked this book/series up because of my more or less favourable review and was then harmed or disappointed by the antisemitic content and my "approval"/enjoyment of it. I'm sorry to say I did not see it an
...more
WHIP OUT THE BLACK EYELINER AND CRANK UP THE HEAVY METAL
We're going on an adventure!
I must begin with saying that I am a big fan of second books in series. We already know the most important characters, we know the world, basic rules have been established. It's less introducing us to everything and more plot, more character development. Luckily, it was no different here. It felt a bit like coming home (well, if your idea of home is a bleak, wet, snow-covered forest that houses a bunch of monste ...more
We're going on an adventure!
I must begin with saying that I am a big fan of second books in series. We already know the most important characters, we know the world, basic rules have been established. It's less introducing us to everything and more plot, more character development. Luckily, it was no different here. It felt a bit like coming home (well, if your idea of home is a bleak, wet, snow-covered forest that houses a bunch of monste ...more
3.5 bloody stars
This novel was one of my most anticipated sequels of the year, if not THE MOST anticipated overall. Duncan's first novel, Wicked Saints, had left me at awe and I read it several times, on audio as well as in physical copy. (The audiobook is fantastic by the way. The narrator's accent is perfect!) What makes these novels so different are the Slavic folklore vibes infused with the gothic and grotesque, yet the writing is brilliantly beautiful in places.
Ruthless Gods has a bit of a ...more
This novel was one of my most anticipated sequels of the year, if not THE MOST anticipated overall. Duncan's first novel, Wicked Saints, had left me at awe and I read it several times, on audio as well as in physical copy. (The audiobook is fantastic by the way. The narrator's accent is perfect!) What makes these novels so different are the Slavic folklore vibes infused with the gothic and grotesque, yet the writing is brilliantly beautiful in places.
Ruthless Gods has a bit of a ...more
Apr 02, 2019
ash | novelly rooted
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
fantasy
Hahahahah I'm not okay.
Ruthless Gods is an aesthetic nightmare filled with perpetual influence and betrayal-- from the gloomy, dark tones, villains and monsters to the bone chilling landscapes dripping in mystery and suspense. With darkness often comes a sense of horror and dread. Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz are at the epicenter of it all, contemplating their eternal damnation as they try to avoid plunging the world into darkness as they try to save it from dominant powers hostile to humanity ...more
Ruthless Gods is an aesthetic nightmare filled with perpetual influence and betrayal-- from the gloomy, dark tones, villains and monsters to the bone chilling landscapes dripping in mystery and suspense. With darkness often comes a sense of horror and dread. Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz are at the epicenter of it all, contemplating their eternal damnation as they try to avoid plunging the world into darkness as they try to save it from dominant powers hostile to humanity ...more
4.5 stars!
Considering the fact that I hated the beginning of this, no one is more shocked than me that this is a damn good book.
First 100 pages: ★
Plot: ★★★★★
Character development: ★★★★★
This is the second book in a series, so if you don't want to be spoiled for Wicked Saints, please check out that book first! (My review of it here.)
Wicked Saints was a surprisingly polarizing read in 2019, and I think Ruthless Gods will be similar—if not for the same reasons. Ruthless Gods, in my opinion, is LEAG ...more
Considering the fact that I hated the beginning of this, no one is more shocked than me that this is a damn good book.
First 100 pages: ★
Plot: ★★★★★
Character development: ★★★★★
This is the second book in a series, so if you don't want to be spoiled for Wicked Saints, please check out that book first! (My review of it here.)
Wicked Saints was a surprisingly polarizing read in 2019, and I think Ruthless Gods will be similar—if not for the same reasons. Ruthless Gods, in my opinion, is LEAG ...more
EMILY, HOW DARE YOU. Y’all are not ready.
This book is cruel and dark and WONDERFUL. Everything it was destined to be. Onyx and obsidian, laced in blood. An inky and monstrous gem of a sequel.
I don’t know how I was lucky enough to get my hands on Ruthless Gods so early, perhaps it’s a gift from the divine or something far more sinister. Perhaps both? You’ll probably have to read the book to find out. And read the book you should.
Wicked Saints completely shattered what I believed was possible in ...more
This book is cruel and dark and WONDERFUL. Everything it was destined to be. Onyx and obsidian, laced in blood. An inky and monstrous gem of a sequel.
I don’t know how I was lucky enough to get my hands on Ruthless Gods so early, perhaps it’s a gift from the divine or something far more sinister. Perhaps both? You’ll probably have to read the book to find out. And read the book you should.
Wicked Saints completely shattered what I believed was possible in ...more
Jan 10, 2020
Boston
marked it as dnf
DNF at 25%. I’ve just come to realize that I don’t think I care about this series now as much as I did when the first book came out. What I did read was well written though.
This was every bit as deliciously dark and full of blood, guts, gore, and death as the first book and while I did love every single page of it and all it's dark magic madness, this second book somehow felt different from the first.
Yes, it is different, of course it is. Things have changed. Everyone is more desperate, things are getting real up in here and yet, at times the writing felt disjointed. It took me a few paragraphs sometimes to figure out what had just happened, where we were in the st ...more
Yes, it is different, of course it is. Things have changed. Everyone is more desperate, things are getting real up in here and yet, at times the writing felt disjointed. It took me a few paragraphs sometimes to figure out what had just happened, where we were in the st ...more
"It was different, this time. Darkness was something he was intimately used to; darkness was nothing to him. He had lived and toiled and learned in darkness. This was both more than that and yet something else entirely."
THE HELL, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020!!!!!!!
First, I will be careful with the spoilers, just so you guys know. Second, this was my first time doing a buddy reading and I did it with my wonderful friend Carmen.
Emily A. Duncan is a game-changer.
I just can wish for m ...more
THE HELL, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020!!!!!!!
First, I will be careful with the spoilers, just so you guys know. Second, this was my first time doing a buddy reading and I did it with my wonderful friend Carmen.
Emily A. Duncan is a game-changer.
I just can wish for m ...more
“The world they wish is broken bones and blood—always blood.”
Ruthless Gods, picking up where Wicked Saints left off, is a dark, magical tale, even more dark, unsettling and eerie than the first instalment.
“He was everything; he was nothing. She was torn apart in a thousand directions but there was only one and it was forward. There was nothing else but this.”
I loved Malachiazs as a complicated villain/monster. In this instalment we really see all the characters evolving, changing, twisting and ...more
Ruthless Gods, picking up where Wicked Saints left off, is a dark, magical tale, even more dark, unsettling and eerie than the first instalment.
“He was everything; he was nothing. She was torn apart in a thousand directions but there was only one and it was forward. There was nothing else but this.”
I loved Malachiazs as a complicated villain/monster. In this instalment we really see all the characters evolving, changing, twisting and ...more
First off one word: WOW! What a great sequel to something I've been anticpating. This book took me a while to read I tried reading the arc back in Ocotober when I first got it because I read wicked saints in September. And I was like: 'Perfect timing, I just finished the first book let's go onto the next one!'
Well nope past Drew u rushed in it.
And so in March of 2020 I buddy read this with my friend Heather but couldn't get into it then. And then April 7 rolled around and I got the audiobook ...more
Well nope past Drew u rushed in it.
And so in March of 2020 I buddy read this with my friend Heather but couldn't get into it then. And then April 7 rolled around and I got the audiobook ...more
Thank you to St.Martin's Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
"'You are always there little bird,' he continued slowly. 'Fluttering outside of everything, but you cannot be caught. I try to cast you out yet you remain, irritating, useless, constantly, constantly, fluttering.'"
WOW I absolutely loved everything about this!!! Wicked Saints blew me away and honestly Ruthless Gods was SUCH a good follow up. If anything I felt like it was a stronger book than the ...more
"'You are always there little bird,' he continued slowly. 'Fluttering outside of everything, but you cannot be caught. I try to cast you out yet you remain, irritating, useless, constantly, constantly, fluttering.'"
WOW I absolutely loved everything about this!!! Wicked Saints blew me away and honestly Ruthless Gods was SUCH a good follow up. If anything I felt like it was a stronger book than the ...more
Oh the ending of the book! The story was more detailed and more extensive than before. A cursed couple. Lgbtq+ elements, a girl, a monster, a prince and a queen!
Gruesome, grotesque, and so so glorious
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You Are Never Too...: Ruthless Gods - (Something Dark and Holy #2) - April 7, 2020 | 4 | 14 | Jun 07, 2020 11:41AM | |
| YA Buddy Readers'...: Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan - Starting April 7th 2020 | 33 | 58 | May 25, 2020 10:57AM | |
| Challenge Corner: Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan --> Starting May 1st 2020 | 9 | 9 | May 18, 2020 07:44PM |
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“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
...more
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Something Dark and Holy
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“This was going to kill her. This, right here, this beautiful boy and his monstrous power and his lies and the knowledge that nothing mattered, they would always betray each other in the end.”
—
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“What happens when a monster tries to become a god?”
—
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