Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan
I received a complimentary ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Summary
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.
Book Details
Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan
Something Dark and Holy #2
Published April 7th 2020 by Wednesday Books
Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
Hardcover, 544 pages
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Review
RUTHLESS GODS is dark, sinuous, and all the things Gothic that I love. Once again, the cleric, the prince, and the monstrous boy find their destinies irrevocably intertwined as mercurial gods and manipulative saints vie for power in this dramatic follow up to Wicked Saints.
Emily A. Duncan's writing is beautifully haunting. I loved its macabre atmosphere and angsty monologues.
I'm not sure how she does it, how she can write boy—monsters, broken and brutal, who we worry about ripping our hearts out. The blood, the bones, the eyes!
I would say this book veers into horror territory as Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz face ruthless, warring gods bent on each other's destruction, each becoming a key to unlocking an unimaginable power—something Eldritch hidden from their histories.
This is a bloody story that begins quietly and filled with introspective moments, slowly building in intensity as our characters are moved about an imaginary board like chess pieces, constantly faced with duplicity and betrayal. I loved it.
There is such moral ambiguousness in this novel, yet we are drawn repeatedly back emotionally to them.
My favorite part is probably the unraveling of the saints and gods. Nebulous at best, I could not get enough of these gods and goddesses.
I loved the hidden agendas and complexity of it all. Sometimes it was frustrating, but I was too compelled to continue and care. Ruthless Gods is gorgeously grotesque and undeniably Gothicly sublime.
