Emily A. Duncan
Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan
Released: April 27, 2020
Pages: 544
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Overall: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Setting & World-building: 5/5
Emotional Investment: 3/5
"What happens when a monster tries to become a god?"
So I did end up reading this book and just saying I am obsessed. Honestly, I had zero expectations going in which was clearly the wrong move because wow, this book was fantastic. Emily A. Duncan may have started out a little rough for me but she certainly made up for it.
Quick Summary: So there's not much I can say about this book that won't be a spoiler from the first book. But this one starts a couple of months after the incidents concluding Wicked Saints. So basically Serefin, my favorite alcoholic, unstable man is now king with the voice of old, powerful beings inside his head. Nadya has the most epic identity crisis because her powers, which she once understood now make no sense and her gods have spontaneously stopped talking to her. Finally, our harbinger of death itself, Malachiasz is fighting what he has become to be sane long enough to feel bad for how badly he betrayed everyone. These three have to travel and not kill each other long enough to find a way to end the bloody war and figure out if they are just pawns in a game with bigger stakes.
"He has other matters to attend to"
"That's what you said last time, and those 'other matters' were planning to murder me."
First of all, everything that was super confusing at the ending of the last book was made clear pretty quickly. I now know where the random moths came from and whether certain people were actually alive or not. The beginning was well written in terms of staying true to the character and raising awareness to new problems like Serefin's entire court wanting to murder him now that he is kind. The humor was definitely there when needed which was needed because this book was so heavy on terminology. So many like myths and animals were explained in this book, all with their uniquely difficult names (that I at some point just gave up at pronouncing).
The emphasis on religion was still there but I really like how Nadya took more time to question everything she's been told. Don't get me wrong she didn't do that amazing of a job at questioning if her gods were real or not because she still had a lot of blind devotion, but she started which is good. There was a lot of theology in this book because there was a lot of "what is a god?", "What is power?" talks that occurred that I appreciated because I do not understand Nadya's unwavering devotion to her gods despite the many things they do to harm her. That saying the plot was actually good and the last 100 pages had me yelling because the delivery of the plot twists was excellent. The stakes were raised and it just made a more thrilling read. But did knock one mark because the first 100 pages were still really slow for me. It just felt too repetitive and tedious and it almost made me stop reading the book because I was so bored. Also, the language felt too descriptive sometimes, because it was just adjective after adjective. The language was just too flowery and sometimes seemed like it was trying too hard.
My feelings for Serefin have not changed since finishing this book. He is still my favorite person ever and still deserves his happy ending because I assure you he was TORTURED in this book. Nothing ever went his way, except one thing, and he was always in agonizing pain. The one thing that did go his way though: OH MY GOODNESS. It was the cutest most romantic thing ever. Well I mean he was bleeding out of his eye but it's the thought that counts. I wanted to scream it just made me so happy that Serefin finds one ounce of joy in a world where everyone is out to get him. The ending of the book pulled a fast one on him because now his country is going to die and he did the most disgusting thing ever to save himself. It did work but it was horrifying and gave me literal chills.
"Can you love someone and ask them to shatter themselves for you?"
Malachiasz in this book was confusing because the way it was written made him seem like he was going to be forever locked in this new being he made himself to be but apparently, he could mask himself to look like his regular self. That was confusing to read so I didn't understand anything that was happening for a long time. He was also lowkey bi-polar in this book. Mans was all over the place with his "I'm going to hurt you but also maybe not" vibes. Nadya on the other hand is still a character I don't care about. She constantly says her actions are for the gods but then she blatantly makes out with Malachiasz, who is the enemy.
"If being unmade was violence, being remade was horror"
We also met a ton of new characters in this book. Some old came back and then presumably died (shocker) and some new ones who were fun to read about. I still think we need to know more about Rashid because right now, he feels very token. This book also has a lot of blood. I repeat, the amount of blood and death in this book increases tenfold, and I didn't have a problem with it, but it was there.
Finally, I have to say despite my rambling this was a pretty good book. I am super excited to read the final book coming out in April 2021. I need to know if these characters get decently happy endings because I swear just the amount of pain they go through (they just bleed all the time). Anyway, this is also my first review of 2021 so hooray!!
Quotes
"When it is something you would kill for but would kill you if you had it, only then will it be given back."
"Would it be hope, then, that killed her in the end?"
"The girl who is a cleric but not a cleric, a witch but not a witch. The monster who sits on a throne of gilded bones and reaches for the heavens far past his understanding, or the princeling touched by a power he does not believe in."
"He always made her feel like there were stars in her blood"
"Truly, I am terribly sorry this isn't the time for senseless slaughter. My heart weeps."
"the darkness never works alone"
"Having the power of a god and knowing what to do with it are two very different things."
"You have your gods, but what if they're simply beings with power that have figured out what to do with all that power?"
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