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Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan

"
Reminiscent of angst filled, flame text Harry Potter in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix where he is yelling at everyone all of the time, for every little thing, this addition to Duncan's series had so much angst it was like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Though there were a few fun revelations, for the most part, the hot and cold bickering and angst ridden emotions of the characters made this a drawn out addition to the series. It's a necessary addition but all of it could have been accomplished far quicker and with a lot less angst involved."

3 Stars. 

Pros: Though there a few new Gods/Creatures there aren't too many new characters, which is nice as it keeps things more or less organized. 

Cons: The constant back and forth with Nadya and Malachiasz and what's to happen to them (love/death, angst, angst, angst)  gets old super fast/I saw the love triangle coming from the beginning but still, it was disappointing that Duncan even added that in. It felt forced and unnecessary. 

Full Review: 

SPOILER ALERT - Read no further unless you want basically everything laid out for you cause there's just no real way to summarize this book without giving important plot points away. 

What the King of Tranavia attempted at the end of Wicked Saints didn't work for him. But it did work for Malachiasz. He is now touched by something. Whether it's divine or monstrous is yet to be seen, all roads seem to be leading to monstrous though.  

Nadya/Serefin and the rest are attempting to deal with the aftermath of that horrific day in the Vultures Cathedral. And at the insistence of Pelagyea, the Kalazyin witch, Serein et al set out on a journey. Serefin, for his part, heads to the Salt Mines, where the Vultures are made. His plan is to kill Malachiasz and make it so he has no one threatening his already tenuous hold on the Tranavian throne. If he can rid Tranavia of the Vultures altogether, he'll feel like he has more control. Of course, with a revelation at the beginning of the book, that Malachiasz is in fact, his bastard brother, and not his cousin, that makes the idea of killing him, not sit well in Serefin's stomach. Even so, he goes to the Salt Mines but never actually makes it inside. Instead, he's led by a constant pull of the voice inside his head that's been there since his Father attempted to kill him. The voice belong to Velyos, a Fallen God of the Kalazyin pantheon, who is Hell bent on revenge against Marzenya, who was the one to cast him out. After running into the Tsarevna of Kalazyin and having his chest carved open on a sacrificial altar, only to survive the experience, Serefin stumbles back into the company of Katya, Ostyia and Kacper, obviously having been taken by something dark and old and so very, very hungry. 

Nadya, on the other hand, is determined to go to the other side of Kalazyin, to a distant mountain range and search for a place that is claimed to be the seat of the Gods. She goes to the Salt Mines of the Vultures and somehow convinces the part of  Malachiasz that is still human to come with her. All while she knows that in order to do what she has to do, speak to her Gods once more and end this needless war between Kalazyin and Tranavia, she'll have to kill him once they get to where they're going. Malachiasz doesn't seem to remember what happened in the Cathedral and alternates between angsty, longing looks at Nadya and being a cold, calculating bastard in turn. The hot and cold between he and Nadya gets old, fast. And with the re-introduction of Kostya, from the Monastery at the very beginning of Wicked Saints, you have yourself a full fledged love triangle, oi. 

The end was splintered, chaotic and loose. And of course, it's a cliff hanger cause there's a third book. All in all, the angst, the hot and cold between Nadya and Malachiasz, all of it was just a little too teenage, flame text Harry Potter for me. I'm hoping that the third book will wrap everything up in a neat, tidy bow but I guess I'll just have to read and see. This wasn't an altogether disappointing read but it went on far longer than it had to and all the angst was eye roll worthy. 

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