Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan- Review

I was finally able to finish Ruthless Gods, the second book in the Something Dark and Holy trilogy. I had midterms last week so I wasn't able to finish this as quickly as I wanted, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it!

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.

SPOILERS

Although this book left me with SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS, I still absolutely loved the atmosphere, the goth, dark, and sinister undertones were giving me life this spooky season. I do have to say at this point I feel like as the reader we still shouldn't be so in the dark about certain things pertaining to our trio, and even side characters. What is Nadya, is she dark now? Why is there a rift between the "gods", is it just simply good vs evil? Is Serefin okay now, and what was up with the moths?? Was that just for the aesthetic of the book? Who is the fourth person in Pelageya's prophecy? What is Malachiasz now?? Why was Parj acting sketchy? What was the purpose of Tranavians losing their remembrance of blood magic? Also the whole eldritch beings and their role as gods, yet not? There was just too much that was unanswered that I feel led to my confusion at points, and by now we should've already had explained or uncovered, it leaves an awful lot for the last book.

But, ANYWAYS, I just love Nadya and Malachiasz SO MUCH!!! There was such good, wholesome content with them and I was here for it. Buttt, they were all so ready to trust him after what happened at the end of book one and what they saw/heard in the Salt Mines??? That did not add up to me, also the whole betrayal trope just felt so over-used at this point. Was anyone really surprised? No. Even when Malachiasz "died" I knew it wasn't going to be real, even though it still HURT, I had a feeling that he wasn't done yet. But again, what does it mean?

Serefin really just needs a BREAK. Homeboy ripped out his OWN EYE!! I feel so much for him, slowly watching him unravel throughout this book was painful, yet beautiful. I still don't really completely understand his part in all of this, but I'm going to figure we find out in the next book. One of my favorite parts was finding out Serefin and Malachiasz are BROTHERS!! MY HEART. He is still my favorite grumpy yet sarcastic, witty man of this series, and him and Kacper <3

I really enjoyed the side characters more in this book, especially the introduction of Katya!! I'm really excited to see where her character ends up and ties into all of this. I really don't know what was going on with Parijahan during this book?? They were all so quick to accept and forgive Malachiasz, which I was glad for, but just didn't feel natural to me. Rashid is definitely one of, if not my favorite side characters, and I love any scene with him involved.

Overall, I wanted more from this book, and the characters, it felt like a repeat of Wicked Saints minus what Serefin was going through. I still enjoyed it very much, and will definitely continue with the last book, but I'm honestly nervous/concerned with where she will take it and end it with lol.