Title: Wicked Saints
Author: Emily A. Duncan
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: April 2, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Source: E-arc from publisher
Rating: ★★★★
Synopsis:
A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.
A prince in danger must decide who to trust.
A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.
Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.
In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy . . .
RAVING BLURBS:
“Prepare for a snow-frosted, blood-drenched fairy tale where the monsters steal your heart and love ends up being the nightmare.” – Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen
“This book destroyed me and I adored it.”- Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval
Oh, Wicked Saints, you were just a whirlwind to read, and I was so happy be caught up in your storm. As a fantasy novel, Wicked Saints started off with a bang . . . but a very confusing bang: chaos and war proceeded throughout the pages and I was desperately scrambling to understand the magic system and who was who. In all honesty, it took me about 15% of the book to finally familiarize myself with all the characters, who had what powers, and understanding the political and religious powers that fueled the war littered throughout the pages. But once I started to understand the holy mess and revolutions that ensued, I could not put this book down.
As a rarity among society, Nadezhda can speak to gods. With this commodity, the gods grant her divine powers, but the power-granting gods hope for something in return. As Nadezhda tries to break the veil for the gods to finally return and stop a war, she is thrown into political intrigue and religious turmoil. The country and kingdom are crumbling, while her path interweaves with a drunken prince who has seen nothing but war and blood throughout his young adulthood and she also joins ranks with a band of misfits (and an often-smiling, monstrous boy) who seem too trusting and all too good to be true to accept as allies.
You guys, you need to prepare yourself for the dark character agencies and merciless blood magic that saturates Wicked Saints. There are jaw-dropping moments of lies, deception, bloody kisses, and utter betrayal. And you know what, I am so here for the next book to knock me off my feet.
“The future was magic, it was power, it was mankind stepping out of the shadows and finding out the world had been kept in the dark by these gods.”
“We’re all monsters . . . some of us just hide it better than others.”
“You must make a choice, little bird. Do you continue on with your wings clipped or do you fly?”
“I don’t think love is such a force that it will stop you. I’m not sure you’re even capable of it.”
“He was a liar and she wanted his truths.”
“A witch is just a girl who has realized her power is her own.”
About the Emily A. Duncan
EMILY A. DUNCAN 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. Wicked Saints is her first book. She lives in Ohio.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: https://eaduncan.com/
Twitter: @glitzandshadows
Instagram: @glitzandshadows
Tumblr: http://glitzandshadows.tumblr.com/
rants and raves of a bibliophile 
Wonderful review…Yes I agree it was so hard to get into the book there was too much information…
Thank you. Yes, I kept wanting a list of everyone and their powers, lol.
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