There exists an unspoken understanding with YA novels – they don’t quite reach the experimental standards of literary or adult fiction, particularly adult high fantasy where world-building is far more cohesive, characters have more depth and themes have more layers. Their attraction to one another seems to stem from it being forbidden, but there are very few interactions that actually show believable, complex and interesting chemistry between them. Perhaps the most problematic aspect was Nadya’s almost instantaneous fall for Malachiasz. Duncan also takes a chance on the enemies-to-lovers trope with little success. Duncan’s twining of religion and politics raises some interesting questions in the first few chapters, but it is not enough to keep the mundane characters afloat through their melodramatic travels. I was hoping to love this novel but encountered several issues throughout this blood-splattered fairy tale. Readers also follow the High Prince of Tranavia as he struggles to fight a war he wants no part in. Throughout her journey, she falls for the king of monsters himself, the Tranavian-born Malachiasz. Her unique ability to communicate with the gods, along with her rag-tag team of outcasts, makes her dangerous and feared. The story follows 17-year-old Nadezhda “Nadya” Lapteva as she attempts to end a centuries-old holy war between the Tranavians and Kalyazins.
It is the first book of a planned trilogy. “Wicked Saints,” an instant New York Times bestseller upon its April 2019 release, is a YA fantasy that dabbles in religion, romance and monsters. I was hooked when one of my favorite young adult (YA) authors Stephanie Garber, known for her bestselling “Caraval” trilogy, reviewed “Wicked Saints.” She wrote, “This book destroyed me and I adored it.” I wanted to read the first book immediately so I’d be ready for the gorgeous-looking sequel. Duncan’s new book “Ruthless Gods,” the sequel to her debut “Wicked Saints,” was revealed on Instagram in February, I was captivated.
0 kommentar(er)
