Review: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

There is so much to like about Wicked Saints. It’s a refreshing twist on a normal tale of magic, girl, boy and monster. 

I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll be vague.

The book is told from two different perspectives, the magical cleric who can speak to the gods (Nadya) and is granted power from them, and the blood magician who is hunting her (Serefin). Little do they know, they may have more in common than they think.

I like how fresh the world seemed. Sure it’s a magical fantasy world, but there was a lot of fun with Nadya’s particular powers, her religion and her loyalty and devotion to gods she doesn’t understand. Then there’s Serefin who doesn’t believe in the powers from the gods and is thrown back to his kingdom in a time of war to be… married off. But something isn’t right and Serefin finds himself in the center of a dark and sinister plot. 

I really love how the setting came to life. Two countries in a long war where neither side is winning and both are losing in many other ways, these characters are thrown together to determine values of life and magic. 

Nadya meets friends along the way, especially a boy named Malachiaszwho seems to understand her in ways others do not. Together, they hatch a plot. Nadya, Serefin and Malachiasz are all so compelling as individual characters. Nadya is questioning everything she thought she knew. Serefin is broken and paranoid and sees darkness and betrayal around every corner. Malachiasz is as mysterious as he is scarred. Even switching back and forth between Nadya and Serefin didn’t bother me as each storyline was full and complete by itself.

The plot does begin fast paced, but slows down about a quarter of the way through the book. It picks back up again during the last half and I’m glad I stuck with it.

I can’t wait for book two.