{"id":1943,"date":"2019-04-05T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/?p=1943"},"modified":"2021-05-29T14:03:26","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T18:03:26","slug":"blog-tour-wicked-saints-by-emily-a-duncan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/blog-tour-wicked-saints-by-emily-a-duncan\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog Tour: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan (GIVEAWAY!!!)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ubb-blog-tour-banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/WickedSaints_BlogTourBanner_AFTER-4.2.png\" alt=\"Blog Tour: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan (GIVEAWAY!!!)\"><\/p>Happy Friday and welcome to my stop on the <em>Wicked Saints<\/em> blog tour!!! This book was absolutely AMAZING and I&#8217;m so excited to be a part of the book tour! So excited in fact that I decided to give away one(1) kindle copy of <em>Wicked Saints<\/em> to a lucky reader! Read on to find my review, favorite quotes, information about the author, an excerpt, and how to enter the giveaway!!<!--more-->\n\n<p>I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.<\/p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Wicked-Saints_Cover-FINAL_800.jpg\" alt=\"Blog Tour: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan (GIVEAWAY!!!)\" title=\"Blog Tour: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan (GIVEAWAY!!!)\" class=\"ubb-cover-image alignleft\"><strong>Wicked Saints<\/strong> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/authors\/emily-a-duncan\/\">Emily A. Duncan<\/a> <br><strong>Series:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/series\/something-dark-and-holy\/\">Something Dark and Holy #1<\/a> <br><strong>Published on<\/strong>  April 2, 2019 by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/publishers\/wednesday-books\/\">Wednesday Books<\/a> <br><strong>Genres:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/genres\/fantasy\/\">Fantasy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/genres\/ya\/\">YA<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/genres\/queer\/\">Queer<\/a> <br><strong>Pages:<\/strong> 400 <br><strong>Format:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/formats\/arc\/\">ARC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/reviews\/formats\/earc\/\">eARC<\/a> <br><strong>Source:<\/strong> NetGalley <br><strong>Add to <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/36118682-wicked-saints\" target=\"_blank\">Goodreads<\/a> <br><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa fa-star\"><\/i><\/span> <br><blockquote class=\"ubb-synopsis\"><p>A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.<\/p>\n<p>A prince in danger must decide who to trust.<\/p>\n<p>A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings. <\/p>\n<p>Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.<\/p>\n<p>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. <i>Wicked Saints<\/i> is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan\u2019s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy..<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n\t\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t\"@type\":\"Review\",\n\t\"datePublished\": \"2019-04-05T11:00:55+00:00\",\n\t\"description\": \"Happy Friday and welcome to my stop on the Wicked Saints blog tour!!! This book was absolutely AMAZING and I'm so excited to be a part of the book tour! So excited in fact that I decided to give \",\n\t\"publisher\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"Kait Plus Books\"\t},\n\t\"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\\\/books\\\/blog-tour-wicked-saints-by-emily-a-duncan\\\/\",\n\t\"itemReviewed\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Book\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"Wicked Saints\",\n\t\t\"author\": {\n\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\t\"name\": \"Emily A. Duncan\",\n\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"\"\t\t},\n\t\t\"isbn\": \"1250195667\"\t},\n\t\"author\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"Kaity\",\n\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\\\/books\\\/\"\t},\n\t\"reviewRating\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Rating\",\n\t\t\"ratingValue\": 5,\n\t\t\"bestRating\": \"5\"\n\t}\n}\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Review<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>What I LOVED<\/strong><\/h2>\nTHIS BOOK?!?! IS SO AMAZING?!?!?! So this is a funny little anecdote, but you know how sometimes bad reviews are really helpful because they tell you why they didn&#8217;t like it and they&#8217;re pointing things out that you LOVE in a book? That&#8217;s what happened to me. I was like two thirds of the way done and I went on Goodreads and someone had posted a review that they didn&#8217;t really like this book because it reminded them a lot of <em>And I Darken<\/em> and the relationship between Lada and Radu and I was just like&#8230; THAT&#8217;S MY FAVORITE BOOK. So then I was wicked excited to read the rest of the book because comparing it to my fave is just the best and I was not disappointed. <strong>If you&#8217;re looking for a book where you&#8217;re constantly asking yourself how blurred the line between good and evil can be then this is the book for you!&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>What I Didn&#8217;t Love<\/strong><\/h2>\nIt took me a little while to warm up to all of the characters (except Parijahan, who I loved and trusted almost instantly), but once I did I was WICKED INVESTED (lol, some punny humor for all those in the North East like me) and LOVED EVERYONE. And then THAT THING (details in Spoilers, Sweetie!) happened and I&#8217;m just&#8230; not okay.&nbsp;\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Summing it Up with a GIF<\/strong><!-- \/wp:post-content --><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/h2>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/dark-side.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"210\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Judging a Book by its Cover<\/strong><\/h2>\nLOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL AND DARK AND PERFECT THIS COVER IS!!!! Also, just like I did with the text on the cover of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/review-of-anger-is-a-gift-by-mark-oshiro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Anger is a Gift<\/em><\/a>, I DID NOT NOTICE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TAG LINE until I was like&#8230; 95% done with the book?!?!?! BUT IT&#8217;S PERFECT. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS PERFECT. <strong>100\/10 STARS<\/strong>!!!\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If You Enjoyed&#8230;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<em><strong>AND I DARKEN<\/strong><\/em>, with it&#8217;s dark heroine and forbidden love and complicated relationships between people who may or may not be enemies&#8230;\n\n<em><strong>FURYBORN<\/strong><\/em>, for the fantastic world building and magic system and how you can trace the ramifications of characters actions&#8230;\n\n<em><strong>THREE DARK CROWNS<\/strong><\/em>, because of the super detailed and developed magic system and knowing something dark was coming the whole time and basically just the <em>tone<\/em> of these three books&#8230;\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">then you will <strong>LOVE<\/strong> <em>Wicked Saints<\/em>!!!<\/h4>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Favorite Quotes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-00101-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-00101.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-00101-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-00101-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2265\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-002-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-002.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-002-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-002-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2266\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-003-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-003.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-003-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-003-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2272\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-004-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-004.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-004-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-004-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2273\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-005-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-005.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-005-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-005-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2274\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-006-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-006.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-006-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-006-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2275\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-007-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-007.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-007-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-007-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2276\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-008-1024x350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-008.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-008-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ws-quotes-008-768x263.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Spoilers Sweetie<\/strong><!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph --><\/h2>\nOH MY GODS! So at some point in this book (I thought I made a note of it on goodreads but apparently I didn&#8217;t), Serefin is talking about how<span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\"> he used to spend time with his cousin, but then he was taken away because he was ~sick~  <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span>and I just immediately assumed it was<span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\"> Malachiasz <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span> because of course I did, and then I was RIGHT ABOUT THAT, but somehow still completely WRONG because I missed all the foreshadowing that <span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\">Malachiasz <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span> was the <span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\"> BLACK VULTURE!!!!  <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span> So, uh&#8230; did any of you see that coming???? Also, WHERE THE F DID <span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\"> Kostya  <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span> END UP BECAUSE CLEARLY THEY&#8217;RE IMPORTANT FOR THE NEXT PART OF THE PROPHECY!!! Oh! And the thing with the gods, <span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\"> which I have an idea about. So there&#8217;s an episode (actually I think it was a two parter, but I digress) of Doctor Who where these aliens come to &#8220;save&#8221; the human race and in doing so make us think they&#8217;ve ALWAYS been here on Earth to &#8220;guide&#8221; us, and something about the way things happened with the King and Malachiasz at the end of the book made me think maybe this is how the gods work in this universe? Like, once you have that power, you &#8220;become&#8221; a god, and you&#8217;ve always been a god, and &#8230;  <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span>maybe I&#8217;m overthinking this. OR MAYBE I&#8217;M RIGHT. Who knows? (I mean, I guess we&#8217;ll all find out in the next book or two, but for now&#8230;)\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Let&#8217;s Discuss<\/strong><\/h2>\nKind of on theme with this week&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/top-ten-tuesday-april-2-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Top Ten Tuesday post<\/a>, I want to know what exactly is appealing to you about this book! For me, I was really interested in the &#8220;girl talks to the gods and they listen&#8221; aspect, but I know a lot of other people like the &#8220;walking the line between right and wrong&#8221; theme this book explores. So what was the hook for you? Let me know in the comments!&nbsp;\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Author Info<\/h1>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">About the Author<\/h2>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2071 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Emily-A.-Duncan-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Emily-A.-Duncan-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Emily-A.-Duncan-768x1022.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Emily-A.-Duncan-769x1024.jpeg 769w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>EMILY A. DUNCAN works as a youth services librarian. She received a Master\u2019s 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. <em>Wicked Saints<\/em> is her first book. She lives in Ohio.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Author Links<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/eaduncan.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glitzandshadows.tumblr.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tumblr<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/glitzandshadows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/glitzandshadows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Pronunciation Guide<\/h2>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wickedsaints\/WickedSaints_PronunciationGuide.pdf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2202 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Wicked-Saints-Pronunciation-Guide.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Wicked-Saints-Pronunciation-Guide.png 960w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Wicked-Saints-Pronunciation-Guide-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Wicked-Saints-Pronunciation-Guide-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Excerpt<\/h2>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">N A D E Z H D A<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">L A P T E V A<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">&nbsp;<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Horz stole the stars and the heavens out from<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">underneath Myesta\u2019s control, and for that she has<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">never forgiven him. For where can the moons rest if<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not the heavens?<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">&nbsp;<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014Codex of the Divine, 5:26<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4>&nbsp;<\/h4>\n<h4><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s certainly not my fault you chose a child who <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sleeps so deeply. If she dies it will very much be your <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fault, not mine.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Startled by bickering gods was not Nadya\u2019s preferred method of being woken up. She rolled to her feet in the dark, moving automatically. It took her eyes a few seconds to catch up with the rest of her body.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shut up!<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It wasn\u2019t wise to tell the gods to shut up, but it was <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">too late now. A feeling of amused disdain flowed through her, but neither of the gods spoke again. She realized it was Horz, the god of the heavens and the stars, who had woken her. He had a tendency to be obnoxious but generally left Nadya alone, as a rule.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually only a single god communed with their chosen cleric. There once had been a cleric named Kseniya Mirokhina who was gifted with unnatural marksmanship by Devonya, the goddess of the hunt. And Veceslav had chosen a cleric of his own, long ago, but their name was lost to history, and he refused to talk about them. The recorded histories never spoke of clerics who could hear more than one god. That Nadya communed with the entire pantheon was a rarity the priests who trained her could not explain.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was a chance older, more primordial gods existed, ones that had long since given up watch of the world and left it in the care of the others. But no one knew for sure. Of the twenty known gods, however, carvings and paintings depicted their human forms, though no one knew what they actually looked like. No cleric throughout history had ever looked upon the faces of the gods. No saint, nor priest. <\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each had their own power and magic they could bestow upon Nadya, and while some were forthcoming, others were not. She had never spoken to the goddess of the moons, Myesta. She wasn\u2019t even sure what manner of power the goddess would give, if she so chose.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And though she could commune with many gods, it was impossible to forget just who had chosen her for this fate: Marzenya, the goddess of death and magic, who expected complete dedication.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indistinct voices murmured in the dark. She and Anna had found a secluded place within a copse of thick pine trees to set up their tent, but it no longer felt safe. Nadya slid a voryen from underneath her bedroll and nudged Anna awake.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She moved to the mouth of the tent, grasping at her beads, a prayer already forming on her lips, smoky symbols trailing from her mouth. She could see the blurry impressions of figures in the darkness, far off in the distance. It was hard to judge the number, two? Five? Ten? Her heart sped at the possibility that a company of Tranavians were already on her trail.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anna drew up beside her. Nadya\u2019s grip on her <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">voryen<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tightened, but she kept still. If they hadn\u2019t seen their tent yet, she could keep them from noticing it entirely.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Anna\u2019s hand clasped her forearm.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWait,\u201d she whispered, her breath frosting out before her in the cold. She pointed to a dark spot just off to the side of the group.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nadya pressed her thumb against Bozidarka\u2019s bead and her eyesight sharpened until she could see as clearly as if it were day. It took effort to shove aside the immediate, paralyzing fear as her suspicions were confirmed and Tranavian uniforms became clear. It wasn\u2019t a full company. In fact, they looked rather ragged. Perhaps they had split off and lost their way.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More interesting, though, was the boy with a crossbow silently aiming into the heart of the group.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe can get away before they notice,\u201d Anna said.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nadya almost agreed, almost slipped her <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">voryen<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> back into its sheath, but just then, the boy fired and the trees erupted into chaos. Nadya wasn\u2019t willing to use an innocent\u2019s life as a distraction for her own cowardice. Not <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">again.<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even as Anna protested, Nadya let a prayer form fully in her mind, hand clutching at Horz\u2019s bead on her necklace and its constellation of stars. Symbols fell from her lips like glowing glimmers of smoke and every star in the sky winked out.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, that was more extreme than I intended<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Nadya<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">thought with a wince. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I should\u2019ve known better than to ask Horz for anything.<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She could hear cursing as the world plunged into darkness. Anna sighed in exasperation beside her.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cJust stay back,\u201d she hissed as she moved confidently through the dark.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNadya . . .\u201d Anna\u2019s groan was soft.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It took more focus to send a third prayer to Bozetjeh. It was hard to catch Bozetjeh on a good day; the god of speed was notoriously slow to answer prayers. But she managed to snag his attention and received a spell allowing her to move as fast as the vicious Kalyazin wind.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her initial count had been wrong; there were six Tranavians now scattering into the forest. The boy dropped his crossbow with a bewildered look up into the sky, startling when Nadya touched his shoulder.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was no way he could see in this darkness, but she could. When he whirled, a curved sword in his hand, Nadya sidestepped. His swing went wide and she shoved him in the direction of a fleeing Tranavian, anticipating their collision.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFind the rest,\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marzenya hissed. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cKill them all.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Complete and total dedication.<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She caught up to one of the figures, stabbing her <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">voryen<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into his skull just underneath his ear.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not so difficult this time,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> she thought. But the knowledge was a distant thing.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blood sprayed, splattering a second Tranavian, who cried out in alarm. Before the second man could figure out what had happened to his companion, she lashed out her heel, catching him squarely on the jaw and knocking him off his feet. She slit his throat.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three more. They couldn\u2019t have moved far. Nadya took up Bozidarka\u2019s bead again. The goddess of vision revealed where the last Tranavians were located. The boy with the sword had managed to kill two in the dark. Nadya couldn\u2019t actually see the last one, just felt him nearby, very much alive.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Something slammed into Nadya\u2019s back and suddenly the chilling bite of a blade was pressed against her throat. The boy appeared in front of her, his crossbow back in his hands, thankfully not pointed at Nadya. It was clear he could only barely see her. He wasn\u2019t Kalyazi, but Akolan.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A fair number of Akolans had taken advantage of the war between their neighbors, hiring out their swords for profit on both sides. They were known for favoring Tranavia simply because of the warmer climate. It was rare to find a creature of the desert willingly stumbling through Kalyazin\u2019s snow.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He spoke a fluid string of words she didn\u2019t understand. His posture was languid, as if he hadn\u2019t nearly been torn to pieces by blood mages. The blade against Nadya\u2019s throat pressed harder. A colder voice responded to him, the foreign language scratched uncomfortably at her ears.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nadya only knew the three primary languages of Kalyazin and passing Tranavian. If she wasn\u2019t going to be able to communicate with them . . .<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The boy said something else and Nadya heard the girl sigh before she felt the blade slip away. \u201cWhat\u2019s a little Kalyazi assassin doing out in the middle of the mountains?\u201d he asked, switching to perfect Kalyazi.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nadya was very aware of the boy\u2019s friend at her back. \u201cI could ask the same of you.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She shifted Bozidarka\u2019s spell, sharpening her vision further. The boy had skin like molten bronze and long hair with gold chains threaded through his loose curls.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He grinned.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Giveaway<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Congrats to Courtney W! I hope you enjoy <em>Wicked Saints<\/em> as much as I did!<\/strong>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1254 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/wellwishescandyfishes003.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/wellwishescandyfishes003.png 600w, https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/wellwishescandyfishes003-300x160.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p><p>Reading this book contributed to these challenges:<\/p><ul class=\"ubb-contributed-challenges\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.me\/pagmwu-qf\">2019 Reviews<\/a><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Friday and welcome to my stop on the Wicked Saints blog tour!!! This book was absolutely AMAZING and I&#8217;m so excited to be a part of the book tour! So excited in fact that I decided to give away one(1) kindle copy of Wicked Saints to a lucky reader! Read on to find my review, favorite quotes, information about the author, an excerpt, and how to enter the giveaway!!Reading this book contributed to these challenges:2019 Reviews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,484,35,27,30,32],"tags":[691,537,12,489,552,765,651,540,462,557,196,766,764],"reading-challenges":[585],"class_list":["post-1943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-book-tours","category-ya-fantasy","category-giveaways","category-reviews","category-ya","tag-april-2019","tag-blog-tour","tag-book-review","tag-book-tour","tag-cover-love","tag-emily-a-duncan","tag-excerpt","tag-giveaway","tag-kait-plus-books","tag-quotes","tag-reviews","tag-something-dark-and-holy","tag-wicked-saints","book-author-emily-a-duncan","book-series-something-dark-and-holy","book-publisher-wednesday-books","book-genre-fantasy","book-genre-queer","book-genre-ya","book-source-netgalley","book-format-arc","book-format-earc","reading-challenges-2019-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Wicked-Saints.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1943"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12632,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions\/12632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1943"},{"taxonomy":"reading-challenges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaitgoodwin.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-challenges?post=1943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}