Recommended Readers: Fans of the first book and cosmic horror enthusiasts Notable Notables: Dark, gothic atmosphere with no punches pulled villain romance diverse LGBTQA+ cast Whatever enthusiasm I had left for this trilogy was slowly chipped away as I read, to the point where even if other books were planned to be set in this world, I wouldn’t reach for them. Whatever weight those had before gets beaten to death in this book. Neither author nor editor has gotten a handle on the comma splices, either, so they were beyond annoying, along with the “noun and noun and noun and noun” description style. So my brain did what it does: imagined whatever it wanted with nothing to ground its imaginings. Characters would be at a nondescript palace, manor, safe house, graveyard, capital city, etc., and then they would be at the next nondescript place. Descriptions of cosmic horrors and eldritch monsters were emphasized vastly over setting, so I never got a clear sense of where we were in Kalyazin. Duncan? Well, it turns out it’s better than Ruthless Gods, but it’s still not good. So what’s the deal with Blessed Monsters by Emily A.

I have, frankly, read much better from much worse people. If you’re curious about the former, plenty of folks on Goodreads have already done so for me. My Reviewįor the record, I’m not going to be reviewing the author and her behavior here but the book. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Recommended Readers: No one I fear we’ve jumped the shark Notable Notables: Dark, gothic atmosphere with eldritch horror descriptions villain romance diverse LGBTQA+ cast

Blessed Monsters by Emily A. Duncan