Review: The Merciless Ones (Deathless #2)
The Merciless Ones (Deathless #2)
By Namina Forna
Published By: Usborne Publishing
Publication Date: May 30, 2022
Date Read: April 9, 2023
Genre: YA – Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
From Goodreads:
Fans of The Gilded Ones and Children of Blood and Bone will love the second book in an epic fantasy series about a girl who is the key to saving the empire–or its greatest threat.It’s been six months since Deka has freed the goddesses and discovered who she really is. There are now wars waging across the kingdom. Otereans now think jatu are traitors to the nation. Deka is called a monster.
But the real battle has only just begun and Deka must lead the charge. Deka is tasked with freeing the rest of the goddesses. Only as she begins to free them, she begins to see a strange symbol everywhere in places of worship and worn on armor. There’s something unnatural about that symbol; just looking at it makes Deka lose her senses. Even worse, it seems to repel her powers. She can’t command or communicate with the new deathshrieks. In fact, she can’t even understand them when they speak.
Deka knows freeing the goddesses is just the beginning. She can tell whatever dark force out is powerful and there is something sinister out there threatening the kingdom connected to that symbol–something merciless–that her army will need to stop before humanity crumbles. But Deka’s powers are only getting stronger…and her strongest weapon could be herself.
“How can we create an equal society if one half of its population thinks the other is inferior?”
I read The Gilded Ones, the first book in the Deathless series by Namina Forna way back when it first published and it completely blew me away. But for some reason the second book has sat unread on my shelves for a long time. I’m just very bad at continuing and finishing series. I finally picked up The Merciless Ones as part of my ‘Catch up on Series’ challenge and I am now kicking myself for not reading this one sooner. This was absolutely phenomenal!
The Merciless Ones picks up where the first book left off, with Deka doing the work of The Gilded Ones… her ancestors and trying to fix the disparity that is happening in her world. But not all is as it seems and Deka must learn just who she can trust.
I mean holy crap! Nothing could have prepared me for the twists and turns in this book. It was like having whiplash… I didn’t know where the next jab was going to come from. After The Gilded Ones, I thought I had this storyline figured out and that I knew who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. But one thing that The Merciless Ones has shown me is that we, the reader… know NOTHING! I pride myself in being able to guess twists in books quite early but I have to admit that Namina had me fooled! I was shocked… SHOCKED… by the events in this book and it honestly made me love this book and series all the more. It was absolutely incredible!
I loved every single heart-pounding moment of The Merciless Ones. This is one of the best YA Fantasy books I have read in a long time. And for a book 2 of a series, that is usually ‘middle book syndrome’ that is saying something. If you love a YA Fantasy that is action packed, will make you fall in love and want to gather the troops to go and fight all of the injustice in this world, then this series is for you. I adored every single moment and I am left reeling… dying to get my hands on book 3.
“I know ye don’t like to feel weak, but grief is like the ocean. It ebbs an’ flows, an’ it takes ye by surprise. Ye can’t control the ocean, my love, no matter how much ye try. Ye just have to follow it where it leads.”
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I’m Kayleigh, a teacher and blogger who is obsessed with all things bookish. I love reading YA books of all genres and I am happiest when sharing my love and passion for books.