The Merciless Ones Review

Title: The Merciless Ones
Author: Namina Forna
Series: Deathless #2
Publisher: Ember
Publish Date: May 31, 2022
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Pages: 464/14.5 hours
Format: Paperback/Audiobook

It’s been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera and discovered who she really is… but war is waging across the kingdom, and the real battle has only just begun. For there is a dark force growing in Otera–a merciless power that Deka and her army must stop.

Yet hidden secrets threaten to destroy everything Deka has known. And with her own gifts changing, Deka must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera… or if she might be its greatest threat.

The Merciless Ones is the second thrilling installment of the epic fantasy series in which a young heroine fights against a world that would dare tame her.

As this is a sequel, there may be spoilers!

This fast-paced sequel felt at times both engaging and not engaging enough, and that made me a bit unmotivated to want to pick it up in the first third of the book. It may have been that too much time had passed between when I had read the first book, The Gilded Ones, until now, but I felt I had remembered enough, including of my emotions of how I felt about the first book, to go into this one and pick up from where I left off.

Going past that point of the book, though, I felt more engaged, and found myself engaged some reveals that I hadn’t expected, pleasantly surprised with some twists that took places, and or smug with predictions I made at the very beginning of this book that came to fruition.

This middle book felt like it built upon what the first book set out to do, while also feeling like it was fleshing out the Deka a bit more and a few of the characters that surrounded her bit by bit, though it definitely felt like it focused more on the world building and the lore than the characters themselves. I wish there were more moments and interactions with the characters, or more moments where Deka could have just been sitting with her own thoughts because it just felt like the pace was so go-go-go all of the time, and she reprimanded herself for having certain emotions so often that it was frustrating. Her friends did show up for her often, though, which was appreciated, but seeing those slower beats would’ve benefitted the story and the characters.

I was, however, fascinated by the lore of the gods and how they came into the world, and subsequently how they got the world into the mess it’s currently in. Though some of it didn’t surprise me, there were parts that did, which I appreciated. It felt like a much larger part of the whole, and it expanded the world a bit more, which was exciting to see. I felt myself eager to hear more, and the snippets we got were fascinating, for sure.

There were a few moments that did have me feeling emotional – one in which I almost cried, actually – which I wasn’t expecting. Even though I said above that the book could have done with more slower beats, the few that it had did feel powerful for the moments that they were held in. Still, the story was very fast-paced, constantly moving from one location to the next, literally. The sense of urgency in the tasks at hand, at the revelations that were had, at everything that happened, could definitely be felt.

Overall, though, I did enjoy the book, especially the second half of it. There were still pieces that I felt were rushed or could’ve been expanded upon, but I still feel that I will continue onto the final book of the trilogy and finish out this story with a bang (or tears, who knows?). I do recommend this sequel if you’ve read the first book and are curious to see how it continues.