This dark fantasy starts off with a bang. Nadya, who can communicate with the gods of Kalyazi, is her country's secret weapon in the long war against neighboring Tranavia. Within pages of the book's opening, the soldiers of Travania are pounding on the monastery doors, and Nadya must escape, beginning an excruciating journey that intertwines love and treachery, prayers and death. Nadya's fate is impacted by two young men, Serefin, the prince of Tranavia, whose uncertainties, especially revolving around his father, cloud his judgement, and Malachiasz, strange and tortured, who Nadya thinks she can love. The upfront presence of the gods adds an intriguing twist to a brutal story that, mostly, seems quite familiar, both in plotting and characters. However, there is strength in the relationships, and discussions of power, its uses, and its limits add heft. The ending, though a bit rushed, is as powerful as the opening, and although some things seem headed on a predestined path, there are explosive elements waiting to detonate in the expected sequels.

Once it was sparkly vampires; now it's brooding bad boys, dark magic, and colliding kingdoms.Dual perspective narration cuts between Nadya, a Kalyazi cleric raised in a remote monastery who speaks with gods, and Serefin, Tranavian High Prince and blood mage from a rival kingdom first seen destroying the monastery and killing a boy. Nadya soon connects with Malachiasz, also the enemy but strangely attractive, and his two token brown companions, Rashid and Parijahan, all of whom are good with weapons and have their own revenge agenda (that never really comes to the fore; perhaps a later volume will tie up the many loose ends). Each teen has a goal: Nadya wants to bring the gods back to Tranavia; Serefin wants to get drunk (but maybe also stop his power-mad father); and magically altered Malachiasz wants to stop the war but may also have some other plans up his sleeve. Violence—spells are cast by literal bloodshed—and provocative questions (What are the gods? What is divinity? What rights does power confer?) swirl together, but the limited character development and mediocre writing diminish the high concept into paint-by-numbers YA fantasy. Other than the two mentioned above, almost all characters follow a white default.All the right elements are present without amounting to much—and yet, when something is so on-trend there will doubtless be fans. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Nadezhda -Nadya- Lapteva, 17, is a Kalyazi cleric who, unlike her predecessors, can channel not just her patron goddess, but the -entire pantheon.- The priests raising Nadya plan to deploy her as a weapon in Kalyazin-s holy war against Tranavia, a heretical nation that practices blood magic, but before they finish her training, Tranavian High Prince Serefin Meleski-s army attacks the monastery. Nadya escapes and joins forces with two citizens of neighboring Akoka and a Tranavian defector who are headed for Tranavia to assassinate King Izak and end the war. Meanwhile, Izak summons Serefin home-allegedly to choose a bride, although Serefin fears his power-hungry father is plotting filicide. Chapters alternatingly follow Nadya and Serefin as their stories converge. First in a trilogy, debut author Duncan-s Gothic fantasy muses on matters of religion, faith, politics, and free will. The story starts strong but succumbs to murky worldbuilding, uneven pacing, and underdeveloped characters. Although the devastating conclusion feels more arbitrary than earned, numerous dangling plot threads will leave readers hungry for a sequel. Ages 13-up. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra & Assoc. (Apr.)