As I write this, I have just finished reading Ruin not ten minutes ago. I want to at least start drafting my review while the memory is still so fresh in my mind and before the wounds have healed. John Gwynne’s Ruin is masterful and remarkable, definitely the best book thus far in The Faithful and the Fallen, in my humble opinion. It exceeded my expectations unfalteringly and I had a blast reading through this, with much of the final pages in the book being a flurry as I flipped the pages so quickly they were bound to tear.

Boy, did I get some reading done this winter. I read more between late November and March than I had in the entirety of 2021—at least, in terms of word count. So, today, I want to reflect on the books I read over the winter months!

My previous book review was for John Gwynne’s Malice, the first book in the Faithful and the Fallen series. I thought that it was good, but not great, and didn’t really stand out to me as a unique and impressive work. However, I found the ending to be a really compelling and well-written contrast to the first chunk of it, so I was excited to get into Valour, the sequel. In this spoiler-free review, I’ll talk about whether Valour met or even exceeded my expectations for the book!

This is going to be a bit of a rant, so strap yourselves in and get ready for some… angry content.

It’s been a while since I released a book review! I’ve been focused on reviewing The Legend of Vox Machina and the latest FromSoft game, Elden Ring, but I recently finished reading Malice and want to get my thoughts on the book out there before I dive into the second book in the series. I found the book to be a bit of a mixed bag, which I was led to expect anyway—some people really don’t seem to enjoy this book, but still like John Gwynne’s Shadow of the Gods, so I came into this feeling like I was either going to love or hate this book. So, let’s get into the spoiler-free review of Malice, the first book in John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen.

I’ve gotta say, this book really stepped it for me in several ways. In this spoiler-free review, I’m going to dive into those ways in which the conclusion to the trilogy impressed me and give you my final personal recommendation based on my feelings toward the trilogy as a whole.