“To hunt in the dark was to court those creatures with the claim that she was one of them. To creep in the shadowed underbrush, to use the pin-prick stars as the only source of light, to hunt the beings who refused the bright light of day until the palest glimpses of dawn broke through the horizon–that was the night Evren knew and loved.”

when i came across “where the shadows beckon” by chance in january, i didn’t expect to fall in love with the world of eith the way i did. yet here i am, two books down, eager to jump into the third one. i was ready to give this five stars solely for the puppies but there are a few things holding me back from that final 0.5.

for starters, i love how grant explores world-building in dark settings. from the underground realm in the first book, to the race through the long night here, eith is full of magic and mystery under its veil of darkness. the visual language also adds a nice flare to my own imagination.

i absolutely adore the way this book is structured with beats that feel so d&d, yet work so well on paper. i was actually wrapping up the final chapters this friday, when That episode of critical role (campaign 3 episode 33) was airing, so alternating between the updates and the book was a whole bag of stress.

evren is such an intriguing protagonist, and i think grant has done a great job with her journey, both as an individual and the member of the wandering sols. i have some theories already about her big mystery. there’s a nice balance of her inner monologue and conversations with the team. i think i said this in my review of the first book, but evren reminds me so much of my own oc, so i am doubly fond of her.

my few gripes are with character development. early on, we’re introduced to a new team of adventurers. sadly, the ashen bond didn’t feel quite as rounded up as the sols. for the most part this was balanced out by the dialogues between characters, giving glimpses into their minds without revealing too much. i just wish we’d gotten more interactions with the bond. i also felt that solri’s first experiences on the surface could’ve used more exploration, although there was some of it later on in the book.

nevertheless, “the blood of eith” is firmly my favourite fantasy series of the year, and i’m looking forward to finally jumping into “where the heart festers”.

p.s. long live sapphics.

p.p.s. sorin is my child and if anything happens to him ever again i will go feral.

4.5 stars

"Family is a group of people or maybe just one person, that feels like home."

Great second book in the trilogy. Love the found family aspect of this so much and really felt some of the bonds and the loss in this one. Was surprised how quickly I liked the new characters that were introduced.
Bit darker than the first and the atmosphere actually made me cold at times. A great winter read.
Learnt a lot more about Evren but still have a lot of questions which I look forward to getting in the next book.

This book was really good and kept me wanting more really enjoyed it and read it in a day couldn't put it down