Edritch by Keri Lake is the highly anticipated second book in The Eating Woods trilogy. This elaborate and complex fantasy romance delivers everything the fans had been waiting for, with an exceptionally broody hero and a heroine willing to do anything to save the ones she loves.
*this review contains spoilers for Anathema, the first book in the series*
In the mortal lands, Maevyth and Zevander find themselves surrounded by a dark and terrifying magic that’s infected the town that used to be Maevyth’s home, and time is running out. Zevander can’t stay in the mortal lands forever, but crossing through The Eating Woods into Aethyria presents its own problems.
Worse still, they have to reckon with the enormous power inside Zevander, one so dangerous it could bring down all of Aethyria, and Maevyth might be the only key to harnessing that power.
When past and present collide and all seems hopeless, Maevyth and Zevander must fight the darkest evil, one that threatens to destroy Zevander so completely that no one, not even Maevyth, can save him.
In Eldritch, the characters have a great deal of trauma and pain to work through. They are carrying the weight of their histories, and it impacts every facet of how they interact.
Zevander is such an incredible character. He’s so layered, and in some ways he’s a classic romantasy hero, but in other ways he’s entirely unique. His character will make any reader feel something, and after all he’s been through, all I want is for him to get the love and happy ending he deserves.
Maevyth got her time in Anathema for the readers to learn her story. In this book, she takes a small step back so the readers can really see Zevander. It works beautifully, and she remains his perfect balance.
The villains in this series are truly sinister. General Loyce is nothing short of stomach-churning, not to mention the power-hungry monster who’s been plaguing Zevander since he was a child and the priest who made Maevyth’s childhood hell. It’s a pantheon of evil that has to be some of the most heinous fantasy villains I’ve ever read, which makes for a great story.
Thanks to the nightmares these characters have experienced, there is a great deal of patience required when it comes to the romantic aspects of this book. They have a lot of trauma to process that makes intimacy tricky, but it is an artfully done second book slow burn, with lots of angsty yearning.
Eldritch has so many elements and moving pieces. The way this author has woven this world is astonishing. There are flashbacks to the past that give the reader a view into Zevander’s history, and the story is told from both Maevyth and Zevander’s perspectives, with some point-of-view chapters from Zevander’s fellow assassin Kazhimyr as well. It’s all very intricate, with a wide array of magic that is sometimes hard to keep track of, but somehow it all comes together to form an incredible story.
Ultimately, this is a story about religious fanaticism and power-hungry tyranny. It resonates particularly intensely in today’s current climate, and it doesn’t shy away from the horrors these things create. Eldritch struck me in a powerful way. It’s one of those fantasies that really forces the reader to sit with it and think. Be warned, though. The cliffanger is absolutely brutal, and there is not yet a release date announced for the third and final book in the series.
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