“we are creatures of the wilds, evren. we aren’t meant for gilded walls and thrones. sacrifice is in our nature. the legacy you leave behind will be new, and i have a feeling it will change the world.”

i still remember the moment it clicked for me how exactly “the horror and the wild” inspired the story, and what evren’s dark secret was. but that’s the series as a whole, let’s talk about book 3.

politics, baby! i love my high fantasy with politics, and i love it when it’s thoroughly thought through. we get elves being the way elves should be—so ancient, seeing themselves so above the outside world they do not realise the world has moved on without them. as always, grant’s worldbuilding is beautifully crafted and the language awakes imagination effortlessly.

in the first half, the pacing felt slower than the first two books but then shit truly hit the fan. some pretty ambitious concepts like time travel have entered the story and while i haven’t fully connected all the dots yet, i don’t think they’re bringing anything too overpowered. each victory is balanced by a loss, each time something is given, something else must be taken away. did my heart break at the end? possibly. definitely.

i love how each time i think of this series, it reinvigorates my appreciation for dnd (though as an observer rather than a player). grant clearly cherishes this cast of adventurers dearly, and it shows on the page. it’s really just everything i adore about fantasy.

also i hoped there’d be more of shao because he was absolutely on his way to become my poor little meow meow.

4.5 stars!

"Home, she'd learned, was a group of people she couldn't live without"

Once again another fantastic book in this series that is becoming a fav found family adventure story,

Loved that we got a bit more political in this one and there was some epic fantasy battle scenes in this, I also may have shed a tear at one point.

Finally got the Evren back story that I was wanting and got to see where she came from and what happened with her heart. Happy that the romance that was hinted at in previous books was developed more in this also.

There was some time travel part in this and time travel is something that I generally dislike as its not often done very well, this wasn't bad though but not as clear as I would have liked, otherwise this would be a clear 5/5 stars.

Gillian Grants writing style is easy to read and you can really see her love for D&D shine through these books as you can really see the D&D inspiration in the world building, characters and adventures.

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, who provided me with an electronic copy of this book in return for an honest review.***

Where the Heart Festers is the third book of the Blood of Eith series and it didn't disappoint. The book is amazingly written, just like the previous two books of the series. I love Gillian Grant's writing style. I couldn't get enough of it, I wanted to read chapter after chapter.

It's filled with adventure, fantasy and so much action. I recommend it to any lovers of those genres. I'm excited to read what comes next.

[This review is posted on GoodReads. An extended version, which will also feature Where the Shadows Beckon and Where the Night Consumes, will be posted on Instagram on June 28th, 2022. Links to the reviews are or will be attached]