Name: Anathema
Series: The Eating Woods #1
Author: Keri Lake
Publisher: Self-Published
Format: Kindle (through Kindle Unlimited)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Dark, Gothic
Spice Rating: Open Door 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
Only the banished know what lies beyond the woods …
There are whispers about what lurks in Witch Knell—the forest where sinners go to die. The villagers call it The Eating Woods because what’s taken is never given back. Only those who’ve lost their senses would dare to go near it.
Or the banished.
Maevyth Bronwick knows better than to breach the misty labyrinth of trees, but a tragic turn of events compels her beyond the archway of bones, to a boundary no mortal has crossed before. One that cloaks a dark and fantastical world that’s as dangerous as it is alluring.
It’s there that he dwells, the cursed lord of Eidolon. The one tasked to keep her hidden from the magehood that seeks to crucify her in the name of an arcane prophesy. Zevander Rydainn, known to his prey as The Scorpion, is the coldest, most calculated assassin in all of Aethyria and he’d sooner toss his feisty ward to a pack of vicious fyredrakes than keep her safe.
If only he could.
Maevyth’s blood is the key to breaking his despised curse and vanquishing the slumbering evil in Witch Knell. Unfortunately for Lord Rydainn, fate has other plans for the irresistible little enchantress. And his growing obsession with her threatens to destroy everything.
Including himself.
Review:
I adored Nocticadia by Keri Lake and that book got me so excited to read more of her work and more dark gothic books. The first one I was excited to get to was Anathema… Guys. I’m so disappointed and that makes me so sad. I started reading this before the 24 hour reading challenge I did, but I read 65% during the reading challenge and it actually almost slumped me…
I’ve never had that happen to before. Either because the book was bad or because it was amazing – I’ve never been slumped by a book before. Anathema was almost the first to do that. I did decide to sleep before picking up another book and thank god I did because I woke up in a better mood… Sheesh.
But let’s talk about what I did like, because I did still rate this 2 stars. I liked our main characters – they had such a great banter and bickering. Like sorry, they had me giggling. I loved how much they couldn’t stand each other. We have Zevander who is a many centuries year old assassin, and Maevyth a human who ends up in The Eating Woods and escaping the monster in there by going through the portal to the other land… I loved them. Add to these two, Zevander’s sister, Ryakia, and I can’t explain how much I loved them. Oh not to mention the Prince that Zevander also has great back and forth with! Keri Lake really does create some excellent characters!
I liked Maevyth, at first. I love how desperate she was to do whatever it was she needed to do in order to help her sister… But I can’t explain what happened but she just started to annoy me… Zevander never really annoyed me, but when he just suddenly was head over heels smitten and down bad for Maevyth that was confusing to me… I did adore his little nickname for her though – I’m a sucker for a nickname honestly! Even now it gives me shivers!
I was expecting a slow burn romance. But I wasn’t expecting a slow as heck story… I’m not even sure what the plot actually was! This took me over 8 hours to read?! And I can’t really tell you anything that was plot relevant (or if I can it certainly isn’t because I remember that it’s plot relevant). I’m so genuinely gutted about this. I don’t have much else to say because I’m not sure it would be positive…
That being said, whilst Anathema did not hit for me, I still absolutely intend to read the rest of Keri Lake’s work! Because I think most of her books are stand alones and perhaps she’s just the queen of gothic stand alones!
“I find it interesting that any time a girl is unusual, or dare I say, unique, she’s deemed evil, or cursed.”
Reading With Tyler 
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