The Dark Heart by Erin Kellison [Review]

The Dark Heart (Indulgence #4) by Erin Kellison
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: January 22, 2025

Indulgence Series
1. The Stone God
2. The Night Blade
3. The Blood Chain
4. The Dark Heart - Paperback | Kindle
5. The Crimson Throne

Erin Kellison
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

The gods need defenders, but Adom and Terah are fighting for a future of their own.

Through desperate trials, Terah and Adom have forged an unwavering partnership, but the secret they discover on their latest quest savagely rips them apart. While Adom struggles to escape the snare of Death's great web, Terah is forced to return to Aranos to confess ancient wrongs.

Disaster looming, Death commands Adom to wed his scion to forge a union capable of battling the menace to come. But Adom's heart belongs to Terah, and he will stop at nothing to reunite with her—even if it means burning Akolan to primeval dust.

Alone and besieged by challenges, Terah must confront her father's treacherous legacy. But the cost of power is high, and to fight her mounting enemies, she must pay with her humanity.

When at last their paths collide, Terah and Adom have become what their gods need: unchained weapons honed for war. As the foretold invaders breach the skies and chaos descends, Terah and Adom urgently need allies. But who can they trust when they suspect everyone, even the gods, of deception?

Thoughts on The Dark Heart: Terah and Adom might have started out with a slightly (HA) adversarial relationship, but things have changed. SO MUCH. Terah has challenged gods and she and Adom have been forced to rely on one another and it's sparked something that burns bright and hard. Then they're separated and now the two are willing to do anything to find one another again.

Literally anything. Terah has pledged to become the queen of the ghosts in exchange for the ghosts' help. Adom is being held prisoner in death's kingdom and will have to burn away his humanity in order to escape. Both of them fear what the other will think of these changes, but they're willing to go through with it in order to be reunited.

Which is definitely a good thing because these two are much stronger together than they are apart (and they're already pretty formidable in their own rights). With what's brewing on the horizon they need to be as strong as possible or their world might not survive.

A goddess attempting a coup, long memories, power, ghosts, dark places, the son of a god who is becoming so much more, and a woman who never expected she would be the driving force in saving her world. *thumbs up*