Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Master of Salt & Bones by Keri Lake

39 reviews

hereiskyra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

I tend to love or hate stories that go back and forth in time. It took a while but this one was worth it! Going back and getting Lucians story was really half of the plot but it was also integral to seeing why he is the way he is and piecing together the mystery that is his life.

But honestly, all I could think for a while was that this story was going to be a whole lot of “well my daddy is a sadist so now I’m a sadist… it’s genetic 🤷🏻‍♀️” but it really wasn’t that type of vibe. His reputation was earned but he wasn’t quite the devil everyone thought. The circumstances of his life and every relationship he had were things that would’ve driven most people mad.

Isadora wasn’t my favorite character who ever existed, but she was brave and somewhat relateable (minus the musical prodigy thing). She came from not so great circumstances and she was thrown in to some pretty bad situations and had to make tough choices at a young age. I really appreciated how mature she was since we had such a large age gap. Nothing like trauma to age you!

The angst and the tension between these two was fantastic. And the forbidden aspect and his particular… tastes? were something completely out of the ordinary.

This still had a gothic, dark vibe and it enhanced the book so much. The description for this beautiful home and cove are forever going to be some of my favorites, too.

Tropes:
Age gap
Tortured Hero
Forbidden
Morally Grey MMC
Gothic

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Content Warnings

freckles_13's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book has been on my kindle for a good year and a bit and I’ve finally read it, I found that it was good.
A good premise, interesting characters and good writing. Some sentences seemed very poetic as well. Yet I felt like this book could’ve been like 100-150 pages shorter than it actually is? Like I got so bored in the middle of it.
The last 70 pages were WILD though. Those pages define increased my rating of this book.

BE AWARE OF THE TRIGGER WARNINGS THOUGH.

Content Warnings

readbyjaimes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Really didn't feel the romance

I enjoyed the setting quite a bit. That's what usually draws me to gothic works, they have such rich, lush, and atmospheric settings that just draw you into the world, and therefore the story. This one was no exception, but I found the romance quite lacking. I just didn't see their bond grow whatsoever. Sure he confided in her, but I didn't see the unshakeable, unbreakable bond of soulmates like I was expecting and that was really disappointing. But I'm definitely willing to try the author's other works.

Also, this is definitely a dead dove do not eat situation, so for a full list of triggers pleaseee go to the author's website. I'm sure I wasn't completely thorough in my list here 🫶

Content Warnings

doahdancer's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I read Nocticadia first and found this one to be disappointing in comparison.

This book suffered from slowness in the upfront build, but it did have a good payoff. My first critique is some of the reveals were obvious, despite their resolutions being quite satisfying.

Overall, I was surprised at how gruesome this one was and I'm not sure I'm content with the write-off on the MMCs involvement in some of the darker elements that were introduced. Not sure there was a better way forward without overpowering his character further, but at least the FMC's acceptance of his reasons for staying involved needed to be developed more.

I loved the gothic feel and the mystery that wound its way around their fated romance. If you can handle some loose ends remaining at the end, this is a great choice for someone craving a dark, romantic mystery/thriller.

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johnayismyname's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ladykristianna's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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foxgame's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So I’m in a FaRo FB group. Some recommendations have been brilliant. Some have scared me. In this book i read the following

“Giulia is accommodating, indulging in whatever I ask, but what I need is something that would turn her stomach.”

And it was at this point that I knew it was going to be one of those books (more 😳 than 🌶️).
However moving past the 😳 moments, this book had gothic overtones and I had to keep reading to find out what happened to his wife and child, even though we all could guess. I liked the writing with some action, some good guys and some real nasty guys.

Recommended for those who enjoy a Mr Rochester with a side serve of nazi genetic sadistic BDSM research.

Can’t give it a 🌶️ level because past book recommendations with low 🌶️ have shown I’m living a sheltered life. But will opt for a 😳😳😳 out of 5.

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