Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Master of Salt & Bones by Keri Lake

13 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: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

doahdancer's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Rape

foxgame's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

chanelreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Suicide attempt

ewindtberg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. The gothic romance style in which it was written (with a beauty and the beast/phantom of the opera feel), the spice was on point, even when the MCs made dumb decisions sometimes you still connected with them and felt for them, and there were twists and turns that I didn’t expect (and some that I did). All in all this was a great read and I liked it so much I made my bookclub read it for October lol also, the way it ends leaves it open to a possible second book with I hope the author strongly considers as some things were left as lose ends. I would LOVE for this to be a duology.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

aklovekorn's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

kat1105's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jlaz_13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Dementia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Stalking, Car accident, and War

lauraleafromthelibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Holy shit, I finished a book. AND, holy shit this book was dark but I loved it. Loved the age gap romance and the two main characters. Surprises galore. Did I mention it was dark? Check out the content warnings for sure. I will be reading more of this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

sam019's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.75

Didn't love the writing, never clicked for whatever reason. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Gaslighting