Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Master of Salt & Bones by Keri Lake

17 reviews

freckles_13's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

readbyjaimes's review against another edition

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 🫶

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Torture, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

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

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

_terah_hansen_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, and Murder

bo_okish's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is a wild ride. Not only do you go through every emotion while reading but it made me have to stop and walk away just to process what I read. The writing was done well, the characters and story line are phenomenal. I highly recommend but also not for the faint of heart. There are multiple triggers in this book so please look into them before diving in

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

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