A review by ramalam98
The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I love books about books, and the plot for this one is definitely fascinating. The Book of The Most Precious Substance (in-book) is "the rarest, most sought after book in the entire bibliography of the occult", and we follow Lily and Lucas' journey across the Western world as they try to find a copy of this book to sell to a mysterious, very rich, buyer.
Goodreads has this book categorised as Horror which feels wrong? but the description of this being an 'erotic thriller' is technically correct, though still feels not quite right. There is a lot of sex in this book but it's not there for reader-enjoyment purposes.
The writing is simplistic but easy to read, and I devoured this book in just over a day. The plot is super original and I also loved the exploration of the shady underground world of rich book collectors. The characters are compelling and I was completely blindsided by Lily's backstory and motivation which quickly had me nearly in tears.
I also found the ending really satisfying!
Unfortunately the book falls down for me a bit when it comes to the meat of the story, which gets very repetitive with endless descriptions of fancy rich people living in fancy houses and how fancy the hotels and restaurants are. Lily and Lucas are walked from one step of the plot to the next in a way that provides no tension and conflict, as it's implied that this magic book is simply leading them to it. By the time I finished the 330 page book it felt like not a lot of plot had actually happened, and I think this could have been shortened to a novella, or short story in a collection of "weird short stories".
Overall a fantastic concept with a slightly disappointing execution.
I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher. This is my honest review.
Goodreads has this book categorised as Horror which feels wrong? but the description of this being an 'erotic thriller' is technically correct, though still feels not quite right. There is a lot of sex in this book but it's not there for reader-enjoyment purposes.
The writing is simplistic but easy to read, and I devoured this book in just over a day. The plot is super original and I also loved the exploration of the shady underground world of rich book collectors. The characters are compelling and I was completely blindsided by Lily's backstory and motivation which quickly had me nearly in tears.
I also found the ending really satisfying!
Unfortunately the book falls down for me a bit when it comes to the meat of the story, which gets very repetitive with endless descriptions of fancy rich people living in fancy houses and how fancy the hotels and restaurants are. Lily and Lucas are walked from one step of the plot to the next in a way that provides no tension and conflict, as it's implied that this magic book is simply leading them to it. By the time I finished the 330 page book it felt like not a lot of plot had actually happened, and I think this could have been shortened to a novella, or short story in a collection of "weird short stories".
Overall a fantastic concept with a slightly disappointing execution.
I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia and Sexual content