Reviews

The Isle of Sin and Shadows by Keri Lake

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annica_reads_books's review against another edition

5.0

This story takes place deep in the Louisiana Bayou. As a child, Celeste narrowly escaped a harrowing fate because of a debt a man owed her father. As an adult, Celeste remembers very little from her childhood apart from the brutal murder of her family and how she narrowly escaped from her childhood home. When the man who saved her dies, Celeste feels a pull she cannot ignore and decides to learn more about her history and face the ghosts that haunt her. She travels back to her childhood home in Chevalier Isle as a Jane Doe of sorts, concealing her true identity from the locals who believe that she died as a child. As Celeste works to discover the dark secrets lurking and the people out to harm her family, she gets tangled up with Thierry – an astute business man, strong, silent and broody, who is tasked to get rid of Celeste as she pokes around the Charpentier estate. Thierry has a dark past of his own and is tangled up in business that he cannot get out of.

If you enjoy dark gothic romance and are intrigued by cults, thrillers and ghost stories, this is the book for you. I like to post something fun or unique after each review, and I’m not lying when I admit that Celeste is one of my favorite female protagonists of all time. Her wit, humor, and personality is a stark contrast to Thierry’s strong, quiet, brooding type and this slow burn romance just worked for me.

Merged review:

This story takes place deep in the Louisiana Bayou. As a child, Celeste narrowly escaped a harrowing fate because of a debt a man owed her father. As an adult, Celeste remembers very little from her childhood apart from the brutal murder of her family and how she narrowly escaped from her childhood home. When the man who saved her dies, Celeste feels a pull she cannot ignore and decides to learn more about her history and face the ghosts that haunt her. She travels back to her childhood home in Chevalier Isle as a Jane Doe of sorts, concealing her true identity from the locals who believe that she died as a child. As Celeste works to discover the dark secrets lurking and the people out to harm her family, she gets tangled up with Thierry – an astute business man, strong, silent and broody, who is tasked to get rid of Celeste as she pokes around the Charpentier estate. Thierry has a dark past of his own and is tangled up in business that he cannot get out of.

If you enjoy dark gothic romance and are intrigued by cults, thrillers and ghost stories, this is the book for you. I like to post something fun or unique after each review, and I’m not lying when I admit that Celeste is one of my favorite female protagonists of all time. Her wit, humor, and personality is a stark contrast to Thierry’s strong, quiet, brooding type and this slow burn romance just worked for me.

q_the_spooky's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.25

rebeccas_readingnook's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow. This book was so hauntingly fantastic. It was such a suspenseful story, with the perfect mix of thrill, horror and slow burn romance.

This story pushed my boundaries with the genres I read and I don't regret it for a second. It was so well written. I enjoyed this immensely.

Merged review:

Wow. This book was so hauntingly fantastic. It was such a suspenseful story, with the perfect mix of thrill, horror and slow burn romance.

This story pushed my boundaries with the genres I read and I don't regret it for a second. It was so well written. I enjoyed this immensely.

titleduntitled's review against another edition

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4.0

Every author has a formula, some vary more than others between books but I feel like when I read a Keri Lake book I'm subscribing to her specific somewhat depraved formula of writing and when I read it it's because it's exactly what I want at the time and for that reason I haven't been disappointed yet.

Is it perfect? No, far from but the story gripped me me so tightly that I couldn't put it down until it was done. She adds enough mystery and suspense at a steady drip that kept me engaged throughout.

That being said, I think all that build up did kind of lead to a somewhat lackluster ending, it wasn't a bad ending just didn't quite live up to how much build up there was in my opinion.

Merged review:

Every author has a formula, some vary more than others between books but I feel like when I read a Keri Lake book I'm subscribing to her specific somewhat depraved formula of writing and when I read it it's because it's exactly what I want at the time and for that reason I haven't been disappointed yet.

Is it perfect? No, far from but the story gripped me me so tightly that I couldn't put it down until it was done. She adds enough mystery and suspense at a steady drip that kept me engaged throughout.

That being said, I think all that build up did kind of lead to a somewhat lackluster ending, it wasn't a bad ending just didn't quite live up to how much build up there was in my opinion.