Scan barcode
pagancelt's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Chronic illness
samisreading's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Infidelity, Dementia, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Murder
thereadinghammock's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was a wild ride from start to finish. You think it's going to start slow and draw you in, but then BANG! A murder and a mysterious book to be found! Lily is a protagonist you never really like, but you come to understand is doing the best she can given a pretty awful set of life circumstances. So when this adventure of a lifetime literally drops into her lap and promises the possibility to end her string of shit luck, who wouldn't jump at the opportunity? At every phase of her journey to find the titular The Book of the Most Precious Substance, you as a reader can understand why she's doing everything.
First, for the money. Then for the adventure. Finally, for the chance to get her husband back. Every challenge along the way adds a new layer of wild mystery to the mythos and lore of this sacred and accursed book. The culmination of the hint for the book felt completely inevitable but also still managed to catch me a bit by surprise, which was just a delight. And the "magic always comes with a price" result felt apropos while still bittersweet.
First, for the money. Then for the adventure. Finally, for the chance to get her husband back. Every challenge along the way adds a new layer of wild mystery to the mythos and lore of this sacred and accursed book. The culmination of the hint for the book felt completely inevitable but also still managed to catch me a bit by surprise, which was just a delight. And the "magic always comes with a price" result felt apropos while still bittersweet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Murder
pagesofash's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
When I brought this book I thought I was buying a book about a book (something I'm a sucker for), turns out it's a book about a sex book. What followed was a cross over between a book about a book, a thriller and a smut read (3.5/5 for spice rating). So I have no idea where it's going to end up on my shelves. I'm giving this one three stars because while I liked parts of it I have no idea how I feel about it over all, which is fucking frustrating, but I'm going to try and break it down.
Our FMC, Lily one time author and part time book seller, is a bit of a wet blanket personality wise, as in she doesn't really have a one beyond self pity and longing. Lucas, our MMC, isn't much better beyond being good a dresser and decent in the sack. Together they're a slightly terrible, horny couple. Perhaps I'm judging them a bit too harshly. Lets call them morally grey two dimensional characters and leave it there.
I found myself both curious and bored while reading. Curious about the book our MCs were hunting, its history, its abilities, but bored with the predictability of everything, and I hated the ending.
There were moments when I read a sentence that resonated with me and made me think and then there were paragraphs that had me asking how the editor had let that one slip through. I'm talking about the kind of nonsense stuff student's write to fill word counts in assignments where they don't really say anything, because they don't really know what they're talking about, and yet say the same thing three times in a row. So it's safe to say I found the writing fairly inconsistent and sometimes too contrived. Lily and Lucas waltz in and out of strangers homes, across the States and through Europe without difficulty. How am I suppose to believe that all these rich, famous, powerful people freely open their doors and show off their most prized and expensive possessions to two strangers just for the asking?
So there's character development but I wouldn't call it strong. I didn't dislike our MCs but I didn't like them either. I appreciated the discussion about grief and the ideas surrounding healing. I loved the openness of all the side characters, each one was wholly and unapologetically themselves and I enjoyed the exploration of magic and the idea that old friends, no matter how many years apart, are just a phone call away. So I'm treating this book like a piecemeal Christian and picking and choosing which parts to take away with me and which parts to leave.
Our FMC, Lily one time author and part time book seller, is a bit of a wet blanket personality wise, as in she doesn't really have a one beyond self pity and longing. Lucas, our MMC, isn't much better beyond being good a dresser and decent in the sack. Together they're a slightly terrible, horny couple. Perhaps I'm judging them a bit too harshly. Lets call them morally grey two dimensional characters and leave it there.
I found myself both curious and bored while reading. Curious about the book our MCs were hunting, its history, its abilities, but bored with the predictability of everything, and I hated the ending.
There were moments when I read a sentence that resonated with me and made me think and then there were paragraphs that had me asking how the editor had let that one slip through. I'm talking about the kind of nonsense stuff student's write to fill word counts in assignments where they don't really say anything, because they don't really know what they're talking about, and yet say the same thing three times in a row. So it's safe to say I found the writing fairly inconsistent and sometimes too contrived. Lily and Lucas waltz in and out of strangers homes, across the States and through Europe without difficulty. How am I suppose to believe that all these rich, famous, powerful people freely open their doors and show off their most prized and expensive possessions to two strangers just for the asking?
So there's character development but I wouldn't call it strong. I didn't dislike our MCs but I didn't like them either. I appreciated the discussion about grief and the ideas surrounding healing. I loved the openness of all the side characters, each one was wholly and unapologetically themselves and I enjoyed the exploration of magic and the idea that old friends, no matter how many years apart, are just a phone call away. So I'm treating this book like a piecemeal Christian and picking and choosing which parts to take away with me and which parts to leave.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Blood, and Mental illness
Minor: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Stalking
Further info about the types of sexual content >>readwithbells's review
5.0
Holy shit. What a fucking read. A gothic centred on an object instead of a place. Erotic and sensual and frightening and utterly engaging. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like it. And though the culmination was what I predicted it was completely satisfying. Often that’s the charm of gothics for me: we already know the main character will reveal their monster, and with the premise we can often guess how that’s going to unfold, but the journey there will be different for every writer and the experience different for every reader.
Not a book for everyone but I adored how twisted this is. Might be my favourite book this year so far. I feel completely spellbound.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol
daithra's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Excrement, Chronic illness, Drug use, Violence, and Dementia
Minor: Incest and Sexual violence
archaicrobin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Lily is a depressed book dealer living solely to care for her husband with Alzheimer’s and dementia. She used to be a famous writer, living luxuriously with the love of her life but now she’s sold everything and struggles to make ends meet for her severely ill husband. Gran does an amazing job of setting the scene for Lily and honestly it was hard to read, her sadness and struggles are too real and I couldn’t even imagine having to live with that tragedy everyday.
Despite her hardships Lily is devoted to her husband and finding a way to help him. So when she’s offered over a million dollars for a rare occult book on sex magic, she teams up with a colleague and friend, Lucas, to find the book. What unfolds is a journey across the country to locate the book and find herself.
This book is very slow paced so if you start it, know it’s a crawl and it’s also very disturbing at times. As Lily continues searching for the book her and Lucas begin attempting it’s magic as well, which leads them to many dark and weird places. Hedonist mansions, sec magic, disgustingly rich men, it’s all pretty out there and unsettling but I loved it.
This book is not for everyone, it’s not fast paced or super exciting, it’s an atmospheric and tragic love story with elements of horror that weave together themes of loss, grief, devotion, and finding a reason to live once yours is gone. If you’re up for that, I highly recommend!
Despite her hardships Lily is devoted to her husband and finding a way to help him. So when she’s offered over a million dollars for a rare occult book on sex magic, she teams up with a colleague and friend, Lucas, to find the book. What unfolds is a journey across the country to locate the book and find herself.
This book is very slow paced so if you start it, know it’s a crawl and it’s also very disturbing at times. As Lily continues searching for the book her and Lucas begin attempting it’s magic as well, which leads them to many dark and weird places. Hedonist mansions, sec magic, disgustingly rich men, it’s all pretty out there and unsettling but I loved it.
This book is not for everyone, it’s not fast paced or super exciting, it’s an atmospheric and tragic love story with elements of horror that weave together themes of loss, grief, devotion, and finding a reason to live once yours is gone. If you’re up for that, I highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Blood, Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Animal death, Chronic illness, Dementia, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape
aliceonpaper's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Sexual violence
catherinedsharp's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A very interesting concept; who doesn’t love books about books? The idea was interesting and I did want to know what happened but the execution wasn’t too great and I found it very dark and disjointed at times.
There were aspects I would have liked to have seen developed more and things I didn’t see coming because they were out of character etc.
Interesting read, not sure if I would re read it though.
There were aspects I would have liked to have seen developed more and things I didn’t see coming because they were out of character etc.
Interesting read, not sure if I would re read it though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Dementia, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Torture
doctor_reader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A tense, sex-positive thriller that I devoured in pretty much one sitting. The moral of the story is fairly predictable, but also much more sad than I expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Dementia, and Violence
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts