Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Book of the Most Precious Substance

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran

31 reviews

kg18's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

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smolfrog's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I was really vibing with this and getting into the mystery up until the 25% mark or so, but after that it basically devolved into The Da Vinci Code but with sex and magic. You see the similarities in how the main characters basically jet around the world following leads/talking to interesting characters and you have to suspend your disbelief a lot (

why is everyone who wants the book so eager to talk to them when they repeatedly tell people that THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE A COPY YET? why would the Accountant give them a $100k advance when they haven't shown any promise in actually getting the book?

), especially in terms of how other characters speak (very exposition-heavy) and just give up their knowledge surrounding this supposedly very secretive book so easily.

There are a few interesting nuggets around the theme of living with grief after unimaginable loss, but it kind of gets buried under the "shocking" sex magic of it all.

The twist with

Lucas' character

was foreseeable but fine. I did enjoy the

morally ambiguous full-circle

ending

with the protagonist getting everything she wanted but with a classic monkey's paw twist

. She isn't likeable but is sympathetic in the way she talks about

missing her husband

(except at the end when she

calls him a "moaning, drooling mess", yikes)

. I didn't like the scene in France with

the dominatrix/witches assaulting the protagonist as a way to "will her back to life"

- it essentially excuses

sexual assault because it does spiritual good

.

I like stories about a lost, mysterious or "cursed" film/book with dark knowledge, but this one failed to totally live up to the premise. It's a decent thriller though.

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danajoy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

The good kind of weird.
I think people who liked The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz would probably like this one.

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pagancelt's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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samisreading's review

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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

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stellarkai's review

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adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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joykeya's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

2.75

I enjoyed the last 20 pages of the book but the rest was hard to get through since I don't condone cheating in any way.

I didn't like the writing style and everything just felt a bit icky?
Also this book is not a horror or thriller at all, I genuinely don't know why it's marketed like that. It's quite misleading

I only kept reading cus I hated the main characters and wanted them to not get their happy ending.
This book is not what I expected and maybe just wasn't for me but the last 20 pages added an extra star to my rating

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ramreadsagain's review against another edition

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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.

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thereadinghammock's review against another edition

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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.

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ellenigrace's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

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