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

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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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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pagesofash's review against another edition

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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.

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readwithbells's review

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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.

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