Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Master of Salt & Bones by Keri Lake

32 reviews

foxgame's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

So I’m in a FaRo FB group. Some recommendations have been brilliant. Some have scared me.  In this book i read the following 

“Giulia is accommodating, indulging in whatever I ask, but what I need is something that would turn her stomach.”

And it was at this point that I knew it was going to be one of those books (more 😳 than 🌶️). 
However moving past the 😳 moments, this book had gothic overtones and I had to keep reading to find out what happened to his wife and child, even though we all could guess. I liked the writing with some action, some good guys and some real nasty guys. 

Recommended for those who enjoy a Mr Rochester with a side serve of nazi genetic sadistic BDSM research.

Can’t give it a 🌶️ level because past book recommendations with low 🌶️ have shown I’m living a sheltered life. But will opt for a 😳😳😳 out of 5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Self harm, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, and Sexual violence

chanelreads's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Confinement, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Violence, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault

daniielle_lee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Child abuse

_terah_hansen_'s review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Rape, Violence, Child death, Dementia, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Bullying, Drug use, Self harm, Torture, Addiction, and Suicide

that_casshole's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.0

Please heed the content warnings. It was very predictable and followed the typical dark romance plot lines. Which is fine IF you have a good plot. The idea for the plot was there, but it was horribly predictable. I guessed about 95% of the “big reveals” about a quarter into the book. The spicy scenes got boring fast. If you’ve got some time, it’s a fine read, but if your tbr looks like mine, wait on this one. I definitely had to make myself keep reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Mental illness, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Torture, Rape, Dementia, Murder, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Kidnapping

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Addiction, Drug use, and Self harm

Minor: Gaslighting

bo_okish's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is a wild ride. Not only do you go through every emotion while reading but it made me have to stop and walk away just to process what I read. The writing was done well, the characters and story line are phenomenal. I highly recommend but also not for the faint of heart. There are multiple triggers in this book so please look into them before diving in

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Classism, Child death, Violence, Suicide, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Rape, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Murder, Infidelity, Self harm, Alcohol, Addiction, and Sexual violence

ewindtberg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. The gothic romance style in which it was written (with a beauty and the beast/phantom of the opera feel), the spice was on point, even when the MCs made dumb decisions sometimes you still connected with them and felt for them, and there were twists and turns that I didn’t expect (and some that I did). All in all this was a great read and I liked it so much I made my bookclub read it for October lol also, the way it ends leaves it open to a possible second book with I hope the author strongly considers as some things were left as lose ends. I would LOVE for this to be a duology.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Gaslighting, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Medical content, Murder, and Violence

buildingourbookshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Drug abuse

Moderate: Child death and Rape

meagan_mizukage's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse, Murder, and Suicide

xoxo_bookishbabe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Keri Lake is truly a master of her craft with the way she layers her stories with mystery, secrets, and various dark elements. She creates something so deliciously dark and beautiful that I find myself enthralled, unable to get enough. 

I’m perhaps a bit too good at piecing together mysteries, though, because I did find some of the twists of the story to be predictable. But, truly if you’re paying attention, it’s easy to pick up on the clues for when the twist is revealed later. This isn’t a point of contention for me because I still very much enjoyed the book. 

If you’re a dark romance, romantic suspense, etc reader and you haven’t read Keri Lake, I’m assuming you live under a rock. She just knows how to write ‘em and this book was no exception. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Suicide, Addiction, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Moderate: Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Toxic relationship