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bibliokayla 's review for:

Grave Matter by Karina Halle
3.75
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

*ARC provided by Karina Halle in exchange for an honest review*
As always, check the trigger warnings at the front of the book.
Grave Matter is a great pick for a dark spooky season read. It had several of my favorite thriller components, including a remote PNW setting, secretive characters, and things going bump in the night. The novel blends genres, from dark-ish romance to thriller to horror. I enjoyed the tone warp as we watch Sydney's perspective of the Madrona Foundation and its staff shift. The ending was neither too predictable nor such a twist that you couldn't retroactively connect the dots. The final 25% actually bumped my rating up a star, and, for me, the ending is usually where thrillers fall apart.

This was my first Karina Halle read, and I look forward to reading her backlist.

Spoilers (including references to ending) below:
My experience reading this book was a bit complicated in that at first I was irked by several of the characters. I jotted down, "I hope this is a Chekhov's gun situation, because she mentions her body composition, ADHD, and appearance constantly." I was also annoyed by how Everly kept calling Sydney special seemingly out of the blue. Those references ended up being necessary to the plot, as I found out at the end. So if you, too, get easily annoyed by characters, keep going. I wasn't a huge fan of the MC at all times, but I did root for her.

I also want to compliment the author in that if you, like me, don't really vibe with taboo relationships, that just adds to the horror of the novel and the unease you feel. Obviously by the end my perception of the relationship shifted a bit, but I thought that was important to flag. The book straddled the genres well.


I'll be chatting about this one with friends for a while.






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