Review by gigii_giigi - Grave Matter

gigii_giigi 's review for:

Grave Matter by Karina Halle

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

🌶️🌶️.🌶️/5

I honestly enjoyed it—until I didn’t.

This was my first book by the author and I really liked the writing style. It’s detailed, well-researched, and the mix of fiction and fact was done in a way that felt natural. The characters were great. Not over-the-top or full of clichés and I liked that I couldn’t always guess what they were going to do next. The mystery and horror aspects were done well too, and I was fully into it for the most part.

Now, a couple things that didn’t work for me. First, the “kinky sex” scenes just felt unnecessary. It didn’t really add anything to the main character’s personality or the plot. Felt a bit out of place. And second, I wish we got more from some of the side characters, maybe someone like Nick. Not a full deep dive, but just enough to understand him more, like where his loyalty comes from or something.

And then there’s the ending... which kinda lost me. It made Sydney seem less... smart(?) than she was throughout the book, and the big climax felt like one of those movie scenes where everything ends in an explosion just for the drama. I was hoping for something a little more clever or layered.

Still, I liked the story overall and I’d totally read more from this author. Just wish it leaned a bit more into the horror and gave us a stronger finish.

Content Warnings