Name: Linara K.S's review of Master of Salt & Bones by Keri Lake
Item: Master of Salt & Bones
Rating: 4
Author: Linara K.S

Keri Lake

Meet the Devil of Blackthorne Manor ...When I was a little girl, I dreamed a handsome knight would come and rescue me from my wretched mother. He'd ride up on his white steed and break the curse I've been fated to carry since the day I was born.Funny how things changed over time. How the fairy tale twisted into something far more crooked, darker than I ever imagined.In reality, my knight is scarred and broken, living alone in a castle of bones that overlooks the sea. He isn't searching for me. He never was.Lucian Blackthorne is as cursed as I am, and equally shunned by the locals, the fishers of men, who believe him to be the devil in the flesh.Perhaps he is, with the way his amber eyes draw me in, ignite me like an infernal blaze. And the sins he whispers in my ear are as wickedly intoxicating as the man himself.Yet, his touch is heaven and his will is my weakness.He calls us forbidden, an unsalvageable tragedy, with no happy end. Maybe we are. But in this story, he's the one who needs saving.Master of Salt & Bones is a dark modern gothic contemporary standalone romance.

Master of Salt & Bones

Tuvaa

Linara K.S

WTFFFFFFFF!?
THIS. WAS. SO. GOOD. This is what I call a dark romance. I never expected to like this, like at all. I just started to read this for fun and a little bit of smut but boiiiiii was I in for a treat when randomly picking up the ebook.
I mean the writing was on point. The style matched well with the eery atmosphere of the whole setting. From the island this story takes place in to the Manor in which the main character spends most of her time in.
No word is unnecessary. It was minimal but efficient.
The plot? My goodness was it twisted and mangled into a mess. But it's a good mess. Each plot twist had me gasping for air and I saw NONE coming. 
The love interest? I applaud a man that can actually fucking respect a woman's choice. Because when authors write 'dark romance' they think of stalking, rape, romanticising non consent etc... 
But this book... Argh it tiptoed over that line so exquisitely well. The man both REPECTED the main character's choices AND RAVISHED her. I mean... 

I only noticed two small flaws (it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the overall story but it could've made this even better if these had been fixed):
1- The main character is as innocent as a lamb and has no definite voice or 'personality'. She was just there, you know? It kind of bothered me but not that much. eh. she was smart though' Not dumb so I'll give her credit for that.
2- Some people and settings were one dimensional. There were no defining description for me to picture some characters or settings. Places were like backdrops that were overlooked more often than not. It was hard to picture anything really except for Mr Blackthorne.

Anyways, I had so much fun reading this. It's been a while since I genuinely felt this excited about a book. I'm probably going to read another of this author's books cause she writes so WELL it should be a crime. And THERFORE despite the flaws imma give this four stars 🌟 🌟🌟🌟

aleksandra

** spoiler alert **
           2.5/5

The potential in this book was huge, but there was so many wrong things, that just made me lower my rating. Two stars are for the plot, because I finished this book in two days. I only read it because I wanted to know all the secrets from Lucien and his family. 

If you are looking for a romance book, you should look for something different. First genre when you look on goodreads says this is supposed to be a dark-fantasy-gothic-romance, and romance in this book is probably one of the reasons why my rating is so low. The relationship between Lucian and Isadora started with lust, but it's not even the worst thing anyway, because the worst thing is that Lucian was interested in Isadora mainly because she was young (he is 19, he is 33) and she was a "forbidden fruit". I love age gap romances but the romance in this book was just bad. 

I had the feeling that in the first 50% this book was more about Lucien and Isadora is just the background In his story because there were so many chapters from his younger years. I know this chapters were important to the story, but some of them were really unnecessary. 

Maybe this book just wasn't for me, it was my first book by this author and I really want to give her books one more chance, so I will probably read her other works in the near future.

Sarahy Benavides 

Estuvo entretenido pero no fue algo que esperaba de un libro así, creí que sería fantasía de cierta manera, siento que faltó mucho de historia sobre Lucian, sobre su padre como de la organización con su extraño propósito como de la historia de Isa.

Heather Miller

Dark, psychologically twisted, and erotic is the only way I can think to describe this book. What’s better than a good thriller mixed in with a decent amount of smut and a terrifying secret cult?

This story begins with Isadora Quinn, the unliked daughter of the local junkie, being driven by the aunt who raised her, to a job not many would be interested in taking. She has every intention on making enough money for her and her aunt, whom are very poor, but has no idea what is truly in store for her.

Lucian Blackthorne, the devil of Bonesalt, rumored of murdering his son and wife by all of the locals, is a recluse haunted by hallucinations and past trauma. He has a very dark side and an even darker reputation. Lucky for him, Quinn sees a side most don’t and refuses to accept it. 

Lucian is looking for a caretaker for his psycho mother, and Quinn is there to prove she can do what others could not. She is unbearably mean and difficult and has scared off all of her past care takers aka companions of whom his mother grudgingly calls her baby sitters. This story has a great variety of romance, a secret cult powered by money, and plenty of dark secrets. It isn’t long before Quinn and Lucian realize they both have an uncontrollable urge for each other, as much as they both try to ignore it, and a hot and sexy romance erupts full force.

There are constant twists and many dark turns. Keri Lake’s writing was phenomenal and kept me reading up until just before the end. As with most endings I read lately, it felt rushed and unnatural. I was expecting a better transition and was left a little unsatisfied. Keri Lake is clearly a fantastic writer and storyteller, and I would definitely be looking into her other books. 

I would definitely recommend giving this book a read, though with most, please be well aware of the triggers before diving in. Some of those include dark, taboo sex, rape, torture, violence, alcohol, and psychological issues.

Sven Test

3.5 stars! I found the first half of the book to be slow and dragging. But other than that, it was a very interesting story.

• mature language, sexual scenes, sexual harassment, substance abuse, mentions of addiction & grooming, pedophilia, cheating, murder, torture, suicide, self harm, death of a child, violence, asphyxiation, guns, mentions of Nazis 

”The Devil of Bonesalt, theMad Son, with whom I've fallen irrevocably in love ; Together, we are madness. And there is music in madness, and madness in love”

It took me to while to get into this but I ended up liking it quite a lot. The themes and settings were what really roped me in. I love a dark goth castle involved world. 

Isadora. Isa bella. Isa intrigued me from the start and so did Lucian. I loved them both equally But what I REALLY LOVED, was the way the story unfolded towards the end in a manner that you least expect. LOVE.

Danya <3

4 ⭐️ 
 
Genre: Romance 
Age group : Adult 
POV : First person / multiple POV
Characters: 4.5/5 ⭐️ 
Plot: 4/5 ⭐️ 
Setting/Themes: 3/5 ⭐️ 
Writing: 3.5/5 ⭐️
Spice : 3/5 ⭐️ 

• Please check TWs & CWs 
• mature language, sexual scenes, sexual harassment, substance abuse, mentions of addiction & grooming, pedophilia, cheating, murder, torture, suicide, self harm, death of a child, violence, asphyxiation, guns, mentions of Nazis 

”The Devil of Bonesalt, theMad Son, with whom I've fallen irrevocably in love ; Together, we are madness. And there is music in madness, and madness in love”

It took me to while to get into this but I ended up liking it quite a lot. The themes and settings were what really roped me in. I love a dark goth castle involved world. 

Isadora. Isa bella. Isa intrigued me from the start and so did Lucian. I loved them both equally But what I REALLY LOVED, was the way the story unfolded towards the end in a manner that you least expect. LOVE.

Cassandra 

Twisty psychological thriller meets gothic romance is an aesthetic I did not know I needed. Let me start by saying this book is not something I would recommend for every one as it is a disturbing dark romance that explores very controversial topics. Though there were aspects of the story that genuinely made my stomach turn, it was a rollercoaster I did not want to get off of. I was immediately enthralled by Lucian and the factors that contributed to his tortured antihero character. The unfolding of Isa’s story was also quite interesting, but the dark nature of both of them really provided compelling character studies. By far the most fascinating aspect of the story that culminates all the dark, controversial, twisty nuances is it’s ability to show how trauma can be redirected into masochistic euphoria. This theme alone kept my psychologically intrigued brain reading well into the night.

Sophia De La Garza

Wasn't my favorite for romance but the premise was definitely interesting and I wouldn't mind reading more from this author. 

Rating: 3 Stars

Sarina Sherman

5 stars💫 omg. This BOOK. I just finished it but I know I won’t be able to stop thinking about it for days. I will admit, it’s f***ed up with a capital F lol, the amount of trauma and tragedy in this is definitely not for the faint of heart. It’s more of a psychological thriller romance with a mix of mystery, which i loved, but the romance was everything, and the steamy scenes were h o t🔥! I loved Isa and Lucian so much. Keri Lake, you are definitely one of my new favorite authors! This and the Juniper Unraveling series are definitely some of my fav’s I’ve read this year. Can’t wait for more!

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Emma Myers

This book was just weird as hell kinky shit. Apparently the main character is irresistible that EVERYONE wanted to just randomly pull out his dick like it's a game of hot potato. Like who isn't he banging or who hasn't he banged. He's a walking std. For a feared crazy "ugly (because of his scars apparently)" guy, he sure can get it. 

The main female is just some walking cliché. She's forgettable.

This book is just porn with a few plotlines thrown in. It wasn't even good porn. This book made me more angry than anything. The amount of therapy these characters need is just annoying. They are too one dimensional for all this random attempts of redemption. To where every bit of trying to humanify them just feels force. You can't find anyone like these people because they are just too out of the box for reality. 

I wanted to like it. I've liked books like this. But these characters wanted me to blind myself with the knife they are always carrying around.

The first 40% of this book is just weird rapey porn, then like 20% has...something going on and it starts getting interesting. Then just goes back to porn, but at least its consensual? Then just ends on a random note. 

I wish I never heard of this book. Can I go back in time and tell myself NOT to read it?

Aubrey Erskine

Well I had no idea what I was expecting with this book, but it wasn’t whatever this was. It was recommended to me as a romance and I can definitely see why but there was so much more happening besides that. It was a dark and twisted psychological read that had me hooked.

This book had so many different elements to it. We got flashbacks of Lucien and his childhood leading up to present day along with present day chapters from him. We also get chapters from Isa and I really like the way this was all balanced out. We get to see how the rumors whispered throughout town came to be. It was definitely dark but never took the turns I expected to.

The romance was never what I expected it to be. I kept waiting to be shocked, but it was actually quite sweet. Lucien is supposedly this monster, the devil of Blackthorne. Listen the guy had an absolute crap life with some awful people in it. Toss in his genetic predispositions for sadism and you’ve got a sh** show on your hands. Isa obviously had a traumatic past but it’s never exploited in any sexual way I think. We kisy have two survivors who find something in each other that others have distorted and made into something it isn’t. It was kinda of beautiful and I liked their ending. 

Speaking of ending, this one was totally threw me for a loop with those final twists. I was actually worried my final question of parentage would never be answered but I actually got more than I even thought to ask. It was a quick read that was so well written. It’s definitely not a light romance but it’s also not Den of Vipers level sadistic. It was actually kind of a sad story that ends pretty happily ever after.

Tuvaa &
Master of Salt & Bones by Keri Lake

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