When you feel dead inside, you inevitably reach for things that make you feel alive. Pain. Adrenaline. Drugs. That’s how vices are born. That’s how you became my obsession. You are what makes me feel alive. Like a breath of air after drowning.” He descends the staircase, the ease of his stroll like a man who can show up to a funeral without a care in the world and leave as if he's stolen the last sip of air." It was my mother who first told me that there was no such thing as fairy tales with happy endings. That's because she spent her whole life waiting for the white knight to come and rescue her from the life she so desperately tried to escape.❞ It is said that when Lucian was younger he was incarcerated in a psychiatric ward and scars mar half his face. The very scars that earned him the devil moniker.

Lucian was raised in that castle of horrors, living alongside his demented father and psychopath of a mother, his life was doomed to the chaos and misery he was destined to share. Not even the son was immune to the tortures that lay within. There was, however, more than a shred humanity beneath his stone-cold exterior. Although he kept it well guarded, other than when he hired someone to take care of his mother, it lay bubbling beneath the surface, waiting to be set free. Since I couldn't connect to either one of them and some of the stuff that they said to one another made me want to puke - I wont dive into them much. In a way, I guess you can say that they had a romance.. full of weird lust and shit. Again, I didn't really like them and nothing was making me be like - wow, this is steamy as shit and I might like them? Gothic in its narrative, Master of Salt & Bones is a love story grown in the dark. Lucian is plagued by ghosts from the past, but it’s the future he wants with Isadora that compels him to eradicate her. There was this whooole plotline with this secret society of super powerful men, who studied sadism and how it's apparently genetic and it can be artificially imbeded into one's DNA, and then passed down to their children. Now, I ain't no scientist but this sounds like a whole load of bullshit to me.Lucian is an intimidating man with a chilling reputation earning him such monstrous titles that may or may not have to do with his scarred face or the rumor that he had murdered his wife and 4-year-old son. There were only a few deviations. What was it about the crow and the shadow? When I read the description of the book here on GR it said it was fantasy and that’s why I bought it. I’ve been waiting for this plot twist the whole time and maybe he was a shapeshifter but no. So maybe the raven and the shadow were just another brainstorm? I’m not sure, these 2 were never explained.

Master of Salt & Bones is dark romance steeped in a plot with scheming and shadowy characters that operate without limits. This book would appeal to those seeking a tormented anti-hero in a mysterious setting. I finished this book almost a week ago, and I've been constantly thinking about it ever since; if that's not the telltale sign of a personal 5 star read, then I don't know what is. Each time I bring myself to type of my feelings surrounding the gothic, yet contemporary atmosphere, the haunted, tragic characters, and the dark and disturbing plot of Master of Salt & Bones, I can't quite find the words to do it justice. Because we're the composers, the conductors of our own fate, and we write the notes to a beautiful, dark melody that no one else can hear."

Ryan West

They’re all wrong for each other. He’s 13 years older than her, he’s involved in very shady things and he doesn’t think he has the ability to love. And yet he is so attracted to her that it almost becomes an obsession. He just can’t stay away and she doesn’t want to.

Since the book is shelved as romance, it’s unfortunate that this part doesn’t get as much focus as I would’ve liked. I loved that it’s an age gap trope, and don’t get me wrong, the book has it all covered when it comes to the sexual relationship. However, it just felt like the development was condensed. Slowly building love interest. Attraction, yes, but their mutual romantic interest took time. They built a relationship, trust, loyalty. I am aware about. Makes the climax so much sweeter She’s mine. The breath of new life. The steady pulse in my veins. The long-awaited beat of a heart that’s been dead too long." So while I loved this book, I can’t gushingly recommend it like I would with any other five-star read. But if you might be okay with those triggers, then my god do you have one hell of a book to look forward to.In my best Stefon voice: This book has EVERYTHING - dark romance, bad parents, the mafia, cults, pedophilia, forced marriage, torture, suicide, murder, drugs, an imbalance of power between a wealthy employer and his employee that results in a questionable sexual relationship, etc. The Narrators have done an amazing job, really took me on an emotional journey, feeling all their pain. 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. Master of Salt And Bones is a story driven by mystery and suspicion, set in a world where its inhabitants are as calculating as they are cunning.

I loved the cover (yes, I stared at it for five minutes straight before reading) and it didn't incite a single feeling in me that would have warned me what this story held. It was twisted, dark and not a usual fairy tale. I don't know why they didn't mention the warnings but they should have. There weren't any major particular details BUT it does mention (superficially) physical, sexual and substance abuse, and BDSM and sadism too but not between Lucian and Isadora (MCs). His words dance around my head, the deep timbre of his voice titillating my senses. "I want to drown in you." Since childhood she's had an uncanny ability to play music by ear, even though she doesn't have the ability to actually read sheet music itself. I’m from the I family. Not much has changed since that book was published. Nearly every one of my male relatives still living has been incarcerated. So, yeah, to say that I’m impressed with how well this author captured what it was like for me growing up in that place is an understatement. If at any point while reading this book you think you’ve figured it out, let me tell you that you’re wrong. I don’t think I’ve read a book since Sharp Objects that left me guessing like that to the end. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re similar since the main focus of this book is a dark romance, but the suspense and edgy feel I got from this book abound here.Just blown away…I absolutely loved the book, it’s one of my all time top 10 reads, but this smashed it out the park for audios and is so far my all time favourite. Lake pulls emotions from her readers with every book, every story, every scene she writes. Whether that be outrage, disgust, fear, overwhelming sadness, swoon-inducing heart palpitations or ovary-bursting delight, her readers feel it all. For a few months, desperate for an escape nineteen year old Isadora will be hired as a companion to Lucian's ailing mother. Being a daughter of a sinner and father unknown she's lived her life striving to escape the hold the island has on her.