Reviews with content warning for Grief - Lute

One of the main problems with this book is that it doesn’t feel like it knows what it’s supposed to be. Is it horror? Is it romance? Is it YA? Is it adult? I don’t know, and obviously neither does the author.

Nina married a lord on this island in the UK where 7 people die every year as a sacrifice to the island itself. Why? Don’t know. How? We also don’t know. The island chooses at random apparently or you can pick your own adventure so to speak and volunteer but only if the island approves. Even the premise is confusing and doesn’t really seem to know the rules. Also this is set in some weird future where there’s a war going on. What does this add to the story? Absolutely nothing!! The war is also never explained, nothing is explained except the tithe itself, and even that is done in a weird flashback sequence that’s poorly written.

Also, this was marketed as an adult debut but the writing, the characters, the plot, the themes, the execution, all of it screamed amateur YA novel. I honestly think the only reason this isn’t listed YA, is because there are two sex scenes in the book, both of which are random and not good.

I did not enjoy this book at all, nothing was done well and I had to force myself to finish it. I wouldn’t really recommend this to anyone because I don’t think there’s much to get out of it on any sense.

Content Warnings

mirificmoxie's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

brigettes's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

thriller, dark and mysterious. a very unique concept. great twist at the end that I only guessed a chapter or two before it happened. a bit gory and hard to read at times, touches on some dark topics and there was lots of constan tension (the attempts at reprise from this weren't great), but overall a good thriller.

Content Warnings

leighsnerdlife's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.75

Content Warnings

bookishbutch's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

rusereviews's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Lute by Jennifer Marie Thorne is a slow burn folk horror novel. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at nine and a half hours and is narrated by Victoria Blunt. We follow our main characters with a first-person point-of-view.

Every seven summers--on The Day--seven people die on the idyllic British island of Lute. Every seven summers, the island takes its tithe. The Treadway family helps to protect the island. Nina became Lady Treadway after marrying Lord Treadway, but she was originally born in America. She thinks The Day is just superstitious nonsense. But then it begins, and nobody who ever goes through it is ever the same.

This is the first horror novel I've read that I can describe as gentle horror, or slow-burn horror, or even minimalist horror. But I really dug the vibe and I'd love to read more books like this.

The narrator does a great job here. Her voice suited the character of Nina perfectly. I find it interesting that Blunt is a British actor using an American accent here, but in the book Nina describes herself as taking on some of the local lilt to her speech after living nearly seven years on the island, so that tracks for me.

I really enjoyed watching Nina grow as a character throughout this book. I also really liked the direction Lord Arthur Treadway takes in here as well. The community as a whole was lovely and I enjoyed getting to know everyone.

While this book is mostly character-driven, I listened to this book in large chunks because I really wanted to know what was going to happen next! The reader knows how many people are still to die so they go into each new scene with an "ok who's next?"

I could take or leave the inclusion of this all being set in the near future during WWIII where America is on the opposite side of the war from the United Kingdom. It didn't have much to do with the story itself and in my opinion was unnecessary.

I liked the epilogue, though I've seen that some other reviewers think it's more of a cop-out.

If you liked stories like The Lottery by Shirley Jackson or the Final Destination movies, you might like this book! This is a great spooky vibes kind of book for Spooky Season.

Tropes: oblivious American, fish out of water, small town, ancient traditions, local superstitions

CW: attempted self-harm, firearms, death, murder, grief, parent death (mentioned), emotional abuse, child death

The publisher provided a audio ARC of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Content Warnings

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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