“This island alone boasts more ghost stories than all of Louisiana combined. And I’m one of them.”
It's been a long while since I wrote a book review, and that's not to mean I've not been reading. It's a valuable hobby that I can't do without as it stimulates my mind. So I discovered this author and have since been fascinated with her style of writing and especially, the genre she focuses on—gothic fantasy.
She's referred to on the internet as the queen of gothic fantasy but I'm not sure how true that is, considering my knowledge of other writers in this genre is limited. After reading some of her books, I want to agree with this epithet.
Standalone
523 pages
Published March 2021
Brief Synopsis Of The Book
The Isle of Sin & Shadows combines dark cult magic, suspense, mafia action with a romance subplot to make a gripping, edge-of-the-seat read. This book introduces the female main character, Celeste, as a young lady who has been traumatised by horrific abuse as a child and now grown, she has no memory of. Sometimes, bits and pieces come to her that don't make sense until her foster father dies of cancer.
Celeste returns home to Louisiana to lay claim to her ruined family estate and find answers to the shadows lurking in her head. She meets Thierry Bergeron, the male main character, a mysterious, rich man who works for the cartel. He has a dark past too. He's hired to keep an eye on the ruined estate but finds this enigmatic stranger in town more fascinating.
His interest in her quickly takes them both down the rabbit hole into their dark pasts. How are these two characters connected? And what does the cartel really want with Celeste?
My Review And Rating
Keri Lake is one of those authors who writes with depth, spirit and brilliance. I've read a couple of her books and will be reviewing them soon. This particular one hooked me from the first chapter. Written in dual POV, readers have front row seats to Celeste and Thierry's dark and suspenseful story.
True, the first four chapters are slow because they are an info dump, giving readers a background of the characters, their past and what to expect going forward. And still, I wasn't bored. I ate up every word and was fascinated with the characters, especially Celeste.
She's young, in her early twenties but feisty and courageous. She had a rough beginning but didn't allow it stand in the way of discovering who she is despite the high stakes where her life hung in the balance. When she assumed all it would take was to drive into town, file a few papers to lay claim to her father's estate and leave, it quickly turned into stuff that nightmares are made of. Yes, literally nightmares and I shuddered while reading some scenes in this book.
This author is known for dark atmospheric writing that pulls you into the scene like you are living it. I felt the same vibe when reading this book. If you enjoy dark stories, you'll certainly love this one. The trail of cartel murders, dark magic involving ghosts and cult activities will make you grit your teeth. Also, the suspense and plot twist had me on the edge of my seat.
The romance subplot is very well-written. Thierry is what you'd call 'a handsome devil'. He's a devious, calculating and darkly flawed character. Their passion is intense and their shared past draws them together like bees to honey.
The Isle of Sin and Shadows is all about unravelling haunting mysteries that are as old as Louisiana swamplands and give you chills at the same time. The main characters, Celeste and Thierry are fate bound to find each other and end the sinister cult activities. And the author wraps up the book in a satisfying way.
Rating this book, I will give it 4 out of 5 stars only because the first few chapters were a little slow. It's an amazing read and I would recommend it to fans of gothic romance.
All images above are from my E-library
Header images compiled in Canva.
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