Koisty's Reviews > Grave Matter

5 Dirty Little Pet Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level:🌶️🌶️/5

You ever have a book, that when you finished reading it your brain felt like it had exploded and you were just trying to play catchup… I have been sitting on this review for a while because my mind is completely reeling with trying to put together thoughts and words. Its mushroom and blowing in the air like millions of spores.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
Sydney Denik is a graduate mycology student who’s life is falling to pieces. However she is given this once in a lifetime opportunity to work at the secretive prestigious Madrona Foundation as part of a summer research program studying Alzheimer’s.

However once she arrives in rural Vancouver things start to get weird. She starts seeing things and she starts wondering is she having visions, seeing ghosts. Or is she going mad with her mind playing tricks on her. While dealing with that she also has to struggle with the growing attraction she has towards one of the professors at the facility, who also happens to be her psychologist. All that she knows the longer she stays at the Madrona Foundation – the less things make sense.
If you want a book that is the epitome of “spooky creepy” vibes with a dash of dark academia and makes you yourself question your own sanity, then this is it for you! You find yourself just as confused and befuddled as Sydney…but YOU LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT!

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
I ADORED Sydney, mostly because she's pretty brash at times and is pretty snarky and sarcastic. She speaks her mind very easily, often in places that I myself would never be caught dead speaking. I was giggling “listening” to her internal monologue and some of the things that she said. I personally related to a lot of her references and the pop culture she comments on. She just felt like someone I would like to be friends with. I also adored that she is so driven, tenacious, smart and intelligent. This entire book is told from her POV so there are aspects of unreliable narration which is handled so well that it keeps you engrossed but it is also done very tactfully as a display to the mental illness and neurodivergent characteristics Sydney has.

I was also super impressed by the depth of research Karina Halle put into this book. I am always apprehensive of books that feature a woman in STEM romances because they can often portray the field and representation of women very badly. However this is the type of book that does it justice! Karina Halle did such a good job. The research that went into the different mushrooms, their types, their pharmacology, and their toxicity, it felt like this was written by somebody who was an expert in the field but never felt overly technical. Its presence in the story added to the richness and the way the science was portrayed felt natural. It takes a very unique skill to blend and blur science and fantasy and make it feel like it could happen in our world.

I don't want to say too much about this BECAUSE I HONESTLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO IN BLIND!!!

BUT KNOW the reason this made such an impact is because I didn't see the twists and turns coming and the way that everything interconnected. I almost want to go back and reread it again to catch the things I missed.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Obsession
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Forbidden Romance
▶ Obsessive MMC
▶ TeacherXStudent
▶ PsychologistXPateint
▶ Age Gap
▶ Dark Academia
▶ Chronic Illness Rep
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Burn the World for You

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨:
➢ BDSM
➢ Hand Necklaces
➢ Bondage
➢ Degradation and Praise

and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Rolled Sleeves/Forearms
▷ Use Me
▷ Good Girl
▷ Beg Me

THIS BOOK left such a lasting impression on my mind. It was perfection how everything came together! It's the type of thing that should be made a movie as it has all the elements that movies need: drama, suspense, romance, mystery/thriller allure, and just spooky vibes. Absolutely fantastic and the best book I have read from Karina Halle!

Thank you to Netgalley, Metal Blonde Books and Karina Halle for the gifted copy!
All thoughts and opinions are my own!