Lily Albrecht is a bookseller of antique and rare books. When one of her colleagues dies she takes over a commission to find an occult tome called "The Book of the Most Precious Substance" and sell it for a six to seven figure price to the anonymous buyer.

Lily and another rare books selling colleague set out to find the buyer and find one of the few remaining copies of the 17th century book. A book about sex magic, granting the user a large boon when used correctly - or something like that.

So far this sounds good. Bookish people trying to find an occult book. And here's where the book becomes repetitive. The two fly to a city in the US or Europe to meet up with a book collector who might or might not have the book and sell it to them. They stay in a fancy hotel. Go out for an expensive -and described in detail- dinner with the book person. Find out details about the book. Go back to the hotel to have awkward sex.

Not one sex scene is as sexy and erotic as the cover blurb makes you think it might be. Nor is the book as thrilling. The story is repetitive with a very predictable outcome that makes up the last 10-12% of the eARC. It all reminded me of that late 1990's film, "The Ninth Gate" with Johnny Depp; though not in a good way.

Lily deals in rare books in order to support herself and her husband, Abel, a formerly successful author who has early onset dementia. The life she planned for them is over, all she can do is scape a living to get by, until she and her friend Lucas are offered millions of dollars to track down The Book of Most Precious Substance, an ancient text on sex magic, which grants those who follow its six steps whatever they wish for.

However Lily and Lucas are seduced by the power of the book the moment the set out to find. it. which leads them into dangerous waters.

This is a dark but fun morality tale., full of erotic detail.

Where do I even start? It’s a book about sex fluids- there I’ve said it.

This book follows Lily, an author turned rare book dealer. When she is approached to help find the book of most precious substance in exchange for a sizeable reward she can’t refuse. Lily’s journey means leaving her sick husband in care but means she travels to New York, New Orleans, Paris and Munich meeting a variety of interesting people on the quest for money and power.

This book contains magic, erotica, sex cults, murder there’s a lot packed in but obviously the main focus was sex, sex and sex.

The ending didn’t fit with the rest of the book in my opinion and funny it was the ending that was my favourite part.

Not my usual genre but a good read. A quest for a very rare book which has magical powers. The searcher travels the world in search of said book. Spending time in eating fine food, drinking fine wine and having lots of sex. This book started off well, but by the middle I was losing interest and the ending was an anti climax and rather predictable. This could have been so much better. I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

Danger, mystery, adventure, booksellers, the occult… what more would you ask for in a thriller? This was a twisty read with a fast pace, and it keeps you guessing right until the end.
The nature of the story made it a little repetitive in places, with the main characters frequently appearing in a new city to see a new character about a new lead, but overall the book is dark, entertaining and fun.

The description drew me in which turns out to have been a shame. Turns out that basically the journey to find this book is essentially one of fly to somewhere nice - Paris, New Orleans, Munich - meet a rich person who may or may not have the book at this time, eat at extremely fancy and expensive restaurants, have amazing sex with her companion and/or the rich people, move to next destination, repeat, ditto, ditto. All this time her husband is at home, becoming more and more debilitated by early onset dementia, not speaking, almost at the stage of having to be tube-fed. Of course she's doing this in order to get the book for another rich man and make her fortune and by now acquire the most precious substance to grant her most precious wish. The beginning is good, the end is predictable and the middle, sorry, waste of good reading time. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars


An enjoyable ride through many cities with fine wine, good food, lots of sex, all whilst on a quest for a very rare book.
The characters are what make this book, they are many and varied, headed by Lily who really is the star.
Stuck in a dreary life, she thinks money will buy her way out of it.
Interesting to see how far people will go, to get what they want.
An entertaining read.

"'You're feeding it. Giving it power. The book both gives power and receives it. Magic...It works. But the tricky things is, it never works exactly how you expect...Whatever it is that usually decides our fates - God, luck, random chance - it's smarter than us. It's always smarter. Magic works, but it's an exercise in irony, sometimes a dangerous one. Be careful.''

Former author, sensible and lacklustre Lily Albrecht has become a specialist bookseller in order to pay for beloved husband Abel's, who has advanced dementia, care. Their bright and full life has become repetitive and dull, isolated in up-state New York, whilst she works and researches miracles for Abel, leaving him with conscientious carer, Awe. At a book fair she encounters Lucas and Shyman, both of whom she knows a little; Shyman is seeking a mysterious and rare, 17th century, occult book, supposed to bring great power. When Shyman is found murdered the following day, Lily and Lucas decide to pick up where Shyman left off and find the book.

Part mystery, part supernatural thriller as well as protagonist Lily's emotional and sexual reawakening as she falls in love with Lucas whilst the pair travel to globe tracking down potential copies of the book. Imbedded in the world of antiquarian bookselling adds a wonderfully rich dimension (who doesn't love a book about books?). There is a sense of pervasive dread about their quest, building with every dark copy, every eccentric and often unpleasant character they meet. Reminding me of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind, it's a compelling tale, with obsession oozing from the page.

I enjoyed this book which is essentially a mystery story set in the world of booksellers who deal with rare and exotic books with the added supernatural elements that the book itself is magic . completing certain tasks of a sexual nature are said to bestow your worldly desire on their completion
The sexual nature of the tasks not surprisingly adds a great deal of sexual content to the story ,whilst not truly pornographic the sex scenes remind me of the 50 shades of grey series., they are well written and sexy
the book covers the journey of 2 booksellers as they search for the book carrying out the tasks as they discover them one by one . I personally was a bit disappointed in the ending which didn't quite stand up to the quality of the earlier stages of the book , there is a plot twist that I hadn't predicted which I enjoyed
The book is an easy enjoyable read it is fast paced and interesting throughout with great sex scenes
I read a copy on Neutrally Uk the book is published in the uk on 3rd November 2022 by Faber and Faber limited

I didn’t know what to expect going into this - it was in the horror section of Goodreads but, when reading the synopsis, mentions being an erotic thriller. Well, either way sounded interesting! And, whilst this does tend more toward erotic thriller, I enjoyed my time. The characters were fleshed out, the world of book selling really explored and the writing is sharp. There’s a lot of mention of the most precious substance and it’s erotic charging of magic but, for me, the sex scenes weren’t overwhelming to the story and the magic involved was an interesting twist. This novel seems more for those who like their magic thrillers more steamy than horror led but it’s an easy recommend.

i loved all of the ideas and concepts in this book, but the execution fell flat for me. it was a fun page-turning experience, but the plot-points were simply too-loosely connected and i failed to stay/become emotionally connected to the main character (apart from chapter 6, which was incredible). i have no idea who to recommend this book to, since it really doesn't fit into any genre.

What happens when an opportunity falls into your lap? Lily whose career as a novelist has been abandoned due to the necessity of caring for her ailing husband, has turned bookseller specialising in unusual tomes. When a fellow specialist is found dead in unusual circumstances it sets in motion a chain of events that will upend Lily's life for ever.
Does the Book of The Most Precious Substance really exist?
A fast paced tale set from New York through Europe .
Will Lily's life ever be the same again even if she doesn't want it to?

How far would you go to obtain a rare book? Well Lily will go pretty far. With Faustian undertones, this book is for those who have dabbled or have an interest in the rare book scene. "The book of the Most Precious Substance" by Sara Gran takes you on a globe-trotting adventure from the States to Europe chasing down the must-have elusive book that rare book collectors want to add to their collection. Such a joy!

As a 33 year old male, I appreciate that The Book of the Most Precious Substance probably wasn't made for me. However, after reading the whole thing, it's tough to know exactly how many people this is actually for. I am aware that this has good reviews all over the place, and given the subject matter, it's perhaps hardly surprising.

On the surface, The Book of the Most Precious Substance has a lovely fantasy element, a deep undercurrent of erotica and danger, alongside a pacey story that immediately sucks you into the characters' world. The mission is simple enough and there's some nice little twists along the way.

Unfortunately, when you take a peek under the surface layer, some of the more fundamental problems with this book rears its ugly head. This is essentially a 300+ page fetch quest. Sure, there are some nice descriptions of cities and plenty of pages describing food, but the story just isn't all that interesting. But do the characters save this one? Well... maybe. That's certainly subjective to say the least.

The protagonist here is Lily Albrecht, a former novelist who has resigned herself to an uninspiring life as book dealer. With her husband at home suffering from a crippling disease, Lily becomes obsessed with a rare and powerful occult book - the most powerful ever written - and jets off with old friend, the handsome Lucas in search of this book.

From here, the story takes on that aforementioned repetitive style, with the majority of the book headed up with Lily: Heading to a hotel room, fooling around and cheating on her husband, eating food and meeting someone...who gives a clue to another place. Rinse and repeat. The story attempts to spice things up with sex scenes and erotica but honestly, it's more uncomfortable and cringe-worthy to read than genuinely hot and sexy.  else.

The writing swings between tepid descriptions of the body with words like "nether regions" but then switches violently to "f*cking" and other words I won't write here, sometimes within a few sentences of one another. And yet, the whole time you'll find yourself reading this knowing that the protagonist is cheating on her ill husband, which just feels...icky?

Now, to be fair there is some foreshadowing and the ending works quite well to reframe Lily's actions in a new light but there's not much in the way of internalizing through guilt or drama for our protagonist.

The biggest problem with The Book of the Most Precious Substance though is the sheer lack of tension or obstacles for Lily to overcome. Now, had the book decided that Lucas and Lily HAD to have sex in order for Lily's relationship with her husband to improve then it could have raised some interesting internal dilemmas and reframed Lily as a sympathetic protagonist. Instead, she fantasizes constantly about a more carefree life, almost looking at her taking care of Abel (her husband) as a job than anything else. It's perhaps ironic then that the absolute best chapters in the book come from Lily reminiscing fondly about her husband and the time they had together.

The dialogue and prose is going to be hit or miss for many people too and this is one of those books that has a tendency to say in four sentences what could have been said in four words. Be prepared for numerous instances of: ""Huh?" Said Lucas. "Huh?" I said. We both wondered what that meant together." etc. It feels clumsy to read and while the dialogue is certainly authentic to how people would speak, and the characters feel like real people (except a character here called Wh*re, who embraces her nickname for some reason) it's almost like the book is torn between wanting to be a screenplay (or a movie adaptation) and a genuine novel.

As someone who hasn't read any of Sara Gran's previous novels, I do appreciate that this could just be a personal preference but The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a misfire. Its story is repetitive and not very fulfilling, while the constant descriptions of hotel rooms and awkward sex scenes do nothing to add much flavour to this mundane fetch quest.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)

I absolutely loved Sara Gran’s Come Closer so I was so excited to read this!

This is such a dark, fun, grimy and dirty book. I love that it’s a book about books and about booksellers, and I found it unputdownably twisty and turny.

The ending was a real surprise but utterly perfect.

I cannot wait to read whah Sara Gran writes next.

5 stars

Sara Gran's latest novel is a literary thriller with elements of erotica and horror, it is story of the rarefied exclusive end of the antiquarian book trade, on the occult, of power, obsession, desire, the dark arts, sex and murder. Lily Albrecht was once an author that been successful, she had been fortunate enough to find a partner that fulfilled her, Abel, living a life that was everything she could ever have wanted. All that has been gone for some time, she lives a cold and lonely existence in upstate New York, a walled in broken woman, struggling financially to look after the non-responsive, wheel chair bound Abel, who needs 24 hour care. She hasn't given up on finding some cure for Abel, but given it is not clear what he is suffering from, the medical profession largely baffled, this seems to be an impossible dream. She has learned to earn a living as a specialised book dealer, earning just enough to keep her head above water, employing the competent Awe to help take care of Abel.

Lily is approached by Shyman who has a client in search of a specific 17th century dark grimoire that tantalisingly offers untold levels of power, reputedly gained through a 5 step process involving bodily fluids. There were once only 5 copies, but now only 3 are known to be in existence. Lily has never heard of The Book of the Most Precious Substance, but the promise of a handsome commission to ease her money worries is more than enough to entice her to look for it, something that she might live to regret. She becomes more central to the search when Shyman is mugged and killed, and she is joined by the more upmarket librarian and archivist, the handsome and wealthy Lucas Markham. Lily embarks on an adventure that will expand her sexual expertise and experience as she moves through the temptations of interacting in more moneyed social circles, learning of the likes of The Fool, The General and The Whore, and travelling to LA, Washington, New Orleans, Munich and Paris.

This might not appeal to readers who do not like reading about sex, but I found it a fun and entertaining read which provides detailed knowledge of a specific niche area of the antiquarian book trade and the tiny clientele who will do whatever it takes to get their grubby hands on a book only the richest can afford, with its reputation of satisfying the darkest of desires. Lily begins to slowly move beyond the world of despair that had constrained her life and drained it of all life and colour, but will she be able to handle where the book takes her? I am a fan of the author, and I have to say I have definitely enjoyed reading her latest, and I hope many other readers will want to read it too. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I admit that when I received this book, I didn’t think it would be my kind of thing. I requested a copy because I was intrigued, but for one reason I cannot fathom, I just expected not to like it. But I did. For the most part. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. I’m not sure I believe in everything in the book - sex magic or magic sex for example - but each to their own. I love books that involve books or bookshops and this one’s follows the book collecting world and for a bibliophile, it is extremely exciting. This is our kind of porn. Which is ironic, given the whole magic sex angle.

It is most definitely NSFW. I’m not sure what I was expecting considering it follows a magical sex book, but I wasn’t expecting quite so vivid sex scenes, they’re a bit of an eye opener. Definitely a book for over 18s, and even then it will be a bit of a shock.

There are of course some, potentially, triggering subjects including illness, death, grief, dementia, financial worries, loneliness, violence. And I’d love to say they’re not overwhelming, but that wouldn’t be true. There’s a lot of stuff going on, but that’s part and parcel of the storyline itself.

Traditionally, erotica hasn’t always been described as good writing or good storytelling. It serves a purpose and that purpose isn’t necessarily great literature. Now, I wouldn’t necessarily describe this as great literature, I can’t see it joining the classics shelf, but it’s more than erotica. It has a heart and a message beneath it all.

The whole magic + sex = eternal power thing seems somewhat far fetched for me. I believe in magic and spirits and ghosts and whatnot, but this just tipped the scales over to unbelievable.

I’ve not read a book by Sara Gran before, and I’m not sure I’ll rush to read the others if this is the kind of strain of her work. I did enjoy it, it was interesting and fun and shocking, but just a bit much for me. I felt the plot was very thin on the ground and yet it seems busy and rushed.

I did feel we were on a bit of a wild goose chase. Our protagonists travel from one country to the next and it all gets rather repetitive; travel, dinner, sex, breakfast, meeting, dinner, sex, travel etc. etc. And you do start wondering if it’s vital to read every single bit because it’s all becoming quite similar, but at the same time, you’re worried you’ll miss something key. But I felt it could have done with slightly more variation.

We have two protagonists, Lily and Lucas. Lucas I didn’t like. He was meant to be this charismatic, debonair, handsome hero of the story and I felt he was quite seedy and selfish. Lily was better. She had a sad backstory and you didn’t begrudge her wanting success, but she was rather naive. There are of course a number of other characters but none that I feel are present enough to review.

It is being advertised as a horror book and in my opinion, there aren’t any horror elements at all. There’s thriller and romance and fantasy, but I wouldn’t it’s in anyway scary. A bit thrilling and intriguing and edgy, but not frightening.

Bizarrely, and I know this doesn’t help readers of this review, but I can’t decide if the ending worked or not. It seemed at first like a natural conclusion, but it also felt like a complete 180° flip and a bit rushed. I felt 95% of the book was on one train, and then the end was full of twists and turns and changes that weren’t in keeping with the rest of the story, and by the end I felt it wasn’t even the same story,

Having said all that, it was thoroughly entertaining and interesting. It felt like a murder mystery, in the sense that it was fast paced and exciting, and you’d get to the end of a chapter and need to read the next straight away. I read it in 2 days, which is proof that I did enjoy it, but it wouldn’t necessarily say it’ll stay with me for long.

I loved Come Closer and was delighted to receive a copy of Sarah Gran's new book for review.

I liked it up to maybe the 60% mark, at times though feeling like it wasn't for me but wanting to see where it went. I got to about 75% and the ridiculousness of it all made me actually give up. Explicit sex, occult, witchery (is that a word?!) and rituals, along with a cast straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, The Admiral, The Whore, etc (adding to my confusion over who was who), made me stop reading. Unfortunately not for me.

After reading and loving Sara Gran's Come Closer, I knew I needed to read the rest of her work and wow did this live up to my hopes!

Fast paced, this erotic thriller drags you in from the very first page. The Book Of The Most Precious Substance is a cat and mouse cross continental trip to find the most rare and sort after occult book.

Full of complex and at times unlikeable characters, The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a tale of life, yearning, and finding yourself again. And while I wouldn't call this 'horrir' I loved every minute of it.

"It’s your life, Lily, no one else’s. If you want it, you have to fight for it. You have to want it and you have to fight.”

4.25 stars.

Thank you Faber and Faber publishing and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.