Salome's Kiss

Ahaha, you have got to be kidding me with that ending!! I love it! I feel so betrayed and upset, and it's been a while that any story made me feel anything at all so well done, bravo! Now as I was reading, I kept seeing the 'dark dark dark' tag flashing, and my friend's words 'messed me up, messed me up, messed me up' so I was expecting to be twisted up, but exactly how it happened... I didn't really see until moments before. I assumed something tragic and sad, rather than.... what we got. In any case, the main character was a delight. She reminds me of a sweet heroine from a Dickens novel. She's such a nervous little thing, that when she finally plucks up I was rooting for her. Only to have the wind knocked out of my sails. Oh! <3 Well it was quite the ride. If you remember dramatic fanfic from the early 2000s (dont like dont read), this ends on a similar dramatic flair. Now I wish someone would write some fanfic to *sniffle* make that ending more palatable. If you like sweet sapphic stories with a dark twist, give it a try!

客观来讲剧情其实挺好，一些细枝末节的不对劲处也表现得非常好，如果足够留心，对于部分剧情的疑虑会逐渐堆叠，所以结局也足够合理。但是这样的结局并不让人愉快，毕竟我只是单纯想来看点女人轻松甜蜜谈恋爱的。打完后唏嘘叹气，真正明白了这哪是维多利亚小甜饼，维多利亚小毒茶还差不多。 一时间不知道该不该庆幸自己对于剧情的直觉比较敏锐，让我没有对结局产生天塌了一般的惊恐。 [spoiler]莎乐美有欲望诱惑与毁灭的含义，也会被指代具有破坏性魅力的女性。[/spoiler] [h3]我推荐给仇人玩。[/h3]

needed my historical and toxic yuri dopamine rush so i was not disappointed but would have loved it even more if the plot twist ending was being teased in the middle to smoothen the abrupt last act of the story.

Content warnings abound (incl implied SA, familial abuse, gaslighting, classism, and whole lotta homophobia) If twisted psychological horror is what you're looking for, I guess go right ahead but it was NOT what I thought I got myself into.

Just your friendly neighborhood Himejoshi lesbian here, doing my due diligence once again to review enthralling Yuri VNs! (Isn't my life just so rough?) Okay so after reading "Blackberry Honey," I knew I had to check out "Salome's Kiss..." The art drew me in immediately. It is very similar to "Blackberry Honey" in many ways. The writing pulls you in, some characters share quite a few similarities, both are during a similar time period and setting. However, I was more immersed in "Salome's Kiss" from the start. I felt Lorina (the MC from "Blackberry Honey") and Letitia (MC from the above mentioned game) are similar in personality, but I actually really appreciated how Letitia's character explores religious themes a bit more in depth. Many LGBTQIA+ people are/were in a similar situation, living in a religious society that does not readily accept them... and in turn often cannot accept themselves. Isn't it ironic then, that Letitia's attempts to do "the right thing" always lead to her finding herself in a worse situation? Something something, "no good deed goes unpunished," something something, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions..." The music, the art, the twists and turns... Oh and there's an adult patch which is definitely worth it if you like some spice in your stories like I do. ;) All of it is like a stage play, and speaking of stage play, Salome is a name I looked up to see how it matched the title of this grandiose masterpiece. Salome is the name of two women in the Bible, the most notable being the woman who did that dance for Herod which resulted in John the Baptist's head being served on a silver platter... It's also the name of two characters from both an opera by Richard Stauss and a play by Oscar Wilde. These women are portrayed as everything from driven, seductive, powerful, vengeful. Let's just say this VN explores these themes in depth... I know I'm late to the game as it was released in 2022... but I will say if you're unaware as I was until recently, this story has a tragic ending. I will spare spoilers (you can surely find them yourself if you so choose, even on here) but do not expect some fluffy happy-ever-after here. Still though, this toxic waste yuri love story was like a train wreck you can't look away from. If you can handle a well-done tragic end (one that you will likely still have unanswered questions to by the end), I highly recommend the game lol 5/5 stars!

The game was great for the vast majority of my time reading. All the way up till the end. I'm spoiler tagging the rest because I'm talking about the ending, but I'm still keeping details to a minimum. [spoiler] The game does a great job of getting you invested in it's characters and their stories. Along with getting you to feel things about them, be it empathy or disgust. It is a gothic story through and through, with all that entails and I was prepared for the ending to not be a happy one. But not only was it not a happy ending, but it was also the type of ending that felt like it just blindsided you with a huge twist just for the shock factor alone. Was there foreshadowing for how things turned out? Yeah, a little. Did it feel unearned and incredibly unsatisfying? Immensely so. I was so invested and so in love with how the story was going right up until the last, maybe even just 10 minutes? Even if things ended poorly and Letitia and Genevieve couldn't be together it would have been fine by me, because it would have felt like it was a conclusion to their story. But instead if feels like that just gets cut short and suddenly for the last tiny bit it's an entirely different story focusing on entirely different characters. It marred the experience for me so much that I would genuinely not recommend this to anyone. [/spoiler] [spoiler] Also, while not nearly as big an issue as the rest of it given that it's optional and not related to the plot (technically), but having the 18+ dlc's final scene be the Literal Last scene in the game was just. ugh. Just the bad ending cherry on top of the bad ending cake. [/spoiler]

Salome’s Kiss, developed and published by ebi-hime, is a deeply atmospheric yuri visual novel that combines gothic romance with psychological complexity in a slow-burning, emotionally devastating narrative. Set in the Victorian English countryside, the game invites players into a world of crumbling morals, subtle dread, and forbidden desire, using expressive art and rich prose to tell a story where love and manipulation blur until they become indistinguishable. As with many of ebi-hime’s visual novels, Salome’s Kiss is less about choices and more about immersion—offering a kinetic, linear experience that thrives on character intimacy, internal conflict, and mounting tension. The story follows Letitia Reed, a soft-spoken governess who flees from the clamor of London to a remote estate on the Yorkshire moors in the hope of silencing her unwanted desires. What she finds instead is a household caught in its own kind of decay, and at the center of it is Genevieve Langley, a strikingly intelligent, manipulative young woman on the cusp of adulthood. Despite her initial reservations, Letitia is gradually pulled into Genevieve’s web. Their relationship becomes the emotional core of the narrative—tender, volatile, and ultimately tragic. The game slowly unspools their connection, balancing moments of vulnerability with a looming sense of danger, as the gothic backdrop reinforces the uncertainty of Letitia’s emotional and moral footing. What makes Salome’s Kiss particularly memorable is its refusal to comfort the reader. It doesn’t romanticize its power dynamics or soften the damage its characters inflict on each other. Instead, it embraces the ambiguity and cruelty often found in classic gothic literature. Letitia’s internal monologues are saturated with guilt, confusion, and longing, while Genevieve walks the line between childlike curiosity and something far more calculating. As the story unfolds, questions of consent, control, and self-deception come to the forefront. The result is an emotionally exhausting experience—one that is as thought-provoking as it is discomforting. Visually, the novel is a gothic dreamscape. Rock CR’s artwork is lush and intricate, portraying the characters with ornate period costuming and expressive detail. The backgrounds evoke the somber beauty of decaying manor halls, misty moorlands, and candlelit corridors. The color palette leans into cool, desaturated tones punctuated by flashes of crimson and gold, mirroring the emotional volatility of the characters. The UI is minimal and monochromatic, elegantly supporting the aesthetic without distraction. Complementing the visuals is a gentle, melancholic soundtrack—dominated by piano and orchestral textures—that further immerses players in the game’s brooding atmosphere. The writing, as is typical of ebi-hime’s work, is poetic and emotionally raw. Every word is carefully chosen to build mood and draw the reader into Letitia’s perspective. There are moments when the prose is almost too intense, where the weight of Letitia’s internal guilt feels oppressive—but that is entirely intentional. The narrative demands emotional engagement and close reading, which may not appeal to everyone, but those who commit to the experience are rewarded with a story that lingers. Supporting characters such as Dinah and Wry offer nuance to the household’s dynamics, though the spotlight remains firmly on the evolving—and deteriorating—bond between the two leads. The kinetic structure of the game means that there are no branching paths or alternate endings. It’s a single, tightly woven narrative that plays out over the course of about 4 to 8 hours, depending on reading speed. Some players may lament the lack of interactivity, but the linearity allows the story to maintain its precise pacing and emotional arc. There is also an optional adult patch available that includes three erotic scenes with explicit content and corresponding CGs, adding a layer of physicality to the already intense relationship between Letitia and Genevieve. However, even without the patch, the sensual and psychological undertones remain strong throughout. While the game has been praised for its storytelling, visuals, and atmosphere, it has also drawn mixed reactions due to its ending and thematic choices. Some players find the final act to be a powerful, if painful, conclusion that reinforces the novel’s central themes. Others may find it frustrating, especially if they expected redemption or closure. The age gap dynamic and power imbalance between the leads has also sparked discussion, with some readers praising the game’s unflinching portrayal of morally ambiguous desire, while others find it uncomfortable or problematic. These debates speak to the novel’s willingness to confront difficult emotional terrain without offering easy answers. In the end, Salome’s Kiss is a rich, complex work that embraces the full emotional palette of gothic fiction: longing, repression, obsession, and decay. It is not a romantic fantasy in the traditional sense, but a story about the consequences of desire, especially when desire is twisted by guilt, fear, and desperation. It succeeds not because it is comforting, but because it is honest in its depiction of characters who are deeply flawed and painfully human. For readers seeking a dark, emotionally intense visual novel with beautiful production and literary ambition, Salome’s Kiss is an unforgettable journey into the shadows of the heart. Rating: 8/10

By far one of my favourite novels she has written. The setting and art are great and the music pulls you into the mood. The controversial ending is one I very much love. I was very surprised by the twist but thinking over the novels story again and looking back at some moments it makes it that much better.

Genuinely really mad I can't recommend it. Because the art style is gorgeous and the plot itself seems so good and mysterious (despite some things you have to overlook). But the ending destroys all of it. I'm still annoyed. I will never recover.

I’ve never been so glad to listen to my intuition in my enter life about a game before; 80 minutes in and something told me I’d be wasting my time if I carried on playing this “visual novel,” and I use that term lightly. I refunded it, then went to the reviews to see I had made the right choice. This is not a visual novel. It’s a book with a few pictures because the dev doesn’t have enough of a budget to make it a visual novel, clearly. I don’t mean to be mean spirited but it’s quite a let down…though that can be said for most of this product which is much more mean spirited than a negative review like mine, for reasons I can’t go too deep into without spoiling the story. If I wanted a book with a picture to look at every 100 pages, I would’ve just picked up a book. The art is beautiful, no doubt about that, which makes me wish even more that this was a proper visual novel by its definition. I won’t include spoilers in my review but do listen to the reviews that contain spoilers, even if you don’t read the spoiler text. Save yourself the time and disappointment like I did.