Review: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig #buddyreadstodiefor
House of Salt and Sorrows
by Erin A. Craig
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publish Date: August 6, 2019
EBook
416 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings
Get swept away in Erin A. Craig's mesmerizing House of Salt and Sorrows. As one by one her beautiful sisters mysteriously die on their isolated island estate, Annaleigh must unravel the curse that haunts her family. Be careful who you dance with. . . .
Four of Annaleigh Thaumas's eleven sisters have returned to the Salt, the brackish water that surrounds their lonely island home, their lives cut short, each more tragically than the last. Whispers throughout the Highmoor estate say the girls have been cursed by the gods.
When Annaleigh finds out that her sisters have been sneaking out to attend glittering midnight balls and dance until dawn, she's not sure whether to stop them--or join them. And when she begins to see a series of horrific, ghostly visions and more sisters die, she realizes she must solve the mystery--with the help of Cassius, a sea captain who knows much more about her than he should--and unravel the Thaumas curse before she descends into madness or . . . it claims her next.
Let me first admit that I had NO idea this was a retelling and then when I found out, I had no idea what the story was for this retelling as I had never heard of that either. And you know what? I'm kind of glad to go into this with absolutely no expectation and nothing to compare it to.
This story has a very gothicy feel to it. So many daughters. So many deaths. So many questions. Starting the book with a death of yet another daughter and moving into the mourning process... that gets interrupted by the new wife and her impending news. Well, will wonders never cease. These girls have very little supervision and once they find a way to go dancing every night - well, I mean, I don't think I'd be able to turn that down either!
There are definitely some slow moments but I think they cater well to the build up of the story line. I found myself fascinated and couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. What's real. What's not. Who is who and wait... WHAT was that in the punch bowl? When it came to pass on what was actually going on, I loved the way it all weaved together and made sense. AND the villain, ahem, main villain... is one I've always been fascinated with so yay for happy surprises!!
The only little issue I had was the very ending. Not gonna spoil anything but... yeah, not gonna spoil anything. *wink* I will say this, it doesn't read like a YA novel to me. It's dark (YAY) and certainly screwed with your mind a bit - especially towards the end. The last third of the book where it starts going a bit insane (in the best way) is where it shined for me.
If Craig's books are always going to be written in such a dark and fantastical way, I am here for every bit of it.
★★★☆
No comments
Leave a Comment