Title: House of Salt and Sorrows
Author: Erin A. Craig
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
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Summary
The Thaumas sisters seem to be haunted by some sort of curse. First, their mother died, and now each of them keep dropping off like flies. After the latest death of her sister Eulalie, Annaleigh starts have dark visions and nightmares, even seeing the ghosts of her sisters around the halls of Highmoor.
As Annaleigh investigates the deaths of her sisters, she realizes that they can’t simply be accidents. Something darker seems to be at foot, and Annaleigh is desperate to get to the bottom of it. Especially when her sisters start going to glittering balls every night; are things really what they seem? And will Annaleigh be able to unravel the mystery with the help of a stranger before it’s too late for her and the rest of her sisters?
Review: House of Salt and Sorrows
We received an ARC of this book at work, and I’d been seeing it around so I was so excited to read it! And I definitely wasn’t disappointed. Craig has created a magical, dark, haunting world that consumes you from the beginning of the novel and keeps evolving as you get further into the story. The book overall has a dark fairy tale feel to it, and it’s the perfect book to read when it keeps raining outside.
I do have to admit that the beginning of the novel felt a bit slow to me. There was a mystery kind of introduced, with Eulalie’s death, but Annaleigh doesn’t move very fast with her investigation. Of course, no one really believes her, which makes it difficult. But the story definitely picks up the further you get into the book, and by the end, you won’t want to put it down until you know who’s behind it all. There were a lot of red-herrings, and though the overall ending was slightly predictable, I still enjoyed the journey to get there.
The characters were also a largely driving force throughout the book. Though there are so many sisters, Craig did a good job ensuring that we could tell all the sisters apart, making them all unique and different. We see more sisters more than others, but they all worked together as an excellent cast to drive forth the dreariness of where they live.
I’ve gotta say, I’m really enjoying this trend of retellings in YA. We get a new vision of a classic story, bringing something refreshing to the table. Books like A Curse So Dark and Lonely and The Boneless Mercies are bringing these stories to life.
All in all, a dark, atmospheric retelling that will engage you until the very end.
4.5/5 stars