This book had an awesome summary, but just didn’t deliver. It was awkwardly written, and the dialogue often went back and forth without the descriptions to cut in, just like after line of dialogue. Anyway, the plot builds up for lost of the book, to be completed in a couple pages. It had a satisfying ending, but it just wasn’t all there. It happened to quick and too clean. I had trouble staying motivated but I kept pushing through.
Overall, just not for me.

So the first thing you need to know is that this book almost perfectly encapsulates Hannah Moskwitz's writing (according to the three others books of hers that I've read). The characters are so real and messy — that's the way I always describe her characters. They're just a mess, in the best way. They don't always make sense, even to themselves; they have deep desires they don't know how to fix and bitter humor about their situation. They're paradoxes. And though there's romance, the richest relationships aren't romantic at all.

This book is about family. Yeah, there's sea monsters too, but that's just a cool framework for Hannah Moskowitz to hang this story of sibling love and frustration and fear on. Indi and his siblings are confined to the small space of their boat in the middle of the vast ocean, intensely codependent yet unable to communicate what they need. Their parents are missing, Indi wants out, and his older sister just won't give up this futile revenge quest.

I love how Indi's mixed up emotions rule the book. He's so angry and scared and frustrated and lost, and he loves his siblings so much. And Zulu, by the way, is adorable, and Indi trying his hardest to make everything good for her is so much.

I do wish there had been more about the sea monsters, since that was the idea that excited me about the book, but like I said, the sea monsters aren't the point anyway. That's a little disappointing, but it's fine. The one place I think it really hurt was in the big final sea monster battle. It was lacking some drama. Like, there was some intensity, but the way it ended? It needed something. Some more buildup, or an explanation of why it worked. (I know I'm being vague. Spoiler-free.)

But the real ending of the book... ugh, that was good. I hope they get to be happy forever now.

This book surprised me - it is action-packed and feels like an old-fashioned pirate adventure but with modern dialect and pace. Hunger Games meets Pirates of the Carribbean, if I had to peg it. It is fast-paced and a fun sea-centric adventure story.

So the best blurb i saw for this was Supernatual: Sea edition. ....

Okay that grabbed me hook, line, and sinker....(i am slightly obsessed with that show.)...This fun short little novel was everything it promised to be. You see the older siblings stepping up and caring for the younger siblings in light of the of the parents absence. You see family dynamics play out as each sibling learns to step up into their own role, fighting, making up, protecting, sacrifice, etc. Overall i give this short novel 4 stars.

SALT was an absolutely precious book about siblings and sea monsters! I honestly love sibling books above all else, and having this tie it up with monsters and pirates?! It's like Supernatural, but with adorable little kids and beautiful writing and quiet sadness and boats! And I'd only read Teeth by this author before this so I officially love her words and want them all.

It's the story of these 4 siblings who are sea monster hunters after their parents go missing. They're also (a) trying to find their parents, and (b) playing to slay the monster that might be the blame. Indi is the 2nd oldest and he totally thinks they're orphans. But his older sister Beleza is viciously holding out hope to find them. And they're like on this tiny dingy horrible little boat, loaded up with weapons, and they're off to cut off monsters' heads. An indestructible foursome you can't help but root for.

I just love love love all 4 of the siblings. It's such a small book but they all INSTANTLY became alive and they were each so dynamic and complex and stole my heart.
Beleza: She is SO STABBY. She will shoot all the monsters in the eye with her crossbow and she is like the protective mother bear you won't ever cross.
Indi: he is so soft™ and omg I love soft boys like nothing else. He's basically the mum-sibling and patches everyone up and also haaates killing monsters. He's aware he's seriously codependent on his siblings though and he hates it but he can't stop.
Oscar: He's 12 and the utter Slytherin. Like he totally steals and schemes and he's pretty aggressive but also adorable.
Zulu: SHE IS SO CUTE. She's 6 and she is the one who cuts up the monsters for meat afterwards (who gave the 6 year old a knife) and she's hyper and adorable.

I just loved their bond omg. And it was messy and they often hated each other, but they love each other and felt cramped in the tiny boat. They were also biracial and spoke a lot of languages and really had no home except for their boat. (I did think it was weird they didn't speak English though. They spoke bits of 4+ other languages but English is the most universal so that felt weird.)

My only disappointment is that: it could've been fleshed out more. It's very VERY short, which is fine because I love short books, but there were so many scenes that just zoomed past so fast. I would've liked to go into more depth and actually have description. We stopped by a ton of cool countries but like 3% description had me not "seeing" it at all. And the ending was so fast it nearly felt anticlimactic (not quite, but nearly).

SALT is an absolute treasure and I loved the few hours I spent swept into this world of heartache and knives and monster blood and salty seas. It contrasted, with such masterful writing, with a protagonist with the softest heart struggling with the confusion of wanting more than this life of death and monsters, but not wanting to give up the family he loves more than his own heartbeat.

Loved this adventure! I adored these four siblings and their bond with each other they each have such a unique relationship with one another. The monsters were awesome and the ever changing scenery and the mystery of what happened to their parents kept the story interesting and the ending was perfect. It did go quickly at times but the characters were the heart of this story for me I fell in love with them and hope more of their monster tales are in the future.

Atmospheric and evocative. Reminiscent of poetry instead of prose. This was a short read about "sicarios," or monster killers, who just happen to be children looking for their parents who disappeared. It had a sort of Pippi Longstocking / Boxcar Children / Narnia feel to it in that it was children playing at being adults, out of necessity. Except, you know, if the boxcar children were fighting monsters the size of football fields with flame throwers and guns.

Interesting choice of the word "sicario," as the only other usage I know of essentially means "assassin" in the Mexican drug cartels. An apt term for monster killers.

A super solid 3 ½ stars. Hannah Moskowitz has a penchant for very small narratives in very big worlds, and it’s one I appreciate. And adore.

Okay, so what is this book? Salt is basically a very personal narrative about finding your place in the world, set in the environment of Supernatural: ocean version, feat. a really great focus on family.

Yeah. I know. Wild blurb.

I think I just really like contained narratives that focus around family groups. This one is intensely character driven and very contained, extroardinarily fast-paced - an easy binge - and overall a lot of fun. I wish I had more to say than that, but listen - if my one-sentence description was appealing to you, you’ll enjoy this. I don’t even know if that one-sentence description is appealing to me and I still thought this was a fun read.

This review was a mess and so am I. Recommended.

After reading this I now know that I NEED more. More sea monsters, more pirates, and more Indie! What a fantastic journey of the process of self discovery.

Beleza and her 3 younger siblings are monster hunters. It's the family business until her Mother and Father disappear. a few months before. There is salt in their blood and they live on a small boat killing monsters bigger than can be imagined. Their parents kept telling them that there is treasure for them but there is no mention of it in their Mother's journal and she is not around to explain it to them. Pirates come in all shapes and sizes. They were taught that " they’re useless scum that should not be allowed to be people.”. This is a great book that could be enjoyed by different age groups. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. The story of the orphan monster hunters, seeking the truth about their parents' disappearance, was at times a little rushed, but overall I really enjoyed it and hope there are more stories about the monster hunters.

when we were little, we had to memorize all the different monsters signs. Sudden thunderstorm might be nothing, sure, but it might be a Toneda. That eerie, high pitched howl that you’ll never mistake for anything else once you’ve heard it? Sarkhayir. And a perfect circle of foamy water in the middle of still sea?
That’s a Devorar.

This story follows a group of siblings sailing around the Mediterranean looking for their missing parents and fighting sea monsters.

The sea monsters are my favorite parts of the story. Each sea monster is distinct from the rest and has its own way of being defeated...which the kids have been training to do their whole lives.

I’m not familiar with the Mediterranean area so I google mapped the names of the various places that were mentioned...Marseille, Mariupol and Medenine. The islands off Portugal...the Acores? It made the story more real.

The story isn’t an action packed adventure but it is engaging. I recommend if you want a quick fun read and if your like me you’ll map out where they sailed also.

I missed Hannah Moskowitz and her sibling relationships, and although I'm more used to seeing contemporary from her, I really enjoyed the fantastical elements of this one--it gave the story a refreshing flavor that saved it from feeling overly familiar. I love the way the siblings interact, the love they have for each other, the conflicts between them. The ending felt anticlimactic and not well explained or set up, but the characters are really what you're there for.

Like a good adventure books with young protagonists, Indy and his siblings are orphans. They are left to fight sea monsters and keep each other safe as they try to find the monster that killed their parents. This was less formulaic than I sort of assumed it would be. Great characters and the familt dynamic added a lot to the story. A quick read, but a good one.

Even though their parents disappeared during a hunt three months ago, seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, continue to roam the Mediterranean on their sailboat and hunt down monsters--but Indi yearns for a more settled life for his family, and he hopes that his parents' journal with its tantalizing hints of a treasure, will provide them all with the means of escape from their nomadic and dangerous life before it is too late.- Goodreads

I thought this was going to be an intense monster hunting book, where the protagonist wants out and will do what it takes to get there.

Not the case at all. This read was slow as molasses and lacked the intensity of life at sea. There were a lot of little things that bothered me with this read.

Firstly, it takes place in modern times i.e. where there is computers, internet, cars and cell phones. I don't nor did I have an issue with these kids choosing a life at sea but I had an issue with the fact that they did not know for the most part know how to use technology or even blend in with modern to society when they made port.I understand that they are supposed to be sea folks and that is their life, however, it was completely unrealistic that they couldn't really blend in or use anything modern.

Secondly, their boat. How I pictured it was this rundown, single sail, toy wooden looking boat that had too much stuff on it to properly work or walk. I could not for the life of me understand how in a modern world this was all they had. You can argue that they were left alone after the disappearance of their parents and didn't really have anything but then I could argue, their parents are monster hunters, why was there no preparation in how to get a proper boat?

Thirdly, there was no intensity within this novel. The monster scenes weren't filled with that fight like I wanted and expected. Indi is extremely passive and didn't really fight for anything. This does not change throughout the book. I wanted conflict, at least between him and Beleza but it wasn't there. There was so much brushed over in this book that the author could have added more to character development, engagement, emotion and scenery.

Man this book could have been really good. I know I listed a lot of what I don't like but there was a lot of good to this book. The foundation was strong; kids trying to save their family, save the world and fight the internal battle of just wanting to be kids is good. The pace was acceptable and the lack of romance actually worked in this book's favor. Was there an interest? Yes, but that went left real fast and I was actually happy for that. 

I wanted more from this read. It could have been amazing.Oh yeah and the ending wasn't great either. 

2 Pickles

Not to be that girl but this book is the nautical version of the classic ‘Supernatural’ tagline where mom and dad go out on a hunting trip and have yet to return.

“Salt” tells the story of Indie and his siblings who take to the high seas hunting monsters and chasing after their parents who are most likely dead after a job gone wrong. When the pressure of parenting and the push and pull between wanting to be there for your family and make a life of your own gets the better of him, Indie takes off and finds his footing on land and discovers that maybe it’s not all its cracked up to be.

The strength of this book is the writing of the relationship dynamics between the siblings who vary in age and for two of them have had to grow up and assume responsibility for the younger ones in their parents absence. As someone who is an older sister I understood a lot of what Indie struggled with by wanting an actual life but caught between his wants and the needs of his family while dealing with the very real threat of death by the hands of sea monsters.

Apart from those family moments the book didn’t really go anywhere for me we never really learn too much about the creatures they are hunting or the expansion of the network they use to gather information and find work other than the few moments that are needed to move the plot a bit further, and the overall mystery with their parents and the hunt for the creature that is thought to have claimed their lives is rather anticlimactic as we spend the whole book leading up to this moment of revenge just for it to work itself out rather quickly and the fallout of that accomplishment being taken care of just as fast.

If you’re looking for a thrilling adventure book with monsters lurking in the depths of the sea this isn’t the book for you but if you’re in the mood for something a little more grounded in that of how far someone is willing to go for their family than this will be perfect.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**