4 out of 5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacourt for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good retelling and this is definitely a good one. This is a retelling of the classic fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". This is a Gothic retelling of the tale told through the POV of Annaleigh one of the middle of twelve sisters. The family resides at Highnmoor Manor on an Island and one by one each sister is found dead. Each death more tragic than the last one. Everyone believes that there is a curse upon the family and basically the sisters are just waiting to see who will die next. Annaleigh has gotten to the point that she can't even cry anymore as she continues to lose her sisters.

After all of the grief Annaleigh's step Mother suggest they start living again instead of always being in mourning. Annaleigh is not sure that this is something that she wants to do but for the sake of her sisters she decides to try. But, she also is determined to find out if the family really is cursed.

This is a beautiful and sad tale with a lovely creepy, Gothic vibe. Darkness around every corner. I really enjoyed this novel!

I want to be coherent about how much I loved this so I'll take a moment to collect myself.

...

So, The Twelve Dancing Princesses has always been a favorite tale of mine and hearing it was going to be done in a Gothic vibe with all the beauty of the original tale? I jumped at the chance and can't say how thankful I am that I was able to read this early.

Right from the first page, I realized that I was going to love this book and I was going to reread this, multiple times.

Craig keeps up the gothic and creepy vibe the whole time, which is impressive and she doesn't go too over the top or ridiculous with it, which is important for me as a reader.

I adored every clothing description in this book and I loved all the sisters, Verity was hard not to love and Cassius is now probably one of my favorite characters. Ever.

It's more than just a tale with pretty dresses though, there's so much loss and grief and it feels so raw with our MC and I think that was important to focus on, and it did really keep the best parts of the original tale.

This book liked to consistently stomp on my heart and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Wow, House of Salt and Sorrows. Going into this book, I knew that it was a rough retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses tale (which I couldn't even recall very well, tbh). I had NO idea that there would be so many horror elements involved. Seriously, I had to stop reading this one at night because it creeped me out so much.

The main story is as follows: Annaleigh Thaumas, one of eleven sisters, is daughter of a Duke of salty ocean islands. Tragedy strikes the family when the girl's mother dies during childbirth. Then, tragedy comes on a-coming as Annaleigh's sisters pass away. We come into the story after the third sister has passed; the family is obviously broken and grieving and everyone in town is talking about the Thaumas curse. Annaleigh's stepmother convinces her father that this is enough - no more mourning these dead sisters! Let's throw a ball! Everyone gets fancy new shoes to wear and things go off fairly well, except for the fact that barely anyone will dance with the sisters (you know, because of the curse and all). Lots of creepy stuff happens, more sisters die, more dancing ensues. There is a twisty ending, revealing the truth of the curse and tying this one up, probably for good.

This book was A LOT. There were a fair amount of subplots, some more successful than others. I never really got a handle on the patriarch of the family or some of the sisters. There was romance involved that was fairly successful in the romance sense, but the romantic lead had some random reveals that I don't think worked all that well. Too much plotting came out of left field and didn't tie together cohesively. And again, the horror elements are much more pronounced than I had imagined.

Overall, this is a good book for someone interested in very dark fairy tale retellings, horror elements in YA, a little madness, and some twisty elements to bring everything together.

So this was really good. I like a good retelling and Craig does a great job with "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by the Brothers Grimm. We follow the main character Annaleigh who is intent on figuring out if her older sister was murdered. From there we have Craig work in Gothic elements as well as some pretty dark horror elements as well. I loved the world building and would be interested in reading more about the sisters. The main reason why I gave this 4 stars though is that the book noticeably drags in a lot of places. And honestly, I started to get all of the sisters confused after a while except for Verity and Annaleigh.

"House of Salt and Sorrows" follows Annaleigh Thaumas who is reeling from another funeral. Her sister was found dead and this makes this the fourth sister (out of 12) who has died over the past few years. Many in the community believe that the Thaumas sisters and family are cursed. With Annaleigh's father remarrying and expecting a son, she wonders if someone out there is out to hurt Annaleigh and her sisters due to the manor and all of their riches going to the eldest child, not the male heir.

Annaleigh was a great heroine to root for. She loves her sisters, misses her mother, and is trying with her newest stepmother. However, she starts to wonder if someone or something is stalking her sisters and her. When she and her sisters start to sneak out to dance at balls (they have been dealing with mourning rules for about 5 years) she initially doesn't think what they are doing is wrong. However, she quickly grows afraid since she keeps getting visions about her sisters dying all around her. When she meets a young man named Cassius, Annaleigh starts to dream about maybe falling in love and marrying.

The other sisters besides Verity kind of got lost to me after a while. I know that there were triplets (I think) and there may have been twins. Seriously. I needed a family tree or something like that when the book first starts that I could have flipped back and forth to make sure I was tracking people correctly.

I loved Cassius and his whole backstory. I don't want to spoil, but that is why I thought that Craig did such a great job with world building that I think she can revisit these characters or locations in subsequent books.

The writing does a great job with blending the fairy tale elements (an island that is devoted to the sea and has their own High Mariner) as well as taking Gothic and Horror elements and blending them all together. The flow though as I said was a bit of a mess. I get the idea behind slow burns books with mystery elements (Annaleigh trying to figure out if her family is being murdered or cursed) but the book stops in a lot of places that had me going eh. There's some things that could have been cut to make the story much tighter.

The world building as I said was fantastic. I loved this society called The People of the Salt that seems focused on the first born (not caring about whether it's a boy or girl) with their own beliefs and rituals dealing with returning their loved ones to the salt when they die. We even have gods and goddesses in this one that influence people we find. There seems to be some other kingdoms/gods in this one that I definitely wanted to know more about.

The ending was very well done though I wanted more repercussions once the mystery is finally solved. What can I say, I am all about the vengeance. This was a very good and solid book!

I’m a big mood reader and wanted to read a fantasy book that doesn’t give me winter feels. So many of my fantasy books on my TBR are set in winter, which is my favorite kind of fantasy, but I wanted something set around the ocean so it feels like a summer read but that also gave me dark and moody vibes I love. AND THIS WAS PERFECTION. Set on an island where you can almost taste and feel the harsh air and salty seawater. I went into the book with little expectations since I wasn’t familiar with the synopsis or author. And I devoured this!

Apparently, this is inspired by the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I didn’t really know anything about the fairytale before reading so it’s not necessary that you do since it’s s more inspired by the story and not a retelling of it. I love that this was a fantasy book set in an older time period. We have dukes, sailing, aristocratic manors, beautiful dresses and balls, and, of course, romance!

“All my life has been moonlight and the stars. I can smell the sunlight racing through your veins from across a room. Sunlight and heat and salt. Always the salt.”

This is set in a world where the people of the islands and mainland worship different gods and goddesses. The time period and social customs feel like Western Europe but the religion and setting made this world feel unique and original. Everyone on the island of Salten worships Pontus, the god of the ocean. We see cultural differences between those who live on the islands and those from the mainland. I felt the mention of different deities created a rich world that seemed larger than just what was happening on the island of Salten where our characters live.

“We are born of the Salt, we live by the Salt, and to the Salt we return.”

Everyone thinks the women of the Thaumas house are cursed. Annaleigh and her sisters have lived most their lived in mourning. First, the mom died. Followed by two sisters. And the book opens up at the funeral of a third sister. Annaleigh is our main character and now the second oldest in the family. She believes that her sister did not die accidentally but that she was murdered. Something is clearly going on and she wants to find out before anyone else dies. But with a new stepmother from the mainland and her increasingly resentful older sister, her father decides the family should have a new beginning and stop mourning. So the sisters are thrown into a new life of colorful dresses, outings, balls, and dancing. Annaleigh meets a new man, Cassius, who is kind, dashing, and shows interest in her. But all the good changes don’t change the fact that something sinister might be going on, even though her sister and father insist the deaths have been coincidental and to stop stirring up trouble.

“Noises in the house became my departed sisters creeping in, ready for me to join them.”

This book was atmospheric with dark and gothic vibes. I was sucked in right away trying to figure out who or what was behind all the deaths. Is there a curse? Is the new handsome stranger, Cassius, somehow involved? Are the gods behind it? I kept thinking this person or that person was suspicious. I was sucked in right away and the pacing was excellent. Seriously, there were so many twists and unexpected events that kept me hooked throughout the entire book.

And in general, the whole book felt like a fairytale. From the setting to the events that happened, it read like an original fairytale. And I loved it! This is a standalone fantasy and I thought the book wrapped up well. I feel like there is so much about the world that we haven’t explored so it would be awesome to get another story set in this world – maybe on one of the other islands or the mainland.

An eerie and gothic twist on Twelve Dancing Princesses with vengeful gods, haunting nightmares, and sweeping romance, House of Salt and Sorrows is the kind of masterful debut that authors dream of. Craig's descriptive writing is so strong that you can feel the silk of the shoes, smell the salty brine of the ocean, and hear the creaking of the manor. Unforgettable and captivating until the very last page.
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I'm a mixed bag of feelings about this. It's just such a tough sort for me to review. I mean it wasn't necessarily a bad book, but would I spend money on it? No.

Apparently, this is a retelling of a Brothers Grimm tale. Which I can definitely see, given the dark and eerie tone of the overall book. This book is very atmospheric, but was a bit too slow and jumbled for my taste. Almost everything and everyone was just so suspicious. Utter madness.

This might be a case of it's not you, it's me. If you enjoyed The Waking Forest, you'll probably enjoy this too.

By now you have to have heard about this book. I know you’re going to hate me when hear I got an ARC for it. You’ve got to wait only a week more, and then it is yours! You’ll love every minute, it is completely delicious.

Annaleigh is a girl who seems to live the kind of charmed life we would all wish for. She is well off, with loving parents and 11 sisters. In recent years though she has had to mourn her mother as well as 3 of her sisters. This would be harrowing enough if it weren’t for the suspicion that their deaths had not really been accidental. Her youngest sister is beset by visions of death and violence and her other sisters … are acting strangely.

I’m going to stop there. Let’s just say it gets so much better from there! The book is creepy and weird in all the right ways. The author has a gift for description, and skill at setting just the right mood. The setting and world building are also very good. I particularly loved Annaleigh’s culture, one in which people live at one with salt and sea and alongside the reticent gods. Though this is a standalone book, I would have loved more books set in this world.

I couldn’t be more pleased with this short book. I stayed up late to finish and now I’m disappointed I got it done so quickly! I can’t wait to hear what everyone else thinks about it. This one should be hyped! It is just ... *chef's kiss*".

Song for this book: Caribbean Blue by Enya

I was so worried when I started this title. I had just DNFed a few books and I was scared that this one was going to suck. But Luckily it was amazing! This one is a retelling of the story of the 12 Princesses going into this one I didn't know that.

The amazingness of this title starts out with this beautiful cover! I am a total cover lover when it comes to books. If the cover is crap the odds that I will read it are slim. This cover was a wonderful blend that matched the book so well. With the beach and the sea meeting with an octopus. the People of the Salt are pictured wonderfully on the cover of this title.

The story opening has us crying right off the bat. We learn that this family of 12 sisters is burying yet another sister in their time of morning. The start of this one was very emotional and I it drew me in from the very start. We learn about this family and what they are going through as well as being introduced to the characters both large and small. It really allowed the reader to start to fall in love with the sisters. So each death rips out your heart. The author did a marvelous job making us love these characters.

The writing style in this one worked well. It was well paced and easy to follow. At times I did fell that the writing felt more middle grade vs young adult but it didn't really take away from the story. The characters in this one were fabulous. I fell in love with each sister and I think it would be interesting to get a few companion novels each from the POV of a different sister. It would make one killer series overall. My favorite character has to Verity! She was so adorable.

The storyline/plot were great. I loved the mystery on what really was going on and who was responsible. Along with a budding romance, dances, and the murders of the sisters this was one great title. Then adding in the element of magic was just spectacular. It was a wonderful blend of fantasy, contemporary, and romance that I don't think I will find again. The one thing that I did have an issue with was keeping track of the sisters that were left. It was kind on the confusing side of keeping where each sister was born and where they were in the line of siblings.

The ending brought us full circle with all the loose strings tied up and although it wasn't really a HEA story it was fulfilling. We had deaths and loves and wishes and I wouldn't have changed anything for the world.

This book is three words would be: Magic, Sisters, Mystery!

About a year ago, I did a Top 5 Wednesday post about classics that I wanted to see retold. Twelve Dancing Princesses was one of the stories I talked about in that post. Now I had envisioned an urban fantasy murder mystery, which I still think would be cool, but this is the retelling that I really needed. This was an absolutely fabulous retelling with amazing world building and a plot that will keep you wanting more.

The story is told through Annaleigh. She is not the oldest, but not the youngest of the 12. Her family has already lost 4 of the sisters, plus their mother and has been grieving for many years. Annaleigh is struggling with her grief for most of the book, but she is strong, and smart and able to stand tall even when things go totally wrong around her. I really liked Annaleigh, she was very kind and personable and the sister that everyone looked to for help when it was needed.

The other sisters are perhaps not as well fleshed out as Annaleigh, but except for maybe Camille, they were all likable. The triplets were hard to keep separate as to who was who, but they were very flighty and fun. The three youngest children were called the Graces because of their names. Verity is the only one of these three we get to know well. She plays an important roll in the story. She is the youngest and like in the original, she knows something is wrong way before anyone else suspects anything. Camille is the other sister we get to know somewhat well. She is the oldest of the surviving sisters, but she was my least favorite. She was conniving and not always kind to her sisters. But by the end of the story, she kind of grew on me a bit.

There are two other characters that need mentioning, as they play important roles. Fisher is a childhood friend of Annaleigh’s and has come back to the manor for a celebration. I really liked him and thought that he was only looking out for Annaleigh and her sister. Cassius is the love interest, and even though I didn’t trust him at first, I saw how devoted he was to Annaleigh and grew to like him as well. The romance was perhaps a tad on the insta-love side, but it fit with the story and was not the focus of the plot, so I was ok with that.

The world building was very well done. I liked that the world was drawn out slowly with the reader learning things about it as we went along. There was a rich mythology and religion that was important to the story. The island setting and everything that entails was also marvelously well done. The time period was similar to the original story, no modern conveniences and the girls wearing long dresses. But women were seen as pretty equal to men in that they could inherit property and titles.

I devoured this book in two days, but probably could have read it in one go if life hadn’t interfered. It is a little slow in the beginning, and the dancing part of the story doesn’t show up until about 100 pages in, but I was riveted from the get go. The author did a fabulous job of melding the original story with the intricate plot that she developed. There were some delightful twists and turns to the story, and the mix of mysticism and mythological was just about perfect.

This ended up being the Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling that I didn’t know I needed or wanted. It is hard to believe that this is a debut. The writing is excellent as is the story. If you like fairy tale retellings than this is one you don’t want to miss.

I have loved fairy tales since I was very young, and a good many of these new books based on them have earned a special place in my bookcase. This particular book is a haunting retelling of the Brothers Grimm story: The twelve Dancing Princesses.

Erin A. Craig did a spectacular job of bringing this story to life. The characters are intriguing and rather well developed, especially Annaleigh. (Isn’t that a beautiful name?) The settings are so well described I can visualize much of the scenery and décor in the main buildings.

There is a dark undertone, but how could it be a Brother’s Grimm story without a bit of darkness? As Annaleigh sets out to find out why her sisters are dying one after the other, the plot thickens and deaths occur outside of her family. The ending neatly wrapped the story up.

Overall, this is a fabulous retelling, and would be enjoyed by anyone who loves fairy tales.

This book is so hauntingly beautiful, I can barely handle it.

We open with a funeral for Annaleigh's sister, Eulalie. Eulalie is the fourth of Annaleigh's sisters to die in weird circumstances. That's not a spoiler, as it's literally the first chapter.

The Salt is a weird location near the sea. I'm one of those who is absolutely terrified of the ocean, so that adds a special creepy factor for me! The whole story is reminiscent of Crimson Peak, one of my favorite Gothic tales. Annaleigh's youngest sister, Verity, has been drawing the ghosts of her dead sisters, in ways that show how they died. So now, obviously, Annaleigh is being haunted by her sister, too.

This story is like a murder mystery, a fantasy, and a family story all tied into one book, and I absolutely adore it. Annaleigh isn't a dumb heroine who thinks her life is unfair; she's honestly one of the smarter leads I've read.

A stunning debut, I can't wait to read more from Erin A. Craig. I give House of Salt and Sorrows 4.5 out of 5 krakens. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Delacourt Press for a copy in exchange for review.

Flash Book Review: An enchanting fairytale adaptation that is equal parts fantasy, mystery, and ghost story.

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"Flushed with starlight and moonlight drowned,
All the dreamers are castle-bound.
At midnight's stroke, we will unwind,
Revealing fantasies soft or unkind.
Show me debauched nightmares or sunniest daydreams.
Come not as you are but as you wish to be seen."

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Random House/Delacorte Press. Trigger warnings: death, body horror, gore, blood, abuse (verbal/emotional), mental illness, severe illness.

Annaleigh lives by the sea at beautiful Highmoor manor with her father, stepmother, and sisters. The deaths of her mother and four of her older sisters have kept them in mourning year after year, but after the strange circumstances of her sister Eulalie's cliffside fall, she starts to wonder if the deaths weren't accidental. She's never believed the villagers' stories of a curse on her family, but as her younger sisters grow more panicked, she suggests a game: they'll find the door of the gods that can take them anywhere they want to go in a moment. Before long, Annaleigh and her sisters are attending dances every night, but in the daytime, she's plagued with visions of her elder sisters' ghosts. If Annaleigh doesn't discover who's targeting her family, she may be next to fall to the curse at Highmoor.

I'll admit I'm not that familiar with "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", the fairytaile this novel is based on, but I don't think you have to be to enjoy it. It's an adaptation in the loosest sense of the word, since Craig's characters and world-building are entirely her own. It's a fascinating mix of fantasy, mystery, and ghost story, and I'm impressed with how seamlessly they come together to create this world. The writing is lovely without being overwhelming, and Craig has an artist's eye for beautiful descriptions. The lavish parties, dresses, and decorations are gorgeously described and always with a hint of otherworldly strangeness that's sure to leave readers as enchanted as Annaleigh and her sisters. The atmosphere is as grim as it is beautiful, and Highmoor is also populated with the gruesome specters of Annaleigh's dead sisters and gods of madness and trickery. I'm sorry it's a standalone because I'd gladly read more in this universe.

Given that Annaleigh has seven remaining sisters, there are a lot of characters to keep track of. However, Craig expertly groups them into oldest, Annaleigh, triplets with Poe-related names (Lenore, Ligeia), and the youngest called the Graces (Mercy, Verity), so that after a while, I wasn't having any trouble telling them apart. As the remaining second oldest, Annaleigh is the most mature. She spends more time looking after her sisters' safety and happiness than anyone, and the strength in her character comes from her kindness. There's a hint of a bad love triangle with a childhood best friend and a mysterious new guy, but for the most part it's underplayed, and I enjoyed the aspects of the actual romance.

Craig had me with her ghost story, but the mystery is well-plotted overall. There are a number of suspects, and each time we think we have the right one, Annaleigh stumbles across some new information that keeps the plot moving. Canny readers will be able to pick up clues, but there isn't quite enough groundwork on some aspects of the world-building to justify what comes later. For example, I wish there'd been more information on the gods of Annaleigh's world earlier in the novel, since they end up playing a major role. However, I enjoy the almost total lack of patriarchy in the world-building; on Annaleigh's island, the oldest inherits regardless of gender, and women are perfectly capable of ruling or running the estate. (It's a small thing, but it means a great deal when so many fantasy worlds are overwhelmingly sexist.) Altogether, it's a delightful story with elements of both horror and fairytales. I'll be seeking out more of Craig's work in the future.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

I quite enjoyed this!

At first, I felt a little disoriented, simply because sometimes things weren't explained as well as I think they could've been, but once the story got going, I couldn't put the book down. I loved each and every one of the sisters, and Annaleigh was super intriguing. Also, the book was definitely suuuuper spooky, and I loved that. I do wish some of the spooky aspects were a little clearer, though. Sometimes I felt confused by everything that was happening all at once--granted, that could be intentional.

The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the romance, mostly because it felt really underdeveloped. Otherwise, a fun read!

Thank you so much to Delacorte Press for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. The quotes included in this review are subject to change upon publication.

“We are born of the Salt, we live by the Salt, and to the Salt we return.”

In House of Salt and Sorrows, the story centers around Annaleigh Thaumas, one of twelve sisters. After four of her sisters mysteriously die, there are rumors floating around that her family is cursed. Annaleigh starts to question the circumstances surrounding her sister’s deaths. While Annaleigh investigates, her sisters start sneaking out to secret ballroom parties. Annaleigh begins to attend the balls and meets a mysterious boy. Who exactly are the girls dancing with and what do they know?

“Regret was the darkest nightmare of all.”

I was immediately drawn into this book and never wanted to put it down. The story was completely enthralling and I wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding the Thaumas sisters. The plotline, characters and writing were all amazing. The only thing I had a problem with was I think the ending was wrapped up a little too quickly. There were some aspects with a couple of the sister’s deaths that I thought could be explained a little more in depth. So for that reason I am rating this book 4.5 stars out 5.

“Of all the wishes tonight, yours was almost loudest, nearly the most hopeful.”

If you enjoy mysterious deaths, secret ballroom parties, curses and eerie beach town vibes, I promise you will love this book, I highly recommend it!

actual rating: 3.5

This book is based on the 'Twelve Dancing Princesses' fairytale, although I am unfamiliar with the original except for the name so I'm not sure how good it is as a retelling. As a book it has a lot of potential but I feel like it missed something along the way that would allow me to REALLY enjoy it. I think part of it was the slow pacing. The plot really picks up in the last quarter of the book, but before that our heroine mostly just seems to be drifting around and not accomplishing very much.

I think this book would probably be enjoyable for people who liked the Caraval series, although honestly it pales in comparison. However, if you are really missing that series then this one does have a similar feel with the mystery and not knowing what is real and the mysterious romance where the heroine doesn't know who is lying to her. I think I would have liked this better if it focused a bit more on the gods and the magical aspect of the world, but it's still a decent read and I had to give it a technical 3.5 stars for some very pretty imagery in several scenes.

( I was given a copy of this for review from Netgalley)

Before I say anything else I should shout from the rooftops READ. THIS. BOOK.

It was delightful. An eerie, unique, atmosphere mixed with some scintillating story telling. Holy crap. Goodness all around.

That’s about all I can say in the realm of non-spoilers.

Like seriously, leave if you haven’t read it yet (yes I know it’s not out), or else you’ll know all the important stuff and I can’t have that.

So moving on...you’ve been warned.

I guess going to start with the fact that when I started this book I had huge doubts. HUGE ONES. The beginning didn’t reel me in. I wasn’t a fish on a hook for the first couple of chapters. The bait hadn’t been as exciting for me, it was bait I could live without, that being with the grieving of a recently dead sister and all. It was hard to feel the characters pain when we didn’t necessarily know Euralie personally. But then Verity happened. Verity with her paintings and her grotesque dreams of mutilated sisters, and her seeing of ghosts. She was the hook I wanted to let reel me in. And she DID. I was hooked, and I as caught. I enjoyed her appearances almost more than everyone else.

Annaleigh was a good character. I liked her. I admired her certainty. The odds were so against her—specially towards the end—and there were so many instances where she had reason to believe she was wrong, and only once did she allow someone (Fisher) to sway her. Otherwise she stuck to her guns, and I enjoyed that quite a lot. Points to her.

I enjoyed the story. Overall this was my favorite element, I enjoyed the way the author paved this path of us thinking ghost were real when Annaleigh and Verity began to see them, and then from there it morphs into a sort of murder mystery situation, and then further into the story the magical side is revealed and it becomes something else entirely. It had me on the edge of my seat (bed) and I couldn’t help but feel as if each new element was a slap in the face (a good slap in the face).

The romance was not the worst romance I’ve read. A lot of authors seems to make characters fall in love entirely too fast, and this didn’t feel—well let’s just say I was neutral to it. I liked it because it was written well. I was super happy when Cassius kissed her. I smiled. And when they said their first ‘I love you’s’ I smiled at that too. So the romance was okay for me.

Some jumbled random thoughts...

Cassius being a Demi-god was a huge slap in the face. Also the trickster god and that whole ordeal, another huge slap in the face. Erin had me literally pulling strands from my scalp because STRESS.

Moriella in the end. How dare you, glad you’re dead. Whoops did I say that? I did.

I would love more backstory on Cassius, hope I’m not the only one.

I pictured the trickster god as kind of hot...sue me.

I might read this again in the future. It was THAT good.

Okay jumbled thoughts and review are over now. So go read this book when it’s released please!

House of Salt and Sorrows is a dark, gothic reimagining of the story of the twelve dancing princesses with aspects of mythology thrown in. It is told from the point of view of Annaleigh, the sister who is trying her hardest to keep the family together as her siblings are mysteriously dying. Rumors of the sisters being cursed are running rampant and preventing them from finding good suitors. In the meantime, her living siblings are spending all night dancing at glamorous balls and a mysterious stranger comes to town. The balls and mysterious stranger are a tempting escape for Annaleigh from the darkness that has entered her life from all angles. This is part dark, gothic ghost story, murder mystery, and love story. It is ultimately a story of survival and overcoming the darkness in your life. The reading pace was a bit choppy and there were moments when I felt the need to grab and shake Annaleigh. It definitely picks up after the first 60% of the book and takes you on an unexpected roller coaster ride from then on. If you are interested in dark, gothic stories with some basis in mythology and fairy tales, I recommend picking this one up.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I would enjoy this, give me a dark fantasy retelling of just about anything and I'll find something to love. This had all the right amounts of magic, mystery, romance, sibling love, dancing, ghosts, dreamy boys, and death...because we can't forget that, now can we?

Annaleigh used to have twelve sisters, until four of their lives were cut short within the last five years. Stuck in cycle of mourning, the book picks up right at the funeral of the fourth sister, Eulalie. Annaleigh knows that something is not right, and that Eulalie did not kill herself as the others say. She's determined to get to the bottom of her sister's death her while other sisters are begging to break the mourning cycle that the family has been stuck in for the last five years. Reluctantly their father agrees and when the girls realize that the people of the town are hesitant to approach them after so many have died, the girls then find a secret door that takes them anywhere they want to go. They then begin slipping away every night to dance until dawn and sleep the day away until the next nights ball. Only it seems that they're bringing home a curse with them as more sisters and other people close to the family begin to die. 

House of Salt and Sorrows will keep you on your toes from the first page until the very last, it will make you question what's real and what isn't, and you'll definitely cringe a few times. I was rooting for hard for Annaleigh to get to the bottom of what happened to not only Eulalie, but her other sisters and those that were close to her family and were killed throughout the story as well. This is the perfect summer mystery read about the sea to read while your at the beach!

Two reasons on why this didn't get a five star rating from me, first, I found this to be rather predictable. One of my first "suspects" on my list of possible murderers was in fact the culprit, and even though this book did keep me guessing until the very end I can't say I was shocked by the ending. Second, was I was expecting this to be creepier. Don't get me wrong there were parts that would definitely creep me out if they happened to me in real life, but I was expecting a tad bit more. Also, not that this took away from the book for me but I am a big ol' softy when it comes to animals,  and there is an especially gruesome scene with a sea turtle so just be aware of that if it may be potentially triggering for you. 

All in all, for a debut author this was done really well. Erin Craig creates a beautiful world built by the sea that you can easily get lost in but isn't overly descriptive at the same time, which I LOVED. It's super atmospheric and she creates a group of sisters who are easy to love and keep you biting yourself as to who will suffer an unfavorable fate next. Not only is this a book that you're able to devour in basically one sitting, but it's also a book that will keep you wanting more within this world and I can't wait to see what other books we'll get to read from the author in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy to read and review. This opportunity has not impacted my review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

When I finally picked up House of Salt and Sorrows I had all but forgotten what this story was about so I was more than delighted when it exceeded my expectations of it! If you love a creepy haunting story of a fairytale retelling I would highly recommend grabbing this book when it publishes on August 6th!

I must say, this story is much darker than I thought it was going to be. The night I picked it up I actually ha to put it back down because it was dark out and I am such a scaredy cat. This book actually gave me the C H I L L S. I suddenly thought I was going to start seeing these terrifying ghosts around every corner. With that being said you can imagine how well these ghosts were described, because I certainly still remember how creepy they are portrayed. House of Salt and Sorrows is a fairytale retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. While the fairytale itself if fairly tame, this retelling puts a new spin on it and takes it to a dark place I wasn’t entirely expecting. It is done very beautifully though and I think this story really worked.

The first half or so of the book was fairly slow for me though. It was still wildly entertaining with descriptions of gorgeous balls and parties and pretty dresses and lots of dancing. So I can’t really put my finger on it but I guess I wanted more.. scary stuff during this point of the book. It was still there, I just feel like it could have been expanded on and this story would have been even scarier than it was. The second half definitely had more action and a lot of questions from earlier in the story were answered (although I still have a few that I don’t believe where answered). The major issue I had with the second half is that the ending felt incredibly rushed, like a lot of things were being squeezed into to short of pages for the sake of keeping the book shorter. I would have rather had an additional 25 pages to expand on things a little bit.

Speaking of the ending, it kind of felt like a cop-out to me. I figured out the twist pretty early on in the book, which is fine because it didn’t ruin the story for me. But when the climax of the book was finally upon me, I just didn’t feel the tension and nervousness that I love. Probably because it felt so rushed. There was a lot more to the ending that I felt we deserved, and unless there is a sequel there are a few things left open.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book though is the SLOOOOOW burn romance. And man was it slow, but I loved it all the more for it. We ended up in a small love triangle for a little while but I think it was done tactfully. The other thing I really enjoyed about House of Salt and Sorrows was the mythology! There was a lot of history about the gods they believe in and the rituals they perform to please them. I thought this added a lot of depth to the story but again it left a few things unanswered for me that I want clarity on.

If you like creepy tales of ghosts and haunted little girls, slow burn romance, fairytale retellings, and mythology then I would say look no further because this is a great book that encompasses all it!