This book is my favorite read for 2019 - the moment I picked it up I didn’t want to put it down. The cover is insanely beautiful, it’s wonderfully written and completely immersive from page one.

The story follows Annaleigh, one of 12 sisters, and her life on an isolated, brutal set of island trying to solve the mystery of her (possibly) murdered sister.

The book is so full of twists and turns I was questioning my own sanity by the end. Do yourself a favor and IMMEDIATELY go and pick this one up!

The aptly titled House of Salt and Sorrows introduces a slew of new gods and beliefs from a family plagued by death and sadness. This story is steeped in folklore and superstitions that may or may not be justified. I loved that this story kept me guessing as to what would happen next, all the while, the plot was given the needed time to develop. This was a great retelling of The 12 Dancing Princesses that brought a fresh spin on tragedy and sisterhood.

I'm so torn on my feelings about this book. On one hand, I really loved that this was a reimagining of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and I found the haunting more horror novel parts of this book to be brilliant! Unfortunately though there wasn't that many of them really. I thought that this area in particular is where this author shined. I found her darker scenes to be the most vivid. I truly hope she one day decides to write a horror novel, because I'd read the hell out of it.

On the other hand I found this to be a slow read for me. More often than not I was just waiting to get to the next macabre scene because those were the ones I enjoyed the most. I think maybe the issue for me was that this story was being pulled into so many directions, a mystery, a romance, a thriller, etc. that it ultimately didn't fully accomplish any of them. It was as if the foundations were there but none were fully fleshed out and realized. The romance ended up feeling rushed, the mystery seemed to rise and then fall away and then rise again, and the thrilling parts were too few and far between. Sometimes compelling characters can help make up for this type of thing a bit, but I had a hard time connecting with any of them. Annaleigh more often than not thought about doing things rather than actually fully going for it.

Ultimately House of Salt and Sorrows just ended up falling somewhere in the middle for me. I liked the roots individually, but as we went along they kinda grew tangled together, suffocating each from their full potential.

House of Salt and Sorrows is a beautifully written retelling of the fairy tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”. Erin A Craig creates a magical world that will captivate lovers of fairy tale retellings. This book is a great combination of creepy, mind games, and a little romance thrown in, just for good measure. Highly recommended to readers looking for a dark fantasy, and I would definitely purchase this book for my library.

Note: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pros:
- World: I really enjoyed the world this book takes place in. I enjoyed the idea of Highmoor and the Thalmus curse. It was fascinating to see how their lives were secluded from the rest of the world but still very much involved due to their father's profession.
- Religion: I am saying religion even though that may be the wrong term, but I liked how each area of the world worshiped a different God that was based on their livelihoods. But that being said, I feel like we did not get to know enough about the Gods others than Pontus which the Thalmus girls worshiped.

Cons:
-Twist: I predicted who was going to be the cause of her sisters' death way at the beginning and I never wavered with this guess, even when the author tried to get us to believe it was someone else. I feel like she picked the next obvious person after the one that is implied in the summary.
- Pacing: This book struggled to move the story forward. I feel like everything happened in the last 15% of the book and it took forever for things to happen that are stated in the summary. That is something that really irks me lately in YA when a summary tells you something that as a reader you do not actually find out about until way into the book.

Overall, this book was a disappointment. I wanted so much more with the mystery of her sisters mysteriously dying off, this mysterious stranger, and these magical balls the sisters were attending. But I feel like I did not quite get that and instead got this overly drawn out story that took way too long to pick up and grab my attention. It took me 12 days to read this and that was mostly because I never felt the need to pick this up to see what would happen. Eventually, I just told myself I needed to finish so I could start the next books on my TBR for the month.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book.*

I didn’t find the story very interesting enough to keep reading. It seemed bland and didn’t seem to be going anywhere. The story started off with a funeral for one of the sisters, Eulalie, and didn’t feel a connection to the story.

This is my favorite sea theme books I've read this year and my second favorite of all time. First, I have never read anything by Erin A. Craig but now I want to read more. Her style is mystical, cleaver and balanced. Second, the overall story was surprising. Halfway through the book, I was like this is just what I thought and wanted it to be, the boom! Out of now where it changes and become even better then what I thought it was going to be. Somehow this turned out to be a book I was needing.
Second, the characters. So if you don't knot this book is set by the sea where Annaleigh, our main character lives with her twelve sisters. I thought that I was going to have a hard time keeping who was who. But I didn't! Not only does each sister have their own personalities but each person in this book stands out on their own. I enjoyed the relationships between the sisters; they felt like real sisters who bicker but also sisters who watch out for each other.
Third, there is quite a bit going on in this story but it's all well paced and woven neatly together so that it's not rushed or to slow. There's balls, romances, and so much more that I can't say because of spoilers!

A perplexing mystery by the sea with an ending that will take your breath away!

I am a sucker for fairy tale retellings, so I had to read this. The writing of this book was good. The prose is pretty, and all the creepy and unsettling moments throughout the story were very well done. The ending is what gave this review a few deducted stars. It had me on a total roller coaster, one second I was like yes, this is going to be an awesome ending! Then the next second I’m turning back pages to see if I missed something. The “villain” was predictable and everything was resolved too quickly. there was five percent of the book left, and I was thinking to myself that there’s no way everything is going to be wrapped up nicely by the end.

DNF page 210


Although It started out really strong and captured my attention, it quickly flattened out into a tedious pace that never really progressed much for 100 or so pages.

Magic. Ghosts. Gods. Nope.

This is definitely NOT for me.

I hear there's going to be a sequel so I really see no reason to carry on.

House of Salt and Sorrows is a beautifully written retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. This is a bit of a darker take on the tale, but not so much so that young adults should steer clear. Readers who enjoy fairytale retellings will be enthralled by the world Craig creates. It is filled with atmosphere and gorgeous imagery. The story comes together in a way that captivates. Readers will not be able to put House of Salt and Sorrows down. Highly recommended to readers looking for a dark fantasy.

This book has a lot of potential, and I think it will definitely be a 5-star rating for many people. It was very pleasantly spooky, sad, and mysterious, and I'm sure that many people who enjoy creepy/horror style books will love this.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my all time favorite fairy tales, and this darker spin on the story was definitely unexpected. I did enjoy it and I definitely found Annaleigh to be a likable narrator, and her sisters and their relationship was just wonderful to read, but I did have a couple of issues.

1. It took a while to really understand the world. There is not a lot of description of the world until later in the book, so the opening scene of Eulalie's funeral, while sad and intriguing, was also a bit confusing. I finally gave up caring about the world and just tried to focus on the girls themselves, which did make it a more enjoyable read.

2. I don't want to spoil anything, but I found the actual explanation of the "curse" to be a bit late. I felt there could have been so much more interaction with the idea of madness, who to trust, and the final reveal of who made the actual bargain was totally predictable.

3. The (no spoilers) "happy" ending was not satisfying in the least. I mean, obviously, I wanted that ultimate outcome, but the way it happened felt far too easy. Imagine getting to the end of a book, and realizing that it was all a dream. That feeling? That's what I'm having.

I'm giving it 3 stars because I did enjoy the story, but it took me a little bit of time to get fully invested. Also, I don't normally read horror style fantasy, so this one was just a bit out of my wheelhouse. And the ending did kind of cheapen the experience for me. But I'm sure that many many other people will seriously enjoy this retelling.

Wow. I was not expecting this book. I have to say, I'm not very familiar with the fairytale it's based on- Twelve Dancing Princesses, so I went in with very few expectations. I read something about princesses and the ocean and I was immediately intrigued.

Well, what I got was a terrifyingly beautiful tale that made me a) want more and b) look up the original fairytale because *refer to a*

I started reading this book late at night and perhaps that was not the best idea, because obviously I was not able to sleep after the first couple chapters. Some of the imagery was grotesque and terrifying and I loved it.

This book is a retelling, but it's also so much more than this. There's love, unexpected horror, magic, both selfish and selfless gods who hang out with mortals, lots of ocean, and beautiful imagery throughout. Seriously, the writing style is superb and I really felt like I could see everything and feel the spray of the ocean and even smell the decaying bodies at times!

I do feel like the ending wrapped up a little too quickly, and I would have liked it to be slightly more drawn out. I also loved the character of Verity and she absolutely terrified me, and I would have loved to see her role be somewhat more than what it was.

Other than that, I absolutely loved this book and very highly recommend it!

<i>In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed..</i>

3.5 stars

Annaleigh, (who BTW, doesn't love this name?) lives at Highmoor, a Manor by the sea with her father, his new wife and her eleven sisters. Tragedy seems to be hitting this family hard, perhaps it is cursed? The villagers think so. This used to be a big happy family. But after their Mother died, the family went into mourning, then four of her sisters died one by one. Annaleigh begins to believe that her sister's deaths are not accidents.

After the latest death, her Stepmother convinces her father that they should stop mourning and dress in beautiful clothing again, have balls and embrace life. Everyone but Annaleigh is on board, but she finally agrees to make her father happy. The new clothing and fairy shoes are not the only new things...the girls also become aware of a secret passage. A passage, or crevice if you will, that will take them to another place, a place of balls and dances, new encounters and new adventures.

But tragedy strikes again when another sister goes missing....

Put me in the camp of enjoying re-telling of fairy tales. In this case, this book is an atmospheric retelling of the Brother Grimm's "The Twelves Dancing Princesses" also known as "The Worn-out Dancing shoes and "The Shoes that were danced to Pieces." Sometimes re-telling’s can be campy but this one was not. I loved the atmosphere. The Manor overlooking the sea, the water, the sea creatures, the sisters, the balls, etc. This one felt atmospheric, Gothic and enchanting all at the same time. Is the family cursed? Why are the women of this family dying?

The book does get darker at the end, but I enjoyed how the book built up to the ending. This book also had me questioning what was real and what wasn't as Annaleigh begins to question what is happening to her family. This is a great rainy day/escape book. It's full of atmosphere, magic, a little romance, mystery, and ghosts. Parts felt a little predictable, i.e. the love triangle, but this is YA so that often goes with the genre. I found this to be a very visual book as in, I could easily visualize what was happening as the Author did a great job with her descriptions.

The Author is off to a very solid start with this debut novel.

I received a copy of this book from Random House Children's and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

When I heard this was a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling, I knew I needed this book. The Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale is my absolute favorite to hear retold. This cover is also so beautiful and fits the darkness of the book.

This book was definitely not what I was expecting, but in most ways that wasn't a bad thing. Here is what I loved: the relationships between the sisters were well fleshed out. Normally, when there are 12 princesses involved, it's hard to give each of them personalities and a place in the story, but this author made the choice from the onset that four of the sisters would already be dead. This gave her more room to explore the remaining 8 and their relationships with each other. I also liked that this time around, the oldest sister wasn't the one telling the story, as is often the case in other retellings. It also made me curious as to why the writer chose Annaleigh to be the storyteller, which I would love to ask if I get the chance to go to one of the author's events! I think the only downside is that for some reason I was not fully invested in Annaleigh. I suppose I had questions about her older sister Camille that I thought Annaleigh herself should be asking, which would have given more depth to her character (such as why Camille does not take on the responsibilities she has as eldest instead of dumping them on Annaleigh).

In a lot of ways, this was different from all other Twelve Dancing Princesses retellings I have read. The atmosphere of the book was perfect. The ocean, the isolation of the island, the gods and goddesses worshipped who also work and travel among the humans, and the shadow of the past that haunts the Thaumas family gave this book an eerie darkness and fantastical quality that other retellings of the Grimm fairytale have not taken advantage of. However, I think it is important to understand going into the story that the gods and goddesses do play an active role, because if you think they are only there to be worshipped, once you get farther into the story you might be confused by the sudden importance of these characters.

I think the visions aspect and sightings of "ghosts" added a great deal to this story. It's hard to talk about without giving anything away, so I'll just say wow, I really liked where this plot took that. It was something that's never been done before with this story, and I liked that we were experiencing the craziness along with Annaleigh.

Really, I only have a couple issues with the book, and they deal with the love interest and lack of dancing. I expected there to be MORE dancing. Since it was marketed as a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling, I expected there to be a lot. There were times Annaleigh didn't go with her sisters, and because of that we didn't get to experience the dancing, either. Secondly (and more importantly), the love interest was instant-attraction without Annaleigh knowing anything about him. The fact that she fell for him so quickly, especially since she seemed like the pragmatic one of the group, didn't make sense. I expected her to be more wary of the stranger, but she trusted him almost immediately. I would have liked more build-up to their relationship. All in all though, this is going on my list of books I would like to reread as one of my Twelve Dancing Princesses-retelling staples!!

I finished this one, but barely. I'm sorry to say that the gothic mood fell flat for me. When I read YA I keep my students in mind and try to see all the aspects that could appeal to them. With this one, there wasn't anything particularly unique or memorable that I found I could recommend.

So first let me say I love a re-telling.  But one story that I had yet to find a great re-telling of was the Twelve Dancing Princesses.  I had read a few, but most of them left me bored or annoyed with the characters.  Not this book, I loved how dark and twisty it was.  It begins at a funeral and does not let up from there!  What starts out as a mystery about a sister who was murdered turns into so much more!  

I love Annaleigh.  She was such a kind, strong and RATIONALE character.  Characteristics that I often find missing from many young adult female protagonists.  The other characters were very well developed, and I especially loved Cassius and Verity.  

I would have liked to more about the gods and the overall makeup of the world these characters were inhabiting.  How the gods they worshipped interacted?  I would love to read another book set in this world!

This book is the perfect combination of creepy, heart warming, and impossible mind games. Diving into this story, I did not expect the integration between the real world and the fantastical in this story. As the plot moves on, I find myself feeling as insane as the main character does. The way the story was written, it does an amazing job of pulling the reader in and seeing everything through Annaleigh's eyes - which worked really well for the ending. I didn't have anything that I disliked or would have necessarily changed, although I wasn't a fan at how quickly Annaleigh's relationship with her crush developed. It seemed a bit rushed in my opinion, at least in comparison to the other events that occur in the book.

Overall, I loved this story and I really want to read the finished copy in August once it has been released! And I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves horror or suspenseful novels.

Chilling, seductive, and captivating this book had me hooked and unable to stop turning pages. As someone who tends to avoid mysteries and horror this was out of my comfort zone - but even when scenes were giving me goosebumps or turning my stomach I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what happened next. A dark retelling of the twelve dancing princesses, the House of Salt and Sorrows follows Annaleigh and her hunt to find out what dark force threatened her family. I loved how this book kept me on my toes, never really knowing what was going on and who was a trustworthy character - I was left with the same questions as Annaleigh and I also fell in love with Cassius - the mysterious stranger - right along with her! A page-turning read for sure!

House of Salt and Sorrows
By: Erin A. Craig

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the chance to review this ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Summary/Synopsis:

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last--the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge--and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who--or what--are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family--before it claims her next. House of Salt and Sorrows is a spellbinding novel filled with magic and the rustle of gossamer skirts down long, dark hallways. Get ready to be swept away!!
House of Salt and Sorrows is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
an old-fashioned, maritime, European-flavored culture set the tone for this imaginative, and macabre retelling!!! However I felt as though there was so much attention to detail in the plot and world building that the characters themselves kinda fell a little flat. We dont get to know many of their traits and characteristics. There is a little romance and it isnt cheesy or overwhelming!! I think it was very well balanced and a very well written novel!! Definately recommend to anybody who likes Aquatic, maritime themed books, as well as adventure!!

Well written but predictable. I knew who the bad person was right away. Still an enjoyable read. I read a lot so others may not find this as predictable.