4.5 stars - Charmed from the first page, but…

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an ARC of “A Sweet Sting of Salt” by Rose Sutherland in exchange for an honest review.

So, I was prepared to give the book 5 stars up until I reached the last few pages of chapter 25; and to be honest, my reasons may be more a personal pet peeve rather than a fault of the text itself. In fact, it probably won’t even register as an issue for many readers. But, here’s the thing. I’m a huge folklore buff. From the Caribbean tales I grew up on to the Japanese ones I studied in university, and all the others I’ve devoured over the years, folklore and their inspired stories are basically my catnip.

Naturally, a sapphic reimagining of “The Selkie Wife” was way up there on my most anticipated reads for the year. For the most part, “A Sweet Sting of Salt” ended up warranting my excited anticipation (which is always nice considering how many titles promise too much and then fail to deliver). Sutherland’s debut novel does deliver on almost everything I could have wanted from a story like this. The characters are interesting and their voices are distinct. The setting is wonderfully established and full of the kinds of details about food and transportations that lend life to the story in a very natural way. The atmosphere is beautifully haunting and feels like a folktale from the very first page with the ship on fire.

I really was completely sold on the story and was turning pages well into the night.

Then, I was rather rudely jerked out of the text just as the tale reached its apex.

If there’s one thing I hate in fiction it’s when a character ends up losing a few brain cells in order to facilitate some dramatic event. Or worse still, when the reactions of a character don’t seem to suit the context of their setting.

<spoiler>
The final reveal with the sealskin in the box… Well, Jean’s initial reaction utterly dumbfounded me to the point I had to step away from screen and go get a glass of water to keep from grousing my displeasure to nearby family members who were silently minding their own business.

Jean knows the lore around selkies. Jean has referenced it herself while walking with Laurie. To say Jean couldn’t feasibly understand what she was seeing would require a suspension of disbelief far beyond what I’m able to give. Yes, yes, in the text she goes on to say how it didn’t even register to her, they were just stories, she could never have imagined.... She was still emotionally overwrought from the events of the day and weeks spent on edge worrying about Muirin and being terrorized by Tobias.

However, contextually they’re never just stories. This is set during the 1800s in a small village with an opening that explicitly establishes a culture of mingled superstitions and caution even against potentially more rational thinking.

“If something followed you through the wood to the stream, you didn’t know whose boat it had got off of, nor did you care, and you didn’t slow your steps to ask if it was something older still, one of the things the Natives talked more around than about.”

I’d have sooner believed that Jean suspected instantly the significance of the sealskin and tried to deny it as nonsense and impossible, rather than her simply not understanding at all. I don’t believe for a second that a woman born to that sociocultural climate wouldn’t have a single inkling as to what could be so significant about a sealskin belonging to a woman who was kidnapped and forced to be a fisherman’s wife.
</spoiler>

There are many ways that moment of reveal could have been played out without it feeling as though it’s at odds with the established rules of the world Sutherland constructed.

In any case, moments of melodrama aside, the ending of the story was as charming as the beginning. I particularly liked the storytelling atmosphere evoked in the chapter we finally get Muirin’s side of the story, and I adored the epilogue. Some stories struggle with endings and can feel cut short or overplayed, but this one was well-balanced and quite satisfying.

I definitely recommend giving “A Sweet Sting of Salt” a read if you’re in the mood for a hauntingly sweet sapphic spin on an old classic.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the advanced copy. I loved this story, this was a first for me, reading a Selkie Wife reimagining. Jean and Muirin have much to endure and it made my heart happy when they got their HEAs.

I really wanted to love this, but in the end, it just wasn't for me. I love the cover and the synopsis sounded interesting. The writing was lovely, but just didn't hold my attention. It felt like the story meandered and is definitely a slow burn, so if you enjoy that, you will probably enjoy this book. For some reason, I just couldn't totally immerse myself in it, but I can definitely see other people loving this book.

I was drawn into reading “A Sweet Sting of Salt" based on the cover alone. Rose Sutherland's masterful portrayal of the coastal setting is both vivid and enchanting. The beautiful love story intertwined with folklore and a hint of historical fiction only served to confirm my initial impression that the cover was a true reflection of the beauty this book offers.

The romance in this book is both heart breaking and pure while the mystery element adds a whole new layer of intrigue that kept me turning the pages late into the night. The character development was so well done that I found myself feeling the same emotions the characters were feeling such as despair, longing, anger, and love. But what really sets this book apart is that the characters feel real. I have caught myself wondering how they are doing now and I know looking into the ocean will never feel the same.

Rose Sutherland did an incredible job in combining both historical fiction and folklore while also taking me on a unique journey that I will never forget. What an incredible journey it was.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in return for my honest review

I loved this book. The characters were great and the village and relationships felt very real. It was easy to visualize all of the locations and the whole book played out in my head like a movie, I read it all in one sitting.

This book was a bit of a slow starter for me but once the storyline got going I found it thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was a little weary of taking on this book at first as I'm not a historical romance kind of person. However, a woman's take on the Selkie wife story sounded too good to resist. And I was right. This Sapphic re-telling is engaging and thoroughly addicting. I did find the first 30% or so a little slow, but not enough to put it down.

The novel is beautifully written and the author does a great job building the world but for me the story falls short with the characters. I didn’t feel any connection with them and that made it harder to really care where the story was going.

I would still recommend for others to read it but it’s not a story I would revisit.

Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for this eArc in exchange for my honest opinion

What a gorgeous, moody read! The moment I saw the email from Netgalley--"A lyrical, Sapphic retelling of a Celtic folktale"--I knew I had to read it, and I'm so glad I was able to snatch it up. Read in a day.

I am astonished that this is the author's first published book, but less so by hearing they're a transplant from Les Mis Tumblr fandom. (I've never been in it, but I have heard time and again of the quality of writing that fandom put out in their heyday.) The prose is gorgeous, moody and captivating and inviting. The romance feels so charmingly, tenderly earned, and the pacing throughout is perfect (though near the climax, it gets a bit clumsy for a short while, in my opinion--things felt a little rushed and lacking in finesse). Somehow, it managed to transplant a classic-seeming Gothic mood to a windswept Nova Scotia setting, and I adored it. The book feels like wind and snow and salt-spray in a way that I can't put my finger on. I read this in digital format, but I can't wait to have a hardcopy in my hands that I can snuggle up with under some blankets and a warm yellow light and a giant mug of tea.

The cast of characters are a delight. Jean, our protagonist, is plucky and determined in a way that feels real (in a sea of not-like-other-girls protagonists, she is a stand out). Her determination and independence runs the gamut from strength to flaw at different points in the book, but always sympathetic, always realistic. Muirin is tragic in a way that only reinforces her strength, and her cleverness and wit made for some of my favourite moments in the book (the first scene at the window! Ack!) Anneke is a beautifully well-rounded inclusion, sharp as a tack and mind as anything, and it was lovely to see Mi'kmaq characters feature in a novel of the setting and period. And Laurie, sweet lovely foolish Laurie--oh, he was a bright spot for me, despite the opportunity for tragedy. And on the other side, Tobias. What an antagonist. He was so deeply unsettling, so normal in his villainy, it made me shudder. He, too, feels extremely real in a way that is horrifying to consider.

The story is somewhat predictable, but in the way all stories--especially those based in folktales--can be. I knew where it was going to go, but not how the author was going to get us there, and knowing the destination did not cause me to devour this book any less voraciously.

Bri and I have been talking about how challenging it feels to find Sapphic books that fit the genres and types of stories we most enjoy, and that are also actually /good/. This one was great. Sweet and gorgeous and well-crafted; I'll watch for more from this author, for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for giving me early access to this book! I would describe this book as a slow-burn mystery/psychological thriller framed by folklore. I was just chilled enough to be absorbed without feeling ill (which is why I don't read horror/thriller normally). This is about a midwife named Jean in 1800s Nova Scotia who delivers a baby for a woman she finds fleeing through the marsh in the dead of night. The woman is mysterious, the baby is strange, and her husband seems to be the only normal one. Still, there is something not quite right about this family, and as Jean's relationship with the woman, Muirin, develops, she questions whether what she's seeing and doing to help Muirin are based on reality of based on her feelings for the new mother.

I liked the style of this book a lot. I thought the narration matched what I'd expect from an older folklore, and it is clearly very rooted in both Nova Scotian culture/dialect and in history. Because of that style, I felt a little more distant from Jean and Muirin, but I loved how their relationship developed and was filtered through Jean's questioning of reality. The author does a good job of keeping readers engaged despite already knowing the ending.

However, I thought that some of the characterization was strange and some of the writing veered toward saviorism, which bothered me. For example, Jean is constantly portrayed as "the only good one" in her town who doesn't mind the strangeness of other people. Jean is bothered by settler colonialism but does nothing about it, is a homeowner, and her Indigenous friend and mentor lives in town and is written the same as everyone else aside from pointed comments about her skin color and some vague discrimination she has faced. It felt strange and like the book is trying to normalize Indigenous communities' existence through assimilation.

This is a MARVELLOUS debut, I'm blown away with this level of atmosphere, romance, and tension. I was immediately hooked from the first page and had a hard time putting it down. I loved every moment of living this story, I felt myself on the Nova Scotian coast and was as entranced by the magic of the selkies as Jean was.

I love love love this slow building romance between Jean and Muirin. It was deliciously captivating and impossible not to fall for. The characters also have great personality and felt like they jumped off the page. Everything was so vivid I could practically see it play out like a movie in my head.

I can't praise this book enough, I loved every aspect of it and I'll be telling all my friends that they need this in their lives.

I really enjoyed reading A Sweet Sting of Salt, which is no surprise because I think this book was practically written for me. It's set in Nova Scotia (I live in Nova Scotia), the main character is gay (I too am gay), and the ocean is a major part of the book (I am a sailor). So right off the bat, tailor-made for me to like. The themes and topics with the selkie wife story were really interesting, and I loved the sense of wrongness coming from Tobias as the book went on. I hate him as a character, but the fact that I feel so strongly towards him is great. All the side characters were really fleshed out, and they really added to the story. My only issue with the book is that the pacing felt a bit lagging at the start, but by the time I was at the 50% mark I was hooked and couldn't put it down, and I finished it in basically one sitting. I liked the attention to detail in the research, with all the character last names being ones that are very Nova Scotian and I recognized, and the name-dropping of places that I have been to. I feel like I'm going to be recommending this one hand-in-hand with The Girl From the Sea, another book about lesbians and selkies in Nova Scotia.

4.5/5 stars, and a big thumbs up from your friendly NS lesbian!