I enjoyed the characters and the setting/ambiance of this novel. It was entertaining and kept me hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I think a lot of people will love this book when it comes out. Perfect for a beach pool read.
It just wasn’t for me at this time.

Gorgeous setting, loads of secrets, such a fun read! It was slightly too much, though, there are only so many mistaken identities you can take seriously! And that made it harder to care about the characters and really be invested in their stories.

"Saltwater" by Katy Hays is an intriguing read with some high points, but it also left me feeling a bit conflicted. The setting in Capri is undeniably rich and atmospheric, providing a beautiful yet eerie backdrop for the story. The mystery surrounding Sarah's death keeps you turning the pages, especially with the twists and turns that emerge towards the end.

However, the pacing felt uneven. The first half of the book was slow, making it difficult to fully connect with the characters. While the second half picked up with plenty of suspense, I still found myself wishing the narrative had been tighter. Some characters felt underdeveloped, and the frequent time jumps and multiple perspectives occasionally made the plot hard to follow.

Overall, "Saltwater" is a solid read if you enjoy slow-burn thrillers and family dramas, but it didn’t entirely blow me away. I'd give it three stars for its captivating setting and moments of tension, though it could have been more cohesive.

Good! I really enjoyed the richness and sinister glamour of the setting. I thought the plot was a solid slow burn thriller, although nothing too original. I do think the last quarter of the book was a bit of a drag, it could have been a bit better paced. Overall though I enjoyed, good spooky early fall read.

I enjoyed the setting and mostly unlikeable characters in this book.

You could feel the tension between characters and I genuinely wanted to know what had occurred in the present and past timelines.

The ending helped to wrap things up nicely. My only critique is one of the character’s perspectives did not entirely add to the story and so I wondered about the character’s outcome but was unclear why her story wasn’t built out a bit more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was going to give this 4 stars because there were some things I wasn’t a huge fan of, but that ending!! Wow!! I had to bump it to a 5. I would still say it’s more of a 4.5!

I think this is just a great book to dive into without knowing anything other than it’s a juicy novel of horrible rich people doing terrible things. I ate it up! It was so entertaining to read. It is full of unreliable narrators, which I love, especially when it is done well, and it was in this book.

This should be a movie or a tv series to be honest! It had all the right elements to become a great and thrilling show. The setting of Capri was beautiful!

I liked both Helen and Lorna. Lorna more so, but still both good characters. I couldn’t help but look at Helen as Lorna looked at her. A better person than the rest of them but still will always be them. I couldn’t help but root for Lorna more. Lorna wasn’t perfect either, but it was more understandable where she was coming from.

Sarah is so Mother. From the first time we were in her POV I just thought she was so cool. It was so sad to watch a man dim her light when she was so creative and bright. I also really liked Renata from what we saw of her. Characters doomed by the narrative always break my heart, especially when it’s women. I felt for Sarah the most, even though she wasn’t the best person either.

Naomi is an underrated character for me, which I think she is meant to be. She kind of swooped in without me knowing and grew on me, but not because she was a good person, but because she was so interesting. It made me sad for her that she didn’t stand up for herself more and just let life happen to her. You will do crazy things for love I guess. By the end I disliked her so much though. It was so back and forth which makes her a fun character to read.

I don’t really care for Marcus or Richard. You’re not supposed to, but I more so didn’t care because they are men and I don’t give men the benefit of the doubt most of the time haha. They served their roll in the book, but not much else to comment on. Same with Freddy, he was such a background character but also kind of important? Not that I needed more of him, because at its core it’s a group of women’s story, but I feel like he was brushed off most of the time unless he needed to make an appearance. The same could be said for Ciro, though he was one of the better characters in the book; not as problematic.

There were so many good lines in this book that I had to underline and jot down.

Lots of twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat! Maybe some of it was easy to guess or obvious, but I was surprised by a lot of it because I was just along for the ride. I don’t read a lot of thrillers so that could go into why I didn’t guess what was going on, but there were so many shocking things that happened.

Small out of context spoilers here so read at your own caution:
One of the things I didn’t really like was at first I thought it dragged a bit at the middle to the end. A lot of secrets were revealed a little more than halfway through but there were still another 70 some pages left. There were still questions to be answered, but it felt like things should have been wrapping up and it didn’t; it kept going. But then within the last 20-30 pages, time after time more and more shocking secrets were revealed, and it was great. So the parts that it was dragging was 4 stars, but like I said earlier, I had to give it 5 stars by the end.

I’d love to do a reread of this at some point so I can catch all of the foreshadowing bits, knowing what I know now at the end of the novel! I’d really like to read the finished copy of this book because there were a lot of mistakes that needed to be cleaned up, but that is why it is an ARC!

Admittedly I started SALTWATER by Katy Hays with a bit of apprehension. I realized that I have read so many thrillers lately that seem to be a inspired by the success of The White Lotus - murder mystery among the very rich while vacationing in either France or Italy. However, I have to say, SALTWATER won me over in the end. It has a super fun twist that I didn't see coming at all. Yes, it is about annoying rich people and has confusing POV and time jumps, but it's clear that Hays is an adept writer with great stories in her back pocket. I may have to read THE CLOISTERS now!

I received a free copy of, Saltwater, by Katy Hays, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Helen lost her mother when she years old, in the 1990's. Her mother Sarah Lingate, body was found in Capri, in Italy. Though her death was ruled accidental, there were some people who didnt believe it, this book had a lot family drama, but was a good read.

"Isn't that what a family is? A cult you can never leave, a set of behaviors that are burned into you?

A slow burn psychological thriller that took awhile to develop but the second half picked up and I ended up liking the book. You really have to stick with the book because the first half is slow and much of the set up of the story. The ending is wild and worth the wait if you stick it out! The story is about the rich Lingate family who are vacationing in Capri thirty years after the death of Sarah Lingate who was found dead in the sea off the cliffs and ruled a suicide. However, there has always be lingering suspicion someone in the family murdered her. The story is told from many different POV including Helen, Sarah's daughter who is feeling stifled and trapped by her controlling family. The novel is rich people behaving badly and full of lots of twist and turns that I didn't see coming.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I struggled getting through this one and found myself bored. It felt like it was missing SO much and I felt like the characters were very “meh”. Not for me for sure but maybe others will love it!

I always recommend that someone read and form their own opinion about a story…. But just fell so super flat for me. I gave it 2 stars because I was at least interested enough to finish.

*Saltwater* by Katy Hays

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Release Date: March 25, 2025

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group | Ballantine Books

Genre: Adult Fiction / Thriller

Spice level: .25 🌶️ 

The suspicious and sudden death of Sarah Lingate that occurred 30 years ago on the cliffs of Capri, Italy, has hovered over the wealthy, prominent Lingage family ever since, with Helen Lingate, Sarah's daughter, raised in a close-knit, tight-lipped environment with limited freedom and little information about what happened to her mother. Now back on the island for the family's annual vacation, she pulls Lorna, her uncle's assistant, into her scheme to learn what truly happened on the cliffs all those years ago. But the island of Capri holds many secrets ~ and so do the people inhabiting it. When Sarah's beloved necklace turns up on the island after thirty years, the family is pushed into reopening the mystery surrounding her death.

This. Book. Was. INCREDIBLE. I absolutely could not put it down- every single plot twist was so artfully done that I would have *never* guessed; I was caught by surprise and thrown off so many times, and I could not put this down once I picked it up. The secrets, the scenery, the characters…on Capri, no one is who they seem to be, and Katy Hays has written an absolute masterpiece of a thriller. Fast-paced with high stakes and believable (yet unbelievably mind-blowing) twists and turns… amazing. I cannot wait to pick up a copy of this on release day!! To all my thriller lovers- mark your calendars for this one, because I guarantee you will **not** want to miss this! The multiple perspectives and timelines were also extremely well done, and added so much to the story, and this is one where the thrills don't end until the very last word. Impeccable.

Read if you like:

~ Unpredictable and wild plot twists

~  Books that make you gasp & shout in disbelief

~  Fast-paced thrillers loaded with suspense

~ Multiple perspectives & timelines

Thank you to Ballantine (an imprint of Random House Publishing Group) for providing a review copy of this book through Netgalley!

Saltwater by Katy Hays is a slow burn, even slower because it's a story of rich people behaving badly. They drink too much, have no interest in anything except themselves and have no personalities to draw you in and make them care about them. I considered putting this down numerous times but forced myself to plod through. Still didn't like anyone by the end. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Attention psychological thriller fans! This one is for you! An old death, ruled suicide. But was it? A dysfunctional and controlling family. A daughter bent on escape. A page turner, trying to figure out did it gain? Who did it? Why? Where?

Okay, overall I LOVED this. The begining was slower but the end was suspenseful and full of twists and turns. I loved the setting of Capri, and the overall storyline. This was a great book to end summer and start fall. A mystery thriller with a lot of unexpected turns towards the end. I’m not sure if I overall enjoyed the writing style and the going back and forth between 1992 and present day and then hours before a disappearance etc. I felt slightly confused as some points BUT it didn’t ruin the story for me. I found myself turning the page and not wanting to stop. Great story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

MY REVIEW: Saltwater is the perfect vacation read. The atmospheric backdrop of the Italian coastline of Capri immediately transported me into the midst of the family drama. I absolutely love alternating POVs and time line in a thriller- Hays nailed it! The book is divided into two parts; the first half is extremely well-written character development. You know the writing is great when you have characters you love and can pick absolutely are not rooting for. The second half is where the action really happens- get ready for so many twists and an absolutely ‘didn’t see you coming’ ending… OH and an explosive epilogue to leave your jaw literally on the floor!

4/5!!!!!

Saltwater is YOUR new vacation read if you LOVE: thriller, mystery, slow burn, Italy backdrop, Capri villa, annual family retreat, resurfacing crime, hidden secrets, family grudges, host of suspects, family wealth

Playwright and mother to three year old Helen, Sarah Lingate is found dead in 1992. Her body has surfaced beneath the foamy cliffs of Capri as she vacations with her husband and his immensely wealthy family. The police consider Sarah's death accidental, despite suspicions money was involved. Thirty years later, on the date of the anniversary, a necklace suspected to belong to Mrs. Lingate arrives at the villa at the same time as the Lingates and their assistant, Lorna. It becomes obvious this story consists of many questions: were the police right in their assessment of the death and if so, who would be sending obvious signs that they know more about Sarah and her Capri whereabouts?
I wish this had been a summer publication, because it is the perfect read to relax aside the pool with. This cover- absolutely as rich as the characters explored within these pages. This is more of a slow burn than anything, with delicate prose and sweeping descriptive views of Italy. I have never been, but I can sure smell it- the lemon, pine, and saltwater scents followed me as I read along.
The mystery of the book isn't too hard to ascertain, but this read is still very variegated to me- family, money, grief, loneliness, and loss of identity fill these pages with purpose. There were some twists that made me gasp aloud, and I just loved the entirety of this thriller.
Thanks so much to the publisher and author for the eARC!

This book is everything I dislike in a thriller - rich people behaving badly and not a single likable, sympathetic character (therefore no one to root for). The worst part? I couldn’t put it down. It’s a well-written tabloid train wreck and I could not turn away from it. I needed answers and I had to see how the drama played out.

I really enjoyed this book. It would make a great beach read. The author does an excellent job of making you feel as though you are on Capri with the rich and famous. It is very atmospheric and well done. The characters are nicely developed. The twists kept coming. The story is told from two points in time but does not become confusing at any point. The suspense builds and then everything flows out. I recommend this to fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Rachel Hawkins.

This started off a little slow for me, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. But by the end I could not put it down!! Excellent summer thriller