3.5 stars, thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Saltwater is a mystery/family drama surrounding the rich and famous. Beautiful descriptions of the Isle of Capri where the story takes place. Lots of twists and reveals the last quarter of the book that surprised me. I enjoyed the flashbacks and multiple POVs.

The first half of this book was soooo slow to me, I felt myself skimming a lot of it. I don’t generally read thrillers/mystery so if that’s something you enjoy, I think you’ll love this book.

"Saltwater" is a sun-drenched, secret-filled slow burn perfect for fans of rich people behaving badly. It's not a five-star review for me, but it's an entertaining read with doomed-vacation vibes.

Thirty years after Sarah Lingate died in 1992, her daughter, Helen, and the whole Lingate family return to the glamorous island of Capri. They never expected the necklace her mother wore the night she died to resurface three decades later.

You're in the right place if you're into family dramas with luxury backdrops and intergenerational tension so thick you could slice it with a gelato spoon. Saltwater is all about the messy entanglements that money, power, and old family grudges can bury… but never quite kill. There's definitely a vibe here - a little "Succession" meets "The White Lotus" season finale.

The setting is absolutely a character in and of itself. Hays describes Capri so vividly that I half expected to find a villa key in my pocket. And the characters are super dramatic, entitled, secretive, and deliciously flawed.

But here's where I'm torn: while the book had all the ingredients I love (death, secrets, high society dysfunction), the plot itself was a little too predictable at times. I saw a few of the big reveals coming before the characters did. I also struggled to get into the book at first - it felt like wading slowly into saltwater and waiting for the temperature to adjust.

Still, even if "Saltwater" wasn't my personal favorite, I can't deny Katy Hays knows how to tell a good story. She creates an immersive world and wonderfully tangled relationships filled with dysfunction. This was my first time reading Hays, but I'll definitely read more by the author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Ballantine Books for an advanced reader's copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a great mystery set in Capri, Italy with dual timelines diving into all the rich family secrets. There were a few parts that seemed a little slow, but then it picks up with a twisty ending. 🤯 If you love mystery, suspense, dark family drama/secrets this is for you!

I'm not sure why but I had difficulty following this one between the past and present characters. Lovely setting. Rich family. Murder. What else do you need?

This is a jack of all traits I guess you would say. This has Mystery, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Adult, Standalone, and Suspenseful. The side characters were okay. The pacing, plot, writing was lowered my expectations, and I didn't feel the thriller as much as the mystery. The setting is Chef's kiss and BEAUTIFUL!

Perfect if you like:
Who hurt your momma? Followed by I might hurt you.
Rich Society Vibes
Dark Secrets
Slow burn Suspense
Dual Time
Family Vacay Goes Awry but lets not discuss it....

Thank you so much to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this arc!

This thriller was rich people behaving badly with crazy twist and turns but not till the end of the book. This book follows multiple POVs in two time lines in the modern timeline we follow Helen as she comes back to the place her mother was killed years ago for a family vacation when her dead mothers necklace shows up questions about her death start to pop up. We also follow the mother in the past prior to her death, there are also about 6 other POVs of friends and family. I liked the idea of this book but I often found myself getting characters mixed up and having to go back and remember how they were all intertwined so it did get a little confusing at times. The book had great atmosphere and really made me want to go to Italy but it was a little slow paced in the beginning. The ending of this book was really well done and I didn’t see it coming. This was my first book by this author but I already have another saved to my TBR. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

This was such a great read! I went into it with pretty high expectations based on the blurb, but it exceeded even those. The tension throughout this book meant it kept me reading late into the night!

Loved this book. I knew I would.
Capri is magical and described so well.
The characters are complex, not necessarily likable, but layered and complicated.
There is mystery on mystery and dramatic reveal on dramatic reveal.
I don’t really want to give a synopsis because really, you should just read this one.
It’s beautifully done and I enjoyed it so much!
Thank you netgalley!

The cover: gorgeous
The setting: brb booking my flight immediately
The characters: rich, messy, scandalous, traitorous

Admittedly, it took me more than halfway through this book to become truly invested in the drama. It was slowwww going at the start, and then the chaos really picked up. It could've been much shorter, in my opinion.

The twists were twisting, but I fear the multiple perspectives and timelines had my head spinning a bit.

Toward the end, there was one revelation after another that created the shift in momentum. I did guess one of the plots, but did not expect the outcome. I found myself wanting my jaw to be on the floor but I didn't really feel anything for these characters so it was just a nice, entertaining read but I couldn't get emotionally invested.

The overall vibe of the book was right up my alley; mystery, family drama, luxurious setting, rich people behaving badly, but the execution left a little something to be desired. The multiple timelines and perspectives felt overly complicated and hard to follow. I relied on the narrator's change in voice to determine whose POV chapter. It was additionally too long, there were chapters where little happened and felt repetitive. I still finished the book because I was curious about the various plot lines' resolutions.

Overall, a good slow-burn mystery with a moody setting and complicated family drama, just not a five star read for me.

The first thing that caught my eye was the cover!I just loved the look of it and once I read the description I knew wanted to try it out. It was a good read with a lot of twists! I did guess what happens but it was still an enjoyable read and would recommend

This was a bit of a departure from my typical read. I didn’t expect to love this so much but it was such a sweeping saga! It had a little bit of everything; historical fiction with a dual timeline and multiple POV, family drama, murder mystery, and some romance. The setting on the island of Capri means the reader gets to spend time off the coast of Italy living like the 1%. I was impressed by the scope of this novel. It’s long but didn’t feel too long while reading. I loved that the author takes us really in-depth. We get to know these characters but, at the same time, due to the mystery element, we’re always wondering how well do we really know them??

The twists at the end completely took me by surprise! I was so shocked!

I really loved this and I think it will resonate with readers of multiple genres.

*Saltwater* by Kathy Hays is a beautifully written family drama that explores the rippling effects of secrets, grief, and reconciliation. Centered around a coastal town, the story follows generations of women as they navigate love, loss, and the ties that bind them.

Though the pacing is slow and deliberate, allowing emotions and tensions to simmer, it’s this careful build that makes the characters feel so real. The last 25% absolutely gripped me—I stayed up far too late needing to know how it all would unfold.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Notes and observations about SALTWATER:
-it's about rich people behaving badly
-beautiful setting... but it's also ~dangerous~
-blackmail and lies from every direction
-"upstairs/downstairs" drama
-everyone is cheating on each other all the time
-twists and turns galore in the final chapters
-multiple POVs and timelines

Overall impression: I had a decent time reading this over two long sittings. It was compelling enough to keep me turning pages, but I'm not sure it will stick with me too long. Would make a good airplane or vacation read.

A thriller as twisty as the mountain roads of Capri, where it is set, Saltwater is a multi-point of view novel exercising the trope of the dysfunctional rich, selfish, patriarchal family. Helen’s mother died on the island when she was only three, and the ultra-private family barely mentions her name. The family is sacred, and anything that would sully the name is verboten.
Further, Helen is not allowed to intermingle with the underlings, basically anyone outside the family. In her effort, at thirty-two, to break free from the bonds her father and uncle impose, Helen hatches a plan. The disappearance of her father’s assistant, Helen’s friend, in a fashion remarkably similar to Sarah, Helen’s mother’s disappearance, starts the whole thing unraveling.
This isn’t a particularly deep book. Many of the characters are cardboard cutouts relying on our images of rich, cruel people, and we want a character to root for. Helen should be it, but sadly, she’s inherited the greed gene.
The book would be fun to read on a cruise, beach or especially on a trip to Capri. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for the advanced readers copy. Saltwater was released March 25, 2025.

First off, the setting? Gorgeous. The whole thing takes place in Capri, and Hays does such a good job painting the scene that I swear I could feel the salt in the air and hear the waves crashing. I wanted to be there—minus all the dark family drama, of course.

The first half dragged a little for me, and the shifts in time and perspective were a bit confusing at times. But once I settled into the rhythm, I started to really enjoy peeling back the layers of this super dysfunctional, very rich family.

I wouldn’t say I loved any of the characters, but they were definitely interesting (and messy in that satisfying, juicy way). It’s one of those books where everyone’s got something to hide, and you’re just waiting for the truth to explode.

The premise of this book had me intrigued. A wealthy family suffers a death at their holiday retreat, but continues to return every year. Thirty years after the death, an object related to the death reappears, setting everyone on edge. Add in the White Lotus-esque background of a villa in Capri, Italy and I was ready for a dark but thrilling time.
Instead, the pacing of this book was drawn out, the characters were ambiguously rich and miserable, and the plot was barely worth the slow read. The storyline progresses from a dual-timeline mystery to a weak character study in the indulgently wealthy.
There are three main POVs: Sarah, the dead woman from 1992, Helen, Sarah’s daughter, and Lorna, Helen’s friend/uncle’s assistant. Sarah’s chapters describe the week of 1992 before her death. Helen and Lorna’s chapters detail the week of their trip to Capri, starting with the arrival of the necklace Sarah was wearing when she died. Unfortunately, all three characters are only moderately developed, and bring an absolute minimum of depth to the plot.
I think this is a great popcorn thriller, especially for a vacation trip (if you’re sure your in-laws aren’t trying to kill you). However, it’s a very surface-level thriller, with less-than-thrilling reveals that left me frustrated and underwhelmed. And surprisingly, it did convince me that I should visit Capri.
Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to read this book, but it fell flat for me. It was too twisty and unbelievable. It was a do not finish for me.

Recently I have read a couple books where the focus was on a severely dysfunctional, entitled, rich family. This book, however is even more severely dysfunctional and even downright evil than the others. At some points the family felt like the stereotype creepy underworld family.

The story's main character is Helen whose father is one of the two brothers who head this family. Thirty years previous, Helen's mother Sarah died—or was killed—while the family was vacationing on the island of Capri. Her body was found at the bottom of some cliffs with no evidence to answer the question of what really happened.

Now the family has returned. This time the girl who was only a toddler when her mother died is an adult, but under strict controls by her father and uncle. She is allowed no real freedom and cannot leave the vacation compound without someone to guard her. At her side is her friend and family assistant, Lorna. Together the two begin to plot how to escape the control of the family, but learn that Helen is penniless without her family's financial assistance.

Things begin to get strange when first Helen receives a package from an unknown individual containing a necklace that was last seen in the possession of Helen's mother. Then Lorna disappears altogether.

The first part of the book is extremely slow reading, providing a host of background material to the family. It is also told through the eyes of several different characters and utilizes multiple timelines. This always slows the story for me. Still, it was an enjoyable suspense novel and I am pleased that I was given the opportunity to read it with the expectation that I would giver it my open and honest review.

30 years after her mom died in Capri, Helen receives her mom's necklace in the mail. Her mom's death had always been an unspoken subject since it was unclear whether it was a suicide or if her family was responsible.

This was my first book by this author.
Like:
- The suspense was great.
- I love an alternating POV and I loved getting insight from all of the characters spanned through the years
- I thought Helen was pretty self-aware and thus felt like a very real person. She understood her dependency on money and knew that as bad as she claimed she wanted a new life, she could not live a life without the things she had come to known.

Dislike:
- The book had a lot of filler and felt long, despite it only being 330 pages.
- The ending felt so forced.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.