I generally find thrillers to be very formulaic, so the question I ask myself while reading is "how well have the created within the formula?"
This novel gives us an isolated, decaying setting in a fading villa on the island of Capri, a rich family with lots of dark and sinister secrets, an 'innocent' who must be protected at all costs, a clever outsider, affairs and amorous encounters galore, money and power, and a history that is mysterious and verboten.
Reading this story is like reading through layers and layers of gauzy batting. The reader keeps unwinding bit by bit and hoping to see more clearly, but the answers keep dancing just beyond our fingertips. Though at times the pacing felt a bit slow, overall, I found this to be a satisfying read with surprises even I did not predict. Believable? No. Fun? Yes. Disappointed? Not a bit.

Thank you NET Galley for the ARC!

This was so good, the plot, characters and moments had me invested.

This one took me by surprise! So well written and well thought out that I felt so incredibly satisfied by the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending this eARC.

Wowww! As someone who doesn’t normally read thrillers, I can honestly say I was blown away by “Saltwater”. The story centers around the mysterious death of Sarah Lingate, the wife of the ultra-rich Richard Lingate, while vacationing in Capri. Katy Hays is a master at setting the stage through her vivid descriptions and imagery. Told in multiple perspectives in a nonlinear timeline, Katy Hays slowly reveals details about Sarah’s death and its impact without giving away the whole story. I was engaged and kept on my toes while reading “Saltwater”. I have already recommended it to my friends for when it is released.

This is a very unique book about a family plagued by money, status and wealth. The writing was different than the typical books I read. It took me some time to get into it, but once I did, I enjoyed it.

Special thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I am giving this book a 3. I didn't much like it because it was very slow going. I think this book is for people who like to read about family drama, and I really do like family drama, but not this kind, which is about secrets hidden, a "legacy" to the family name, and also public shame brought on the family if those secrets got out. I feel like I read this book before, actually I'm quite sure I read something very similar so if you like same old plot twists, this is for you.

It wasn't terrible, just I kept not wanting to go back to it. No disrespect to the author here.

This book was a bit of a struggle for me because of the slow pace, but once it does pick up I was invested. It’s a family drama/thriller that starts off with what is determined to be an accidental death, and then jumps thirty years forward. If you don’t mind a slow burn, this is a mystery worth reading.

Thanks for the opportunity to read in advance!

if you’re looking for a mystery summer read, this fits the bill. set on the island of capri, this story is full of family lies, old money, secrets, and dun dun duuun, murder. or was there??

i enjoyed the setting of the book and the summery vibes all throughout, but man these characters are rough. i didn’t find any of them likable, which made it difficult to be invested in the story. i do tend to be drawn toward multiple pov’s and alternating timelines, so that aspect did not disappoint. the ending did have me intrigued, my eyebrows raised and all. while i was expecting more of a thriller, this book has more emphasis on dysfunctional family dynamics.

thank you netgalley and ballentine books for the arc in exchange for this review!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this eARC!
Ngl, a lot of this book was lost on me. I didn’t understand or appreciate the family’s secrecy and commitment to their “legacy” - it felt like we were missing a solid foundation on WHY they felt and acted the way they did about publicity. I didn’t connect with a *single* character, and I felt like the plot twists were too similar to one another and so back-to-back that the shock factor was taken away. I also don’t know if I read it slow, but it felt VERY long and drawn out.
2 stars for a beautiful setting and nice writing!

This is a slow paced novel about old money, family secrets, and how far we will go to protect an image. Fans of family drama with a current of mystery will enjoy this one.

I really prefer fast paced books so this one was a bit of a struggle for me but once I hit the last 30% of the book, I was hooked. I wish it had all been that interesting and full of action!

There were a lot of characters but the author does a good job of character building. I found the ending to be a little lackluster but I will admit I had no idea it was coming.

Thank you to netgalley for an ARC to enjoy.

I couldn't put this book down! The author made you feel like you were on holiday with the Lingate family. The story weaves together past and present to solve a 30 year old murder. I loved the plot twist all the way to the very end!

A bit difficult to follow initially, but once you get everyone sorted, it’s a crazy thrilling ride to the island of Capri.
Thank you Net Galley for the ARC. This will be a huge hit in 2025.

I am grateful for the opportunity to receive an advance reader copy of “Saltwater” by Katy Hays through NetGalley and Random House. As a summer read, the book was fun and had an interesting premise that initially drew me in.

However, I found some of the dialogue to be too repetitive, which detracted from the overall flow of the story. The narrative felt like it could have been more concise, as certain sections seemed to drag on longer than necessary. Despite these issues, I did appreciate the way the story was tied up at the end, which added a nice touch to the conclusion.

While “Saltwater” didn’t entirely work for me, I can see it being an enjoyable read for others. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the right fit for me.

This was a slow burn for me, but once the fire got going, I could barely put it down!

Wealthy "old money" Lingates operate as you might expect; personal assistants, staff in their homes, jet-setting to exotic locales for vacations - the whole she-bang. One such trip in 1992 results in the death of Sarah, mother to three year-old daughter Helen and a close knit family, on the island of Capri. While it's ruled an accident, many are suspicious and believe that the family paid off the police and others to keep the details a secret. As a result of this concern, (now adult) Helen's freedom is very limited - she's constantly under the thumb of her father and uncle, with the threat of losing her luxurious way of life with no place else to live or way to make money.

Helen befriends the family assistant, Lorna Morena, and they hatch a daring plan to escape the strict rules of the family. But before they can execute the plan, Lorna is missing on a trip to Capri. This brings the investigation back in full force threatening to expose the truth.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books, and Katy Hays for the eARC.

3.5 ⭐️s rounded up

Books with a similar vibe to White Lotus are my absolute weakness, especially with a cover this gorgeous. Set in the picturesque island of capri the Lingate family is forced to confront the secrets surrounding the suspicious circumstances of Sarah Lingate’s death on the island 30 years back. Just how far will each of them will go to protect their ego, image, and fortune? This was a slow burn with very unlikable characters. However the atmosphere alone was enough to make this the perfect book to close out summer.

Loved the vibes and atmosphere of this book!
Murder, betrayal, family drama, and dark secrets all set against the beautiful backdrop of Capri.
Part 1 moved too slowly at times, and took me a few days to get through. But once Part II began I flew through the rest of the book! One of the last twists actually had me talking to myself out loud. I love that I was surprised by it, and truly didn’t see it coming.
The pursuit of wealth and power can people do terrible things.

Katy Hays, author of The Cloisters, comes back with her Sophomore effort, Saltwater. Set in New York, Los Angeles, and the idyllic island of Capri, this is story of the rich and influential Lingate family - brothers Richard and Marcus and their spouses, Sarah and Naomi. It is told through multiple lenses - Helen (Richard and Sarah's adult daughter), Lorna (Marcus's assistant) - both in present day - and Sarah, whose story is being told from the past. Thrown in before some chapters are also some newspaper clippings from 1992 going forward involving the death of Sarah Lingate, famous playwright and wife to the filthy rich Richard. Her death was never resolved - was it a suicide or was it murder? Helen, getting more and more curious to know what really happened that fateful night in 1992, is determined to find out how and why her mother died. She enlists, Lorna, her uncle's assistant, to help get to the bottom of it. Things go awry and all the more mysterious when Lorna ends up dead as well and everyone seems to have motive to have killed her to keep the family secrets buried. Let me just tell you, my mouth dropped at the first twist and the last twist about took me under. I've never read The Cloisters, but I'm going to now!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for allowing me the pleasure of reading this arc in exchange for my review. Rest assured, this will be a hot ticket item when it hits shelves on March 25, 2025!

This made me want to go to Capri so badly! The story is about Helen's Mom and her disappearance. It has a fair amount of past to present switchbacks which felt clunky at times but overall, I sincerely enjoyed it!

I did not see the ending at all because it was quite dark. I am a fan of dark mysteries so it did not bother me at all and actually made me like it more.

I would pick this for a vacation or travel read because it really needs those vibes to truly like it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with a copy of Saltwater in exchange for an honest review. To be honest, I really did not like this book. It had everything I thought I would want in a mytery/drama - a glittery Italian setting, a rich family with secrets, a murder. But wow, this book feels half written. The characters are not at all developed. I didn't feel invested in a single person in this cast. The tragic events had zero emotional impact. People's motives for doing what they did not make sense and were not understandable. The ending peaked my interest but ultimately felt really random to me and completely unrealistic. So much was happening in this book and it all happened too fast and with almost no storytelling. I think the concept is great and it has the potential to be an excellent story but it really, really needs a critical editor before it can become a bestseller. Also, oh my god, the typos. The amount of grammatical mistakes and missing words was really distracting. Definitely the "earliest-feeling" galley I've picked up.

Will plan to read this again when this hits the shelves and see the improvements the author has made.

This started out very slow- and didn't get much more engaging after that. I found myself reading on to see if the end would get better, but that fell flat as well.