Beautifully written book about family and how far would you go to protect it. While I did see one of the twists coming, there were definitely more that caused my jaw to drop. The imagery was vivid and the plotlines well-woven. Definitely one of my top of the year.

I really wanted to love this book, but found myself struggling with the second half. The setting was beautiful and character development was strong. However, the twists were too much for me and just didn't seem believable. I would still recommend this book, especially if you're a fan of Bravo or tales of old money. I could see this being a fantastic beach read!

I love a whodunit novel. This one had so many interesting turns at first but the more turns that came up, the more confusing the book became. I didn't expect the ending, but I also don't understand how the ending worked at ALL. I sat there like "HUH?" Overall, a solid read.

Secrets, betrayals. Murder. A thriller set on the Island of Capri about the wealthy family, The Lingates who have come for a family retreat which is about to be shattered when the past and those secrets resurface. This book is a wonderful ride, fast paced told from multiple POV's and timelines which kept me page turning. I love a thriller that takes me to a setting where I would love to be, and an author that is able to transport you there and keep you engaged with the story and characters. So, if you also enjoy a good thriller, I highly recommend this one. I thoroughly enjoy this author and will now look to read anything she writes!
Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine books for the opportunity to enjoy this book!

Unfortunately I had to DNF. This was way too convoluted and I didn’t vibe with the style of writing

Absolutely loved this cover which made me want to read this book. This is a family drama (like over-the-top family drama!) mixed in with a bit of a suspenseful plot, all trying to answer was it homicide or suicide? Sarah has died off a cliff of Capri back in 1992 and what follows in a bunch of back and forth in time and characters - make sure to read each heading because otherwise you'll be lost. This family drama involves an incredibly wealthy family where the "drama" is supposed to stay within the family but it seeps out. Sarah marries into this family and has a daughter, Helen, who is one of the narrators of this story.

I did not like any of the characters. Helen is 33 years old but acts like she is 15 - she has to follow the family rules and cannot go anywhere on her own - I mean she's 33! Lorna, another narrator, has the role of "personal assistant" to the patriarch, Marcus, and she has her own vendetta but this is never really solved. Why is she doing what she is doing? The author talks a bit about Lorna's background but this is never really developed and I was left at a loss as to why Lorna acts the way she does and how vested she becomes in this family without a good reason as to why. Freddy is just a bizarre character who just seems to take up space.

It all comes to a point decades after Sarah's death once again on the island of Capri where the family meets every year (for some reason?). There were some twists and turns that I didn't expect and was happy to find but this book just didn't captivate me the way I thought it would or the way I wanted it to - I guess I just didn't care about anyone - they were all spoiled people to me.

Thank you to Katy Hays, NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC and the ability to review with my honest opinions.

Had to force myself to finish this one. A bunch of family drama with no likable characters. Also not sure why the author had three of the same characters get away with the same crime

Saltwater starts with a dead body, that of Sarah Lingate, it’s 1992 in Capri. The Lingates are well known, they are wealthy, and suspected of being involved in Sarah’s death. Officials rule the death as an accident, and to prove their innocence, they return to Capri every year. On the 13th anniversary of Sarah’s death, the family returns to the island with Sarah’s now grown daughter Helen, her father Richard and his assistant Lorna,  as well as boyfriend and rarely lucid aunt Naomi and controlling uncle Marcus. They arrive at the family villa to find the necklace Sarah was wearing on the night of her death waiting for them.  

   Not your typical murder mystery book, Saltwater alternates between the mystery surrounding Sarah’s death, and the disappearance of Lorna, who we learn in the beginning is missing. The story is told in chapters from different characters leading up to the hours of Lorna’s vanishing as well as that of Sarah’s demise.  

    Revealed is the very fractured family behind the facade, the controlling nature they have over everyone, how fragile it all is…and a family secret that set into motion the events that changed many lives. It was one of those books that was able to deliver several plot twists that kept the mystery going right up to the last page.  I’d say this is one for fans of White Lotus and Big Little Lies. Full of secrets, and a love letter to Capri.

Started slow but then I really started enjoying it around 30%. I now really love “historical thrillers”. Even though it was based in 1992 it’s in the past. But really enjoyed it

A dark and moody mystery set on the island of Capri, this novel is a page turner. With twists and turns throughout, I enjoyed this one immensely.

“Saltwater” is quite different from Katy Hays’ dark academia “The Cloisters,” but it still delivers with an overwhelming sense of dread and secrets that need to be uncovered.

There are two main POVs: Helen, the daughter of Sarah Lingate, who died suspiciously 30 years ago on the cliffs of Capri (accident? suicide? murder?). Helen's wealthy family insists on returning to the same perpetually rented villa/scene of the crime (?) every year. Helen is also the thirty-three year old prisoner of the Lingates, who constantly keep her under surveillance and control her access to money and travel (presumably to blunt the never-ending gossip and curiosity about her mother’s mysterious demise). Helen finally is starting to buck her family’s smothering presence.

The second POV is Lorna, Helen’s friend, but officially her uncle’s assistant. We know from the chapter titles that Lorna is missing. Lorna used to just be a local barista in LA who showed Helen some kindness and that was her gateway to the Lingate family’s graces — but Lorna obviously has some shared and not-shared secrets with Helen, Freddy (Helen’s purported boyfriend), and Stan, a business rival of the Lingate brothers.

A third POV occurs in 1992 — it’s Sarah’s, leading up to her death.

This book has a slow build, but complicated family mysteries take time to unravel. The island of Capri holds its own as an exotic character with crumbling staircases, deserted gardens, ancient Roman palaces, parties galore and an unreal lifestyle. The plot surrounds the return of the necklace that was missing from Sarah’s body. Intercepting her uncle’s mail, Helen,with Lorna’s assistance, knows that whoever sent the necklace has given her an unimaginable gift: the ability to shake up her family from within. There are a lot of twists and turns and characters drift in and out as viable suspects. I did not anticipate the ending (the “first” ending) and I pondered over the second act of the conclusion. But from the halfway point, I could not put this thriller down. 5 stars!


Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Eye color is only mentioned once and those are blue eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Mentions of Capri: figs, lemon trees, olive branches.

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

I typically like books that go back and forth on the timeline - this was an interesting twist as Helen is in the present in the beautiful setting and she is trying to solve the mystery of her mothers death at the same time you follow along on the night of Sarah's death. The life of privilege was laid on pretty thick. There were many suspects and suspicious people with suspicious actions to keep you guessing, The conclusion was a big surprise!

This is the second book I read by this author. This thriller is set in Italy and is very captivating. A who done it type of vibe which is great. Family secrets can be heartbreaking once discovered when it involves a loved one. Don’t want to give too much away but this was a great read. I need more from this author.

This was a beautiful story because of the locale, Capri. Sarah Lingate is found dead at the bottom of the cliffs in Capri. Every year her family still returns to while away the days with booze and swimming. Her death is just a horrible accident, so they all say. Helen, her daughter, isn't sure but doesn't want to believe that anyone would hurt her mother, let alone kill her. But, then, 20 years later, a personal assistant to the family is found dead as well. There are too many coincidences to ignore.

I loved the author's descriptions of the family and the locale, but the wrapping up of what happened to both women was just too convoluted to believe. I wanted to love this but I couldn't.

My appreciation to NetGalley and to the publisher for this advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Saltwater.

Here we go again; another narrative about a family of wealthy, privileged people with secrets and a mysterious death in their past.

Why do I keep reading these books?

Because I keep hoping an author will surprise me but there was nothing surprising about Saltwater.

All the tropes are here; unlikable one dimensional characters, gorgeous setting, affairs, adultering, boozing and drugging and jealousy.

The narrative is long and repetitive interspersed with flashbacks and POVs from Helen, the daughter of the deceased, Lorna, the family assistant, and Sarah, Helen's mom.

There is monotonous monologuing about secrets and if anyone can be trusted and how you can never really leave this type of family.

There is very little suspense and urgency and there are many characters and details about lavish parties and partying, none of which is new in these types of books.

Not surprisingly the pacing of the story dragged, there are enough red herrings to shake a stick at, and the twist(s) were easy to guess at, at least they were for me.

The action doesn't happen until the very end and it's SOO over the top so prepare to suspend disbelief.

Read this with a grain of saltwater.

This story sounded like something I would enjoy. I am disappointed as I felt like I had to push myself to read it. In the beginning, it did not keep my interest. The story flipped around from character to character and past and present. I find it very remarkable the way Kay Hays wrote it with all the flipping from character to era but you lost the connection to your characters while the story unfolded.
However, as you progressed through the story it did get where you enjoyed the read and wanted to know what was going to happen next. Brilliantly put together, I really had a hard time in the first half of the book I just wanted it to finish. So glad it got better and overall was worth the time to finish.
Thank you NetGalley and Publishers Random House for this ARC I think I might have liked the audio better.

Part family drama, part murder mystery, this Capri-based story continually piqued my interest because the way the author craftily withheld just enough details in each chapter as the story unraveled.

I saw only some of the twists coming, which was fun as a read.

However, I also felt like it potentially had one too many twists to make it more believable. It's fiction, though, so overall, it was a solid and enjoyable read.

This was my first book by Katy Hays, and I plan to read whatever comes next from her.

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

It was the scenery of the idyllic island of Capri that drew me into the story, but it was the characters and mystery that kept me reading. 30 years ago Sarah Lingate was killed during her family's weekly vacation to Capri. It was ruled an accident at the time, but the members of the wealthy Lingate family, especially her husband were suspected of knowing more. Today, Sarah's daughter Helen is returning to the same villa with her family, and it seems her mother's death might be brought back to light when the necklace she was wearing the night of her death is sent to them at the villa. Will the reopening of her mother's case give Helen the chance to escape the family that has been making her feel like a prisoner her whole life? With lots of family drama and history set along a gorgeous backdrop, I absolutely loved this sophomore novel from Katy Hays!

You’re going to want to add this to your 2025 reading list!
Thank you, Penguin Random House and Ballantine Books, for the gifted copy of Saltwater by Katy Hays {partner}

Genre: Mystery
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date:  3.25.2025
Pages: 336
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

“Why do men love to linger on a woman’s bad decisions but find it so easy to absolve themselves of their own?”

I decided to start Saltwater on a whim, and even though it’s a slow burn, I couldn’t put it down. There were so many situations and possibilities at play that I was captivated trying to combine all the pieces of the puzzle. I loved how Katy Hays told the story through the perspective of several characters - it gave the illusion that one (or more) of them was lying. But who? I thought I had all figured out at one point, but then my carefully constructed story fell apart. 

When I had 25% of the story left, I was flying through it and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I had to know what happened to Sarah and if the past was repeating itself with Lorna.

And, y’all, it takes a lot for a book to surprise me, and Saltwater had me gasping at one point. It was so perfectly executed that I’d reread it to see what hints I overlooked in my first read. Katy Hays created the perfect mystery, and I can’t wait for 2024 for everyone to read it!

Read if you enjoy:
🤫 Lots of secrets
🇮🇹 Capris, Italy
🗣️ Multiple POV
📖 Slow Burn
✌🏼 Dual timeline
🎭 Family drama

I recommend reading Saltwater if you enjoyed reading The Villa.

I had really high hopes for Saltwater but, in the end, the plot didn't grip me from beginning to end. Characters started running together in my mind - and it started to feel super slow and unrewarding. I loved how everything began; it started with a huge aura of intrigue and mystery, which is totally my vibe. Sadly, Saltwater turned out to not be for me.