Reviews tagging 'Child death'

House of Salt And Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

168 reviews

magdapuczynska's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The author is really good at creating mood and interesting worldbuilding and concepts. What she is not good at, however, is writing convincing romance and whodunnit murder mysteries - which is what the book was supposed to be. The foreshadowing is done in a very hasty manner and is resolved almost immediately. The main love interest has no personality whatsoever, he could've been a talking parrot and we would never know. The 6-year-old talks like a retired philosophy professor. And the ending feels like not even the author herself expected it when she sat down to write that day. I loved the textures, colors and the overall mood of the story. The concept was great as well and I was very excited for it. The execution, however, left me very disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, and Grief

plip08's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It was fine, I’ll give it 3.5 because the last 100 pages were gripping and read them all in one sitting but the first two hundred there wasn’t much going on. I wish there had been more fantasy elements in that first 200 as well. I did get super creeped out by the nightmares/visions the main character has and the villain, those were well done! She also did a great job building this world and engrossing you in it. I kind of hate that the girls were portrayed as all they cared about was getting married but I suppose if that’s the culture in their world what can you do. I was also let down by the father character, I expected him to have a bigger role in the end. I’m not quite sure how there is a second book? The story seems wrapped up nicely at the end? Guess we will see!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

daniellereadslikealot_'s review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I’ve had this book on my TBR for so long and I’m so happy I finally read it! It’s probably one of the most atmospheric books I’ve ever read. I felt completely swept up in this eerie world of salt, sea and glittering dresses. I thought it was a pretty excellent take on the Twelve Dancing Princesses story with plenty of twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed all the characters, especially Annaleigh and Verity. I did have a little bit of a hard time keeping track of the sisters, but that’s was definitely a me problem. It did move a bit slower at times, but I still found myself intrigued and interested in where the story was headed. I happened to read this during a very rainy week which really enhanced my experience with this book so I recommend that for extra atmosphere. I very much enjoyed this story and I’m excited to read the next book! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

deebsdan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

read this back in like.. 2021 and loved it then, love it still now. i love me a retelling of my favorite barbie movie, in fantasy thriller version even, which is the best i could’ve gotten 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, and Death

strawbimoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Gaslighting, Body horror, Child death, and Death

moendchen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The idea was better than the execution. 
Leaned more into fantasy than supernatural. Truly a pity

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, Murder, Death, Blood, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

winterhartarts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Dementia, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexism

actingoutlife's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

By the time I was half way through this book I was getting annoyed by how little was happening. I can see how it helps the ending but it made me feel like I was slogging through. I liked the overall story enough but I found myself feeling a bit of whiplash at points where many unrelated things seemed to be happening. 
I would recommend this book even with those drawbacks because I found it a unique story. Maybe get the audiobook so you can read it while also doing other things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Vomit

kotletka_polina's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

That was a pretty wild run. 
It was a bit slow in the beginning but as the story progressed it grew on me and the last 150 pages I read in one sitting. 
I think the world building lacked explanation so it was a little confusing. A huge part of the plot is a mystery and I believe the reader should also be able to guess the twist while reading; however I don’t think it’s possible to fully guess it here because of the confusing world building and lack of complete information.
But I liked this book a lot. It felt like fever dream in the best way possible and I fell in love with the love interest. The second half of the book was really intense and it was hard to put down the book. 
Not sure what to expect from the sequel. I’m excited but also kinda scared.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Miscarriage, Child death, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Blood and Vomit

allisonbraun's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol and Miscarriage