Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

House of Salt And Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

78 reviews

slvt4b00ks'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

5.0

This book was such a treat. I have never really read anything tho close to horror. Definitely do not read at night if you’re prone to nightmares or scare easily. I love how many allusions there are to Edgar Alan Poe. There’s even a character named Edgar. This author has certainly mastered the macabre, I think mr. Poe himself would have loved this story. The ending had so many twists and turns, I was concerned that like our main character, I could not separate nightmare from reality. Please please please read this. I have no regrets other than that I wish I read this sooner. The book had been sitting on my shelf for a full YEAR, untouched. I almost feel as though the cover does not do it Justice.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

beanith's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Hello, Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses fandom. I’m not even sure if I watched that Barbie movie as a kid, but I did play the Game Boy Advanced adaptation a lot (it’s a very hard game). As I started The House of Salt and Sorrows I also skimmed the original fairytale Wikipedia page to familiarize myself with the source material. This reimagining has such a unique gothic horror flair that truly transforms the story into its own entity.

HoSaS has some debut novel related shortcomings (some of the mystery’s elements are very easy to see coming, sometimes it would be difficult to understand where characters physically were in scenes, etc) but I found myself enjoying the novel more and more as it went on. 

what I liked:

• The fantasy world, culture, religions (I would love an unrelated sequel just to learn more about Arcannia)
• The dresses - I want to draw all the dresses so bad!!
• There was a period of time where every ‘dark YA fairytale retelling’ was the same, used tired tropes (esp about mental illness) and would shoehorn details from the original story. HoSaS is so refreshing to the genre/subgenre. It never felt like a boring rehash.
• Very, very slight howl/sophie vibes from Cassius and Annaleigh

what I didn’t like:

• Could have been even more gothic
• Camille kind of turns into a bitch out of nowhere?
• Too many villains, lack of hierarchy between them. The trickster and the weeping woman and the stepmother all have the same narrative weight.
• Some lack of clarity of where characters physically are and where they’re going/how they got there (this is very minor though and not too prevalent in the novel)
• I wanted more descriptions of what the men were wearing, both at the balls and during ordinary life. The girls were described with such vivid detail but most of the men were kind of nebulous.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Miscarriage

Moderate: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Alcohol

anielabooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

This book was such a rollercoaster for me. I came in with little knowledge of horror books and only the Barbie’s version of a 12 dancing princesses under my belt. Thankfully, the horror wasn’t very intense. I was so invested in the story the entire time and was very satisfied with the ending. I also loved the romance aspect of the book as I found myself falling in love at the same time as Annaleigh. I honestly did not predict the ending, which I liked. I particularly loved the motif of the sea turtles throughout the book; it really made the last few chapters that much more heart-wrenching. I’m so glad one of my followers recommended this book to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

ka_ke's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

I loved this book! I’m not sure if the balls were necessary, but it all tied together! The ending is horribly sad, at least until the epilogue. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

howlsbreakfast'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

5.0

THIS BOOK HAS ME FLOORED I LOVE IT. THE AMOUNT OF EMOTIONS THIS GAVE ME EVERY CHAPTER, CONFUSION, DISBELIEF, DOUBT. LOVE IT. I love Cassius Corum 🫶🫰.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It took me a while to get into (it only started really picking up for me around pg 123). But once I did get into it, I really did enjoy it. 
At first it was hard to keep track of all the names because there were 12 sisters plus more characters (though four of the sisters are dead from the beginning). Although I liked having a large cast of characters, it was a bit confusing for a while. 
There were also some cliché romance moments and a bit of instalove which isn’t my favorite but didn’t ruin the whole thing.
It felt like it was trying to be a little too much all at once: a psychological thriller, horror, fairy tale retelling, fantasy, romance, family drama, mystery. I think this might be why it felt a little all over the place and rushed in some areas.
HOWEVER, I really just loved the ~vibes~ of the whole book and I did NOT expect it to get so dark and unsettling but I enjoyed that (despite it being a shock). I had also totally thought I guessed the twists but BOY was I WRONG lol. 
The description was lovely and the tension, suspense, and mystery definitely kept me intrigued.

would recommend!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Death of parent

madelynfrank's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

Much more horror than I was expecting. Lots of twists. I enjoyed the atmosphere but the world building was not done very well or at all.  The romance was very meh. None of there characters really had any personality. But it’s was solidly scary so props for that I guess. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

kryzysowa_narzeczona's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent

queenrivanni's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail