Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - House of roots and ruin. La casa di radici e perdizione

Another beautifully told tale by Craig. Atmospheric and encompassing with an excellent mix of creepy, comforting, and romantic.
I use ratings to remind me how I felt about the book, and as I'm not really into the young adult genre it is a 4 star read for me. But putting my own taste aside I would say it is a 5 star young adult read.

*A note on sexual assault, abortion, and miscarriage content warnings -

these topics are present in the story and contribute to a pivotal plot point

I do think they should be mentioned. However, they are spoken of and not described - the reader is not present for the events mentioned.

Content Warnings

danaslitlist's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Once again Erin A. Craig has written a book inspired by gothic literature and nails every marker of that. Unnerving warnings from ghosts? Check. A mysterious manor with dark secrets around every corner? Check. A family full of weird traditions and skeletons in their closets? Double check. Every moment of this book was like watching Rebecca (1940) crossed with Crimson Peak. And as a fan of both, I was in heaven the entire time.

Though I hadn't reread House of Salt and Sorrow I fell right back into the world and the setting that had been established with ease. This is made possible by the fact that this story occurs years after the events of the first novel and follows Verity, the youngest of the twelve Thaumus sisters as she finally flees her island home and towards the the mysterious and famous home of The Duchess of Bloem against the wishes of her sister. What follows next is a series of plots and discoveries that show that the legacy of the Duchess and her family might not be what it appears to be.

I think all the characters were so fascinating and even the ones that fell into tropes were enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised that we have a disabled male love interest who is so complex and also proud to be disabled. I was a bit nervous at the beginning but Erin A. Craig did a great job of writing him well and remaining respectful of disabled bodies and agency.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and despite trying to slow down the reading experience, I couldn't bring myself to put the book down. Each chapter just captured my attention more and more! The only reason this isn't a five star read is that I wish the ending had unraveled a bit slower or had happened earlier in the novel instead of everything coming to a rushing ending in the last thirty pages. Though this definitely invoked a sense of frenzy and confusion that was most certainly intended on part of the author and I don't feel like this is necessarily a flaw that would bother most readers.

And that epilogue....leaves a bit of a tease that I both like and dislike. But then again, in true fashion of most gothic literature and media, it fits perfectly.

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bellebookcorner's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It’s been 4 years since the first book – House of Salt and Sorrow and I don’t remember much of what happen on that book. Fortunately, you can read this sequel just fine because it set in the same universe but following a different character (sister).

Although, I advise reading the 1st book if you haven’t because some things mentioned in here could spoil the 1st book.

I really like the writing style, it was easy to follow and the plot flows smoothly as well. The mystery of Laurent family keeps me interested which makes it really hard to put down this book.

I can feel the eerie atmosphere from the creepy sounds when the FMC was investigating the manor at night!

The characters are well developed, I really like Verity. She’s a brave and determined women. I also enjoy her blooming relationship with the MMC – Alex.

Alex is sweet and charming, although sometimes Alex gets slightly too sappy and emotional.

There’s a lot of twists in here, some of my theories are right but some was really unexpected!

The last few chapters were really intense and I felt so anxious as I read it...

Overall, this is a fantastic sequel. It’s very enjoyable and very addicting!

I highly recommend it if you love to read a gothic fantasy story with ghosts, creepy experiments and dark secrets!

I can’t wait to find out what happens next and more about this universe following different sister of the salt as well as the Gods and Goddess.

My only wish is I hope we don’t have to wait for another 4 years to get the next book!

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: Child death, murder, body horror, gore, brief mention of sexual assault

<i>A huge thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily! </i>

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sfeldmann's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

SPOILERS!!!

Well….I’ve been duped into a trilogy.

The cliffhanger ending is very good, but oh my lord what did I just read? I swear Erin Craig loves making these stories dark and creepy towards the end.

At first, I was very skeptical of this book. I didn’t know if it would live up to my love of the first one. The mystery, creep factor, and secrets were all great. Craig is very good at characterization. There were some parts of the story- secrecy siblings and the romance between Verity and Alex- that I wanted to be explored more. Especially the romance between Verity and Alex. I liked the beginning of it and how it showed Verity being unfamiliar with these feelings, but I feel like we rushed from dating to marriage too fast and Verity was just kinda okay with it. I think I would have liked the bridge between like and love to be a bit smoother.

Other than that…the ending. Holy crap. They’re alive. Like shizzz. Well done.

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roseofphantom's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Thank you to Erin Craig and Edelweiss for a free eARC of this book!

OH MY GOOSSSHHH this TOTALLY lived up to the first book!! It reads like a romance but there's definitely something sinister happening underneath and despite how twisted the first book was nothing could have ever prepared me from how messed up this book was. This was delicious and thrilling, I couldn't stop reading it!!

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lastblossom's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

tl;dr
A beautiful gothic horror that combines stunning imagery and a genuinely creepy mystery. Strong recommend.

Thoughts
I devoured this in a day, and my heart is still pounding even as I write this review. I have a deep love for gothic horror and for stories about flowers and things that grow from the earth, so this book is my "reese's peanut butter cups" of storytelling. A quiet sense of dread permeates the story, with paranoia ramping up on each page, as literal gaslights light a beautiful house full of terrifying secrets. I loved the thorough world building, and the imagery and location are very clear in my mind. It can be easy for the heroines of gothic novels to feel a little too unaware of their surroundings, but Verity is a good balance between canny and trusting. She's definitely out of her depth, but never in way that seems like she is actively being a fool. While there is a romance in here, a lot of it develops off page and through time skips, so readers don't get to see much of it unfold in real time. The tradeoff is that we get to focus on the mystery, with plenty of clues and some incredibly creepy reveals. Strong recommend for anyone in the mood for some gothic horror.

Of note, this book is a follow-up to House of Salt and Sorrows, but you don't need the previous book to jump into this one (there will be some spoilers for it, though).

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

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