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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Call me crazy, tell me I had a horrible childhood - whatever, back at ya - but I have not read the fairytale of the 12 dancing princesses. *gasp* Please, keep it together, I was a Mother Goose kind of girl I guess. But I honestly don't think that affected my appreciation of this story in any way. It might have helped, in that I wasn't comparing it to something familiar that made it thoroughly enjoyable by itself. I truly loved this story.
Ghostly, creepy, mildly frightening, exciting, and horribly sad. I was immediately sucked into the storyline and the pace never disappointed. Annaleigh is a spirited MC and it was easy to get to know her through her actions and understandable/appropriate dialogue. There was no struggling with overly descriptive paragraphs better explained in a few lines of conversation ... there was a deeply emotional element attached to the setting and it was beautifully articulated. I felt a true sense of place in a place that doesn't exist - like middlearth but with 1,000 fewer pages to get me there. Even the gods, goddesses and religious structure were intricate yet accessible, alleviating the need for an index or constant refresher of who's who.
So glad I got a signed copy of this one as I'm looking forward to whatever she she writes next. Happy reading.
Read the complete review in my blog : https://bookbugworld.com/review/house-of-salt-and-sorrows/
Now, a review with bits of spoiler:
Spoiler
I adored the ghostly elements of the story, even when they freaked me out (for example when Verity drew her sisters in dubious forms). I also was entertained by the whole "Who is Cassius?". I liked Cassius better when he wasn't fond and in love with Annaleigh. But that's something I will talk about later. Going back to the gore of the story, I think the only warning moment was when Morella had the miscarriage. I felt really uncomfortable reading that because I could only imagine her pain and the blood. Everything else wasn't too much, it wasn't too little either.
We had a great main character. Annaleigh was the most clever of her sisters, but she let herself be driven by the madness sometimes. I also liked the sisters and how they protected and loved each other.
I LOVED the setting of the story. The People of the Salt, their customs, their beliefs, how they were from the sea and returned to the Sea, their mourning, and all the sea and salt elements were added bit by bit in the story. The book was really well written and it wasn't too difficult to understand for a non-English native speaker.
I was really surprised by the last plot twist when Camille and Annaleigh discovered that Morella was the one making deals with the Viscardi. I didn't expect Morella to be evil, and I definitely didn't expect her to be one of their mom's midwives and be in an on-and-off physical relationship with Ourtun since their mom died. I was shocked. I was a bit disappointed that the deal was made by a feeling, a wrong one, of love, but I guess love is the strongest force in the whole universe, and can make us evil.
I didn't like the Kosamaras plot twist, though. I also didn't like Cassius' involvement in Kosamaras' revenge with the Thaumas girls. It felt out of the blue and I just didn't like it. I can't explain more why.
Finally, I didn't like Cassius and Annaleigh's love. It felt forced, and Cassius' death and return at the end felt made to give Annaleigh a happy ending, even when she spent the whole book suffering. It didn't seem right with the vibe of the book and I didn't like it. As I said at the beginning, I liked Cassius more when we didn't know of his background and he could be a murderer and he was exciting Annaleigh and making her feel things she didn't know how to explain. Once the feelings were returned he felt dull. So sad. I think his character could've been more developed.
Overall was a pretty good read and I definitely want to read the next book which is about Verity and her ghosts.
I was wishy washy on Morella for the whole book. I didn’t like her in the beginning then she grew on me, then I didn’t like her, then she was sweet and a little pitiful. And then she’s behind everything and I STILL don’t know how to feel about her. How can you hate someone so pathetic and desperate for love? I certainly don’t like her but I feel sorry for her and I think that makes her an excellent antagonist. To be honest, I was damn near convinced Camille was behind everything.
Erin Craig is fantastic at cultivating supernatural, dark-haired and mysterious love interests. I also feel like she does a lot of research for the smaller points of her books like with this one being the sea turtles and the lighthouse and in Small Favors, the bees. I love the attention to detail in her books. I will definitely be recommending her books to anyone who wants a slightly spooky, mind-bending read.
