Reviews tagging 'Death'

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

189 reviews

slahlum's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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eedle_cacleberry's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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veskumelooni's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-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

2.0


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plantylibrary's review

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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rose_celeste's review

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dark mysterious 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

4.0

I liked many things about this book. The characters, the universe, the unfolding story, the tense atmosphere that kept on growing more and more intense. I loved how odd events were described as perfectly normal, how the Isles felt isolated from the rest of the world. The visions that unfolded first as magnificent magical feats and then descended like furies upon the characters, nightmares all too real and tangible with horrible consequences.

However, two parts did bother me enough to feel a tad disappointed. (This might spoil too much for some, so be warned)

The causes for the sisters' demises surprised me. Nothing truly foreshadowed them enough for me that I felt that they fitted seamlessly into the world.
The Trickster God and the Goddess of Madness and Nightmares
are interesting and do fit in the whole worldbuilding, but I would've preferred some more lore being developed before having them suddenly being revealed as they were. 

The ending felt...off to me. All of it would've felt smoother if more had been explained throughout the story. I felt unsatisfied by the conclusion as the cause of the death in this House of Salt and Sorrows was rushed in the last chapters. Leaving important characters underdeveloped despite that they were the reason why it all happened. Had we been given more than a few crumbs, perhaps I would've felt more involved in the tragedies of it all and the consequences for this unfortunate family.
And for all I loved Cassius, the lad also desperately needed some more development.


All things concluded however, I devoured this book with great enthusiasm and would recommend it for those who enjoy darker shades of fairytales.

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druzyquartz's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.5


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hcgambrell'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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A retelling of the twelve dancing princesses with a sprinkling of Edgar Allan Poe set in a gothic maritime locale. I loved it. 

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sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0


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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.75

What an amazing read. Genuinely, amazing.

The way it tackled themes of madness and grief were striking and left me confused in the way one should be when reading from the perspective of someone that’s trapped between illusions and reality. The conclusion actually remedied a lot of the issues I had with the earlier parts of the story. On top of that excellent execution, the characters and world felt very striking and realistic. Sibling dynamics and how they all reacted to things rarely caught me off guard in the sense of being unrealistic. Each character felt very real and alive. Seeing how they interacted with their world and its beliefs was also very interesting. On top of the world building itself being fascinating.

Really my only issue was the ending as it made me so mad I dropped it from 5 stars. (And this only applies the to epilogue/seven months later portion.)

Overall it was an amazing book and retellings that still capture the original while being so distinct and unique are a favourite of mine. It is, however, an extremely dark book and I highly recommend looking at content/trigger warnings before reading it.

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genie_213's review

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sad 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

2.0

This book was a rollercoaster of me going “huh?”  I love a good fantasy world and this book was not giving me that. Where was the world-building? And the ending really felt like a sell-out. 

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