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bskell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and Miscarriage
Minor: Domestic abuse
beanie_bob's review
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:
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: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism
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: Vomit, Alcohol, and Suicide
graciejames121's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit
laequiem's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse
plumpaperbacks's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think House of Salt and Sorrows might be my most unexpected favorite read of 2020.
When I was younger, I loved the Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses movie. My nostalgic feelings for that movie combined with the realization that I’d never read a retelling of 12 Dancing Princesses led to me picking up this book, which I figured would be a bit spooky. I didn’t realize how much it would creep me out until I was too invested in the story to stop reading, and decided I’d only read during the day with the lights on, maybe music in the background. Not everyone will find this scary, but I did.
Craig put so much into so few pages, and did a phenomenal job of it. The story is set on a small set of islands, but the world beyond is immense, the mythology intricate. There are numerous characters—the twelve sisters and their father, their stepmother, friends and lovers and household staff and island citizens—but Craig developed all of them well enough to make it easy for me to differentiate between them.
I really enjoyed the dynamics between the sisters. Annaleigh was a bit plain, I won’t lie, but she was still compelling in a way I’m not sure I can explain. I liked all of the sisters still living at the time of the story, and given the way they were written, I’m sure I would’ve loved the dead ones if I’d been able to get
to know them. I loved little Verity. 10 out of 10, would hug, possibly my favorite Thaumas sibling. (I almost always love the baby beans. Not sure why.)
While on the subject of character dynamics, I enjoyed the sisters’ interactions with Hanna and her son Fisher. Though the former was somewhat swept aside as the story progressed, seeing her step in as a maternal figure after their mother died was quite sweet. She was technically their nurse—maybe their maid, I can’t recall which—but she cared for all of the girls as if they were hers, and I loved to see it. Her son Fisher was a friend to the whole family, dancing with the sisters at their parties when no one else would. He was just so sweet. Pretty sure sweetness is genetic in this case. Like mother, like son, or whatever the saying is.
You know who else was really sweet? The love interest Cassius. I won’t say anything about whether or not he’s trustworthy, because that would ruin the fun, but I loved his relationship with Annaleigh. Absolutely loved it. I ship it so much, I can’t even express. They! Are! Adorable!
Lastly, I want to address how freaking WILD this book’s story is. I marathoned 75% of the book this afternoon in a matter of hours. The horror elements were a surprise, but even more surprising was the way the second half of the novel resembled a psychological thriller. I had no idea what to expect or who to trust or even who actually existed. I can’t specify due to spoilers, but once again, it was WILD. Please read this.
I enjoyed House of Salt and Sorrows way more than I ever thought I would. I look forward to buying my own copy, recommending this to everyone, and eventually reading Craig’s next release.
When I was younger, I loved the Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses movie. My nostalgic feelings for that movie combined with the realization that I’d never read a retelling of 12 Dancing Princesses led to me picking up this book, which I figured would be a bit spooky. I didn’t realize how much it would creep me out until I was too invested in the story to stop reading, and decided I’d only read during the day with the lights on, maybe music in the background. Not everyone will find this scary, but I did.
Craig put so much into so few pages, and did a phenomenal job of it. The story is set on a small set of islands, but the world beyond is immense, the mythology intricate. There are numerous characters—the twelve sisters and their father, their stepmother, friends and lovers and household staff and island citizens—but Craig developed all of them well enough to make it easy for me to differentiate between them.
I really enjoyed the dynamics between the sisters. Annaleigh was a bit plain, I won’t lie, but she was still compelling in a way I’m not sure I can explain. I liked all of the sisters still living at the time of the story, and given the way they were written, I’m sure I would’ve loved the dead ones if I’d been able to get
to know them. I loved little Verity. 10 out of 10, would hug, possibly my favorite Thaumas sibling. (I almost always love the baby beans. Not sure why.)
While on the subject of character dynamics, I enjoyed the sisters’ interactions with Hanna and her son Fisher. Though the former was somewhat swept aside as the story progressed, seeing her step in as a maternal figure after their mother died was quite sweet. She was technically their nurse—maybe their maid, I can’t recall which—but she cared for all of the girls as if they were hers, and I loved to see it. Her son Fisher was a friend to the whole family, dancing with the sisters at their parties when no one else would. He was just so sweet. Pretty sure sweetness is genetic in this case. Like mother, like son, or whatever the saying is.
You know who else was really sweet? The love interest Cassius. I won’t say anything about whether or not he’s trustworthy, because that would ruin the fun, but I loved his relationship with Annaleigh. Absolutely loved it. I ship it so much, I can’t even express. They! Are! Adorable!
Lastly, I want to address how freaking WILD this book’s story is. I marathoned 75% of the book this afternoon in a matter of hours. The horror elements were a surprise, but even more surprising was the way the second half of the novel resembled a psychological thriller. I had no idea what to expect or who to trust or even who actually existed. I can’t specify due to spoilers, but once again, it was WILD. Please read this.
I enjoyed House of Salt and Sorrows way more than I ever thought I would. I look forward to buying my own copy, recommending this to everyone, and eventually reading Craig’s next release.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicide
In the second half of the book, one of the remaining sisters experiences serious depression.stayshomeandreads's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
this gave me everything I wanted. from an interview with the author, I found out that she was originally going to make a book out of edgar allen poe's annabelle lee. that made complete sense to me. this book is such a vibe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Violence
coolmombeck's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I have to be honest, I've never read "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," but I loved this book. It started off a little slow, but once I was into it, I finished reading it in a few hours. I truly enjoyed the setting, character building, and the storyline. I thought I had the story figured out, but I was very wrong. It was a great YA mystery/horror and I would definitely recommend. 5/5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Vomit
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