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aurumia's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I went in to this book, expecting a traditional fairy tale retelling, and was glad to expect a light hearted book.
Boy, I could not have been more off-base.
From scene one, this book was sad, then a little scary, then maddening, then frightening, before reaching the happily ever after epilogue (after a fashion).
The retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses was absolutely expert. There were details woven in that I recalled from the original fairy tale and made my heart happy, which is why it was so incredible the author was able to work in such darkness. There are horror movie tropes which made me have to stay up to finish the book, just to make sure I wouldn't have nightmares.
Annaleigh as a main character was fantastic. I could follow her line of thinking, her emotions were mild to others, but as we didn't much time in her head, you could learn and grow with her as those emotions became increasingly important to share and show.
The happily ever after was woven in beautifully and did not even remotely feel like a deus ex machina, even if it maybe was just a little bit.</spoiler haunting>
Despite having a lot of things I didn't enjoy (just in mood), it was expertly written and I really did like it in spite of myself, and it will definitely be a book I remember. I look forward to more!
Boy, I could not have been more off-base.
From scene one, this book was sad, then a little scary, then maddening, then frightening, before reaching the happily ever after epilogue (after a fashion).
The retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses was absolutely expert. There were details woven in that I recalled from the original fairy tale and made my heart happy, which is why it was so incredible the author was able to work in such darkness. There are horror movie tropes which made me have to stay up to finish the book, just to make sure I wouldn't have nightmares.
Annaleigh as a main character was fantastic. I could follow her line of thinking, her emotions were mild to others, but as we didn't much time in her head, you could learn and grow with her as those emotions became increasingly important to share and show.
Despite having a lot of things I didn't enjoy (just in mood), it was expertly written and I really did like it in spite of myself, and it will definitely be a book I remember. I look forward to more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Alcoholism, and Gore
sunday_evening's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Abandon all hope of a good book at the halfway point. That’s when things get deranged. This book is like if the author watched Rosemary’s Baby and marathoned through every original Grimm fairytale at the same time. Truly unhinged.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Child death
Moderate: Suicide
csmall73's review
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I understand she was loosing her mind throughout but that was little bit more of a mental trip and horror. What’s reality?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Gore
ahaugen23's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It is dark - I mean you can probably tell from “sorrows” in the title that it will be sad, but it also gets kinda gross and def needs a TW for sexual assault. The world is great, and the mystery is well crafted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Grief, and Vomit
Moderate: Rape
callmesword's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
House of Salt and Sorrows started strong, and then it went downhill to the point the ending and explanation fell flat and felt bland. Specially the explanations for the sisters' deaths.
The eerie, twisted atmosphere presented at certain moments (for example, with annaleigh's and verity's visions) was immaculate. The characterization of each sister and how easy it was to differentiate them from each other (even the ones who were already dead) as well.
Unfortunately, the romance, I did not even know the book would include, was extremely rushed and unnecessary. Did not apport anything to the story. Personally, I would have liked more of a consequence to annaleigh, and by that I mean I was rooting for her to die (sorry!).
To sum up, it felt all the darkness was diluted. I had different hopes, I suppose.
In an additional final note, why are all fantasy books terribly straight?
The eerie, twisted atmosphere presented at certain moments (for example, with annaleigh's and verity's visions) was immaculate. The characterization of each sister and how easy it was to differentiate them from each other (even the ones who were already dead) as well.
Unfortunately, the romance, I did not even know the book would include, was extremely rushed and unnecessary. Did not apport anything to the story. Personally, I would have liked more of a consequence to annaleigh, and by that I mean I was rooting for her to die (sorry!).
To sum up, it felt all the darkness was diluted. I had different hopes, I suppose.
In an additional final note, why are all fantasy books terribly straight?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Stalking and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury
readingwithjo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Miscarriage and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
eve_reads's review against another edition
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
⁕ The dark fantasy elements of this novel were top notch and surprisingly intense for a YA novel. Craig does not shy away from the more sickening details of death, rot, and ghosts, even though the main characters through which we experience these things are literal children.
⁕ The slow burn romance honestly made me feel stupid giddy. I read this book months ago and I still remember the toe-tingling delight I felt when *the kiss* FINALLY happened.
⁕ I didn't very much care for the characters as individuals (I felt that they were one-dimensional and stereotypical), but I loved their relationships and arguments as siblings. The jealousy and love between them were very well-written.
⁕ SPOILER: Portions of the plot felt haphazardly thrown together. We spend the entirety of the book trying to solve which friend or family member killed Annaleigh's sisters, only to find that it was largely the work of an evil demon that we didn't even know existed until the last few chapters? Also, the main love interest has magical powers and is related to royalty but doesn't use these attributes to help solve the mystery? Okay....
⁕ The slow burn romance honestly made me feel stupid giddy. I read this book months ago and I still remember the toe-tingling delight I felt when *the kiss* FINALLY happened.
⁕ I didn't very much care for the characters as individuals (I felt that they were one-dimensional and stereotypical), but I loved their relationships and arguments as siblings. The jealousy and love between them were very well-written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Child death, Gore, Suicide, Pregnancy, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
karelidz's review
DNF chapter 10.
There's nothing wrong with it, I actually think the story is pretty immersive. It's more of a me problem because knowing me and my brain, my brain will start making stories out of it and make me scared on it's own. Funny thing is, I was looking for something a bit spooky or october-y, but I can't really deal with ghosts stories for the sake of my sanity, so i'll just leave it there.
There's nothing wrong with it, I actually think the story is pretty immersive. It's more of a me problem because knowing me and my brain, my brain will start making stories out of it and make me scared on it's own. Funny thing is, I was looking for something a bit spooky or october-y, but I can't really deal with ghosts stories for the sake of my sanity, so i'll just leave it there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Blood, Child death, and Gore
Retellings, ghosts, twelve dancing princessesbskell'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
hannahs_library__'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
So uh... this book gave me a nightmare... but like pop off 4 stars!
House of Salt and Sorrows is a dark retelling of the 12 dancing princesses story and when I say dark, I mean DARK. I was not prepared for how spooky it was. For a stand alone fantasy this was great. The writing was beautiful and the romance subplot was so perfect too. I teared up at the end
House of Salt and Sorrows is a dark retelling of the 12 dancing princesses story and when I say dark, I mean DARK. I was not prepared for how spooky it was. For a stand alone fantasy this was great. The writing was beautiful and the romance subplot was so perfect too. I teared up at the end
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, and Violence
Moderate: Child death