Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

19 reviews

anielabooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

This book was such a rollercoaster for me. I came in with little knowledge of horror books and only the Barbie’s version of a 12 dancing princesses under my belt. Thankfully, the horror wasn’t very intense. I was so invested in the story the entire time and was very satisfied with the ending. I also loved the romance aspect of the book as I found myself falling in love at the same time as Annaleigh. I honestly did not predict the ending, which I liked. I particularly loved the motif of the sea turtles throughout the book; it really made the last few chapters that much more heart-wrenching. I’m so glad one of my followers recommended this book to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Death, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Child death, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gore, Pregnancy, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic friendship and Sexual content

nutmegandpumpkin's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

It took me a while to get into (it only started really picking up for me around pg 123). But once I did get into it, I really did enjoy it. 
At first it was hard to keep track of all the names because there were 12 sisters plus more characters (though four of the sisters are dead from the beginning). Although I liked having a large cast of characters, it was a bit confusing for a while. 
There were also some cliché romance moments and a bit of instalove which isn’t my favorite but didn’t ruin the whole thing.
It felt like it was trying to be a little too much all at once: a psychological thriller, horror, fairy tale retelling, fantasy, romance, family drama, mystery. I think this might be why it felt a little all over the place and rushed in some areas.
HOWEVER, I really just loved the ~vibes~ of the whole book and I did NOT expect it to get so dark and unsettling but I enjoyed that (despite it being a shock). I had also totally thought I guessed the twists but BOY was I WRONG lol. 
The description was lovely and the tension, suspense, and mystery definitely kept me intrigued.

would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Murder and Self harm

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Vomit

onthesamepage's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

The Thaumas family is cursed. Everyone says so. What else could explain the sudden deaths of four of the twelve daughters? But the last death feels suspicious to Annaleigh, and she's determined to find out if her sisters were murdered.

This is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and it is pretty dark. The author's writing is very atmospheric, and I was easily sucked into the story. Thinking back on it, the pacing was probably a bit slower than it needed to be, but I barely noticed. I was invested and creeped out and curious to see how everything would play out.

That said, this book is not without flaws. The explanation at the end throws several incidents that happen earlier on into question, because in hindsight, they don't make much sense.

Why did we have a love triangle at all when Fisher was never real? What was Kosamaras's purpose in doing that?

There's also no way to really guess at the outcome; the foreshadowing is much to sparse for that, and I do think that's a drawback. 

There's some really weird characterization of the father, and his personality seems to undergo a radical change out of nowhere. It mostly felt like a way to move the plot along. The main romance is also very insta-love. The world isn't explained much either--there are apparently deities, and they walk among humans at least part of the time, but we don't get much more information about them or about how religion and magic work in this world. Last but not least, the ending wraps up a bit too nicely and definitely makes the book lose a bit of impact.

I really enjoyed the writing however, and I appreciate this type of horror, so I'll definitely pick up more by the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, and Pregnancy

zoepagereader's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was a wild time, and not in a good way. An author has to know when there are too many plot points in a book and I’m sorry, but a Twelve Dancing Princesses murder mystery retelling set in a newly created fictional world with many murders and ghosts as well as new gods and a (maybe) love triangle with a Monday’s Not Coming styled semi-twist at the end is too much. Way too much. 2.75⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Cursing

econcomics's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

Really good, but really sad and emotional book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

knhend's review

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

This is not your mama’s ‘Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses’. Craig seamlessly weaves a beloved fairytale with mythology. Though the characters could be one sided at times, it was truly an unputdownable tale. It was delightfully creepy, with just enough twists and turns. Some of the plot twists were easy to guess, others not so much. I do wish we had spent more time at the balls, and with her other book ‘Small Favors’, I felt the ending was rushed, but neither of these points ruined the integrity of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Child death

Minor: Vomit and Blood

Though death is heavily mentioned, said deaths never are described in explicit detail.

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

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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

valyn_grebe's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved this book so much.  It was a wonderful mix of The Twelve Dancing Princess and murder mysteries.  Granted the book is a little slow in the beginning but if you continue to read it, you won’t regret it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Vomit