Reviews tagging 'Grief'

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

109 reviews

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Body horror, Miscarriage, Gore, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Stalking

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse

genie_213's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Miscarriage, and Child death

weyrdkat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Child death, Pregnancy, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

girrllie's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Very good read but be prepared for child death. I didn’t realize this is a horror book for awhile, usually not something I like to read. But it’s horror light, an interesting story, and good writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Blood, and Body horror

magdapuczynska's review

dark 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

3.0

The author is really good at creating mood and interesting worldbuilding and concepts. What she is not good at, however, is writing convincing romance and whodunnit murder mysteries - which is what the book was supposed to be. The foreshadowing is done in a very hasty manner and is resolved almost immediately. The main love interest has no personality whatsoever, he could've been a talking parrot and we would never know. The 6-year-old talks like a retired philosophy professor. And the ending feels like not even the author herself expected it when she sat down to write that day. I loved the textures, colors and the overall mood of the story. The concept was great as well and I was very excited for it. The execution, however, left me very disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, and Grief

moendchen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.0

The idea was better than the execution. 
Leaned more into fantasy than supernatural. Truly a pity

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, Murder, Death, Blood, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

winterhartarts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Dementia, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexism

kotletka_polina's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

That was a pretty wild run. 
It was a bit slow in the beginning but as the story progressed it grew on me and the last 150 pages I read in one sitting. 
I think the world building lacked explanation so it was a little confusing. A huge part of the plot is a mystery and I believe the reader should also be able to guess the twist while reading; however I don’t think it’s possible to fully guess it here because of the confusing world building and lack of complete information.
But I liked this book a lot. It felt like fever dream in the best way possible and I fell in love with the love interest. The second half of the book was really intense and it was hard to put down the book. 
Not sure what to expect from the sequel. I’m excited but also kinda scared.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Miscarriage, Child death, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Blood and Vomit

martereadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Blood

meant2breading's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

“We are born of the Salt, we live by the Salt, and to the Salt we return.” 

Where do I even start? I very much liked this book. It’s fairytale like but freaky. 😆 

House of Salt and Sorrows is a retelling from the Brothers’ Grimm Twelve Dancing Princesses, but with many of its own unique details. This story ticked many boxes for me. If you choose to read this beautiful story, you can expect the following: 

1. Gothic Vibes, including a Dark and Mysterious Atmosphere
2. Greek Mythology and Fae Magical Elements
3. A Haunting Seaside Setting
4. A Few Dashes of YA Horror
5. A Sprinkle of Romance

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Death, Suicide, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death