Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

50 reviews

buzby72's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0


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nightmarebees's review

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dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

this was a lot darker than i was expecting and i’m into it! if mike flanagan ever did a fairytale retelling, it would probably look similar to this.

i was actually more invested in the mystery and the gothic atmosphere than the romance. while cassius and annaleigh were cute and their scenes provided a respite from the tension around them, they did fall in love very fast and there wasn’t a lot to cassius as a character other than being the main love interest. that said, i’ve read way worse YA romances.  

the horror/gothic elements were pretty well executed, and several of the visions were genuinely unsettling. i was especially uncomfortable having one of the hallucinations topped off by accidentally walking in on your dad boning your stepmom, which is its own kind of horrific. the main mystery was well written, and though the reveal of the perpetrator was kind of predictable, it felt balanced by the fact that both she and the person she was trying to hurt were complex and not entirely “bad” people. still glad she died in the end. for justice. 

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caramelcopp's review

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dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75


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emilyreads15's review against another edition

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

5.0

Omg. I’m literally at a lost for words right now. This book was the weirdest and creepiest book I’ve ever read and I enjoyed it very much.

I randomly just decided to start this book one day, since I had recently gotten it in a giveaway and oh my gosh. I just didn’t expect this at all. Tbh it’s been so long since I read the synopsis, so I kinda just went in blind.

It was just the most interesting plot I’ve ever read. To start off the story is a creepy retelling of The Brother’s Grimm fairytale, ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses.’ We read the story from Annaleigh’s pov and she is the 6th born of the 12 girls. Since I’m not too familiar with the fairytale, I didn’t know what to expect so ofc I looked up the original and it was already crazy itself. But the author took this twisted story and twisted it even more. I had no clue this book had horror elements to I was so shook while reading it.

On top of this, the author is a phenomenal writer. Like the level of writing and planning it takes to write a book like this is insane. So I definitely applaud her on that. There were so many twists and turns and I just kept being surprised. While I had my suspicions, I truly didn’t know who to trust and at times I didn’t even trust Annaleigh even though I was reading from her perspective. This book truly took gaslighting to another level. 

Overall I really enjoyed this read! At times the world building lost me a little bit. Also because there were so many sisters, I sometimes lost track and often couldn’t remember what they were supposed to look like. Some of the characters also got on my nerves *cough* Camille and Morella 👀 *cough*. However, I still really loved the book and in the end I definitely recommend this read. It was truly unlike anything I’ve ever read before!

Read this book if you want some mysterious fantasy gothic vibes with a little bit of horror. 

I also recommend this book to anyone who loves Belladonna by Adalyn Grace.

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eviemayhem's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

This was a book I started unsure if I would like it or not. The premise is interesting: a different world, with different gods (some of which still interact with mortals), where 12 sisters are slowly dying one by one. By the time the book starts, the sisters are somewhat shellshocked and are just accepting that they're going to die one-by-one. Only Annaleigh seems to notice that something is just not right with the deaths.

The world-building is fantastic, and the author really drags you in to the torture the sisters are going through as they await to see who will be the next to die. There are so many twists and turns that at a certain point even the reader is unsure of what is real and what is not.  

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cpachet's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0


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braveprincess11's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It’s a solid horror retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. There was a lot going on, and a lot to keep track of, but it did its job well enough. It really picked up around the halfway point with
the death of Edgar.
That was exactly what I needed to get me hooked back into the plot, and from that point forward, it was really well paced. 

I was able to guess a couple of the twists as information was revealed (though I never got anything exactly correct), and the romance seemed unnecessary, but overall a fun time.

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sinaprst's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

THE VIBESSSSS.....I CAN'T 

also the birth scene was so disturbing, i nearly threw up


recommended reading ambience: https://youtu.be/LJqVftwOIDc?si=bUpnVHgr70JxgERQ

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mypatronusisajedi's review

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.5


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tays_books's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

2.5


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