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sydneykaye's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
horror retelling of the "Twelve Dancing Princesses"
hey_hail's review against another edition
5.0
i don’t know why i put this one off for so long, it was fantastic.....
except i picked the...reason for the curse out mid chapter one so.
except i picked the...reason for the curse out mid chapter one so.
nishana's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
house of salt and sorrows starts off strong as an eerie retelling of the twelve dancing princesses. it utilises elements of mystery and horror to create an atmospheric novel that fully immerses itself as a dark fairytale.
my main frustration of this novel lies with the mystery reveal. it was set up well initially, and i felt heavily compelled by the question of "who is killing these sisters?". there were a few obvious suspects and i was intrigued by where these threads would lead.
but near the last third or so of the novel, the story begins to resolve the mystery by introducing... something completely new? no foreshadowing or hints to this, at least as far i had noticed. and what frustrated me the most was that this absolutely could have been an interesting direction to take the story, if only the author had planted the seeds earlier on.
aside from that, the romance was also a bit bland. i feel like cassius could have been significantly more developed as a character, as he felt very cardboard-cutout, with a basic personality and very few flaws and backstory.
but despite these criticism, i genuinely did enjoy reading this, for the most part. annaleigh and her sisters were interesting to read about, as was also morella and her role in this story. it was a pleasant read and i look forward to reading the sequel.
my main frustration of this novel lies with the mystery reveal. it was set up well initially, and i felt heavily compelled by the question of "who is killing these sisters?". there were a few obvious suspects and i was intrigued by where these threads would lead.
but near the last third or so of the novel, the story begins to resolve the mystery by introducing... something completely new? no foreshadowing or hints to this, at least as far i had noticed. and what frustrated me the most was that this absolutely could have been an interesting direction to take the story, if only the author had planted the seeds earlier on.
aside from that, the romance was also a bit bland. i feel like cassius could have been significantly more developed as a character, as he felt very cardboard-cutout, with a basic personality and very few flaws and backstory.
but despite these criticism, i genuinely did enjoy reading this, for the most part. annaleigh and her sisters were interesting to read about, as was also morella and her role in this story. it was a pleasant read and i look forward to reading the sequel.
hoopsarusal's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
callistag1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Vomit
Minor: Sexism and Infidelity
elfbread's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I really enjoyed the horror aspects of this book and found that to be a new, interesting twist in a YA novel.
The reasoning behind my three star rating is largely the characters. I didn’t find Annaleigh to be particularly well developed and thought she was very plain and boring. Her relationship with Cassius was also not believable. I did not feel that their relationship was realistic and I wasn’t into it.
A different read, and I think the horror and gore was an interesting addition. I’d like to read more YA books that go that direction.
The reasoning behind my three star rating is largely the characters. I didn’t find Annaleigh to be particularly well developed and thought she was very plain and boring. Her relationship with Cassius was also not believable. I did not feel that their relationship was realistic and I wasn’t into it.
A different read, and I think the horror and gore was an interesting addition. I’d like to read more YA books that go that direction.
jessicaoc18's review
4.0
one word to describe my experience while reading: haunting.
this book actually disgusted me at times (in a good way
this book actually disgusted me at times (in a good way
rawrsammeh's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
steffski's review
4.0
3.75 rounded up. Really good in the beginning with a slam packed ending that felt a little rushed. But definitely a good gothic ya fantasy read!