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A review by dariadanley
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
4.0
As much as I adored this book, there were a few problems.
This is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm Twelve Dancing Princess and it was wonderful. The whole story had a dark and eerie tone to it, and it was slow burning. There is darkness, there is possession, and fantasy thrown in? That's where things get a little jumbled.
First, I absolutely adored when this book was dark, eerie, and kept me guessing. But then gods and fantasy was thrown in? And a half god love interest? It was very random. I think this book would have been better with just the demons, possession, and nightmares to make it more horror rather than throw fantasy in randomly just to make it fantasy.
My next problem is the love interest. I love Cassius and the way he treats Annaleigh, but I thought it was very random to throw in his heritage. It was almost like it was a way just to tie him to the demon and be part of the solution. If the fantasy element was going to be put in, I wish it would have been explored more instead of just "hey I'm half god, don't question it or my father and let's get back to the story."
I know that the twist at the end had something to do with the stepmother, but the relationship between Annaleigh and Morella was actually something I really liked in this book. Many many times throughout young adult fiction especially is that the step-parents are almost the villain or portrayed as an evil force against the protagonist. I love how (even though Morella turned out to be the one who summoned the demon) Annaleigh wanted to forge a healthy friendship with her stepmother rather than see her as an evil force that destroyed the family. It is something really healthy that I think needs to be shown more in YA fiction.
With a few tweaks, this book would easily be on my favorites list! I can't wait to see what this author produces next.
This is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm Twelve Dancing Princess and it was wonderful. The whole story had a dark and eerie tone to it, and it was slow burning. There is darkness, there is possession, and fantasy thrown in? That's where things get a little jumbled.
First, I absolutely adored when this book was dark, eerie, and kept me guessing. But then gods and fantasy was thrown in? And a half god love interest? It was very random. I think this book would have been better with just the demons, possession, and nightmares to make it more horror rather than throw fantasy in randomly just to make it fantasy.
My next problem is the love interest. I love Cassius and the way he treats Annaleigh, but I thought it was very random to throw in his heritage. It was almost like it was a way just to tie him to the demon and be part of the solution. If the fantasy element was going to be put in, I wish it would have been explored more instead of just "hey I'm half god, don't question it or my father and let's get back to the story."
I know that the twist at the end had something to do with the stepmother, but the relationship between Annaleigh and Morella was actually something I really liked in this book. Many many times throughout young adult fiction especially is that the step-parents are almost the villain or portrayed as an evil force against the protagonist. I love how (even though Morella turned out to be the one who summoned the demon) Annaleigh wanted to forge a healthy friendship with her stepmother rather than see her as an evil force that destroyed the family. It is something really healthy that I think needs to be shown more in YA fiction.
With a few tweaks, this book would easily be on my favorites list! I can't wait to see what this author produces next.