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A review by sarahscupofcoffee
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
4.0
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig is a haunting retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. With beautifully written, yet gruesome scenes lurking around every corner, it will be sure to satisfy any young adult horror itch you may have.
Annaleigh soon becomes the second-oldest when four of her sisters suffer tragic deaths. The Thaumas family becomes the subject of horrid rumors: they are cursed by the Gods and all of the Thaumas girls will suffer horrid deaths.
As the girls fall into a state of loneliness, as very few guests turn for their parties, they become desperate. The girls sneak out to balls each night in other places, places that have no idea who they are. They become intoxicated with the dancing and the elegance that they get to bask in.
When they are assaulted by visions, ghosts, monsters, and further tragedies, Annaleigh takes the reigns.
I was thrilled to acquire this book. I've heard so much about it on social media and figured it would be the perfect book to read during the last week of October. To begin with, the cover is gorgeous and I love books with raised titles.
The story inside is just as gorgeous, although I wouldn't call it a fairy tale. Many testimonials claim that it's like stepping into a fairy tale. It's gruesome, detailed, and intense. It's magical, but in a dark way. There are twisted scenes and Craig explores some heavy topics.
I don't like gore. I can't handle scary movies with guts and blood spewing out of orifices. If this type of thing bugs you, too... be aware that you're going to be cringing and making embarrassing faces while reading this book. There are many times when I muttered, "Hot Damn," to myself. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, though! I actually liked that about the book, even though it's not my cup of tea.
The plot was amazing. Twists. Turns. Expected endings turn into unexpected ones. Better yet, it was believable! There are some supernatural and otherworldly things that happen in this book. Think gods and ghosts, but you're right there in the thick of it with the characters. You don't question it while you're reading it.
I did, however, have a problem with one aspect of the book, which is why it's not a five-star-novel, in my opinion. I won't get too spoilery here, but one of the characters is a god. I don't believe this character should be. In my opinion, that specific choice was cliched and made the plot tie up too neatly; like, Craig only made this character a god to make plotting easier on herself. It may sound harsh and feel free to disagree with me, as always!
Generally, I loved this book! I would read it again because the characters were beautifully created (with one exception - although, I love this character's arc!) and the world was easy to picture. She did a great job with her debut novel and I am anxiously awaiting her next book.
As a bonus, I decided to read The Twelve Dancing Princesses by The Grimm Brothers. I wanted to see where the inspiration came from. I remember watching The Barbie version when I was little, but I figured the original would be different.
There are quite a few similarities between the two stories, but they're more like shout-outs. The stories are very different from each other. If you'd like to read the original story, click here! There's even an audio version (8 whole minutes long!).
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig was published by Delacorte on August 6th 2019.
Erin A. Craig is a young adult author, publishing House of Salt and Sorrows as her debut title. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Design and Production. Craig served as a behind the scenes wizard in many spooky productions and wanted to continue the genre, converting her passion from theatrics to ink.