House of Salt and Sorrows

I love original fairy tales. They are so dark and disturbing. I love that people long ago accepted them as perfectly normal, as if eyes plucked out or bloody feet were the least upsetting part of life back then. I also appreciate the trend of fairy tale retellings. In many ways, I imagine changing a well-known story to make it your own requires a very different set of writing skills than writing an original novel. Erin A. Craig's adaptation of the twelve dancing princesses tale is an excellent example of the skill necessary to take a simple story and flesh it out to become grander than it was.

House of Salt and Sorrows is deliciously macabre and twisty. From the start, you know that Ms. Craig has no issues with darkness. The story opens show more with the family burying yet another family member, having lost one per year for the last five years. Of the twelve daughters, only eight are still alive. Everyone in their sphere believes the family is cursed, and the girls find themselves with no friends and few prospects.

What Ms. Craig does well in House of Salt and Sorrows is create a story wherein you begin to doubt everything you read. Something is causing the run of bad luck in Highmoor Manor, but you don't get answers until the end. Even those answers leave you questioning certain scenes because they play so well into Annaleigh's growing paranoia. The "did she or didn't she" element of the story is creepy, insidious, and masterful.

Of course, House of Salt and Sorrows wouldn't be a fairy tale without a romance subplot. I didn't mind this subplot because it remains firmly secondary to the main plot. There is a bit of instant-love, one of my least favorite tropes, but I look at the romance as a much-needed break from all the horror that occurs. Annaleigh needs a respite and something to give her hope and a reason to keep asking the necessary questions. When considering that viewpoint, the instant-love subplot is not so annoying but rather a necessary evil that does no harm.

House of Salt and Sorrows is not a Disney fairy tale. There is plenty of death, both in the past and viewed directly by the characters, to make squeamish readers uncomfortable. Ms. Craig also includes gods, demons, and one of the most disturbing birthing scenes I've read. All of the horror elements are spectacular.

The sequel to House of Salt and Sorrows releases next month, and I will be reading it with the hope that it is every bit as creepy and dark as the original story. It has big shoes to fill because House of Salt and Sorrows checks all the boxes for gothic horror. Let's hope this sister story does as well! show less

This was so. good.
Dark, disgusting, creepy, murderous, horrifying, atmospheric, delicious, irresistible. The sense of place was exquisite, and the interpretation of the fairytale was wonderful. I stayed up wayyyyy too late to read this (and then regretted it because it is *very* creepy. beware the maggots!).

The main reason it wasn't a five-star read for me was that Cassius was annoying and his big reveal/plot twist was very predictable. And the ending was...odd. If she was dreaming/hallucinating that needed to be more clear, and if she *wasn't*, the ending completely ruins the impact of the story in my opinion. I think it would have been so much more interesting if it was hinted that she had hallucinated the whole thing or something. show more Not all books need happy endings!! Oh, and I thought that the worldbuilding was a bit thin. show less

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley and Delacorte in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Wow.

Wow, wow, wow.

This book was so so good.

I have to admit – I had pretty low expectations fro House of Salt and Sorrows. There’s been a lot of YA retellings out there in recent years that start with a promise of an original story in a rich world, then turn around and say, “actually no i made a romance is it not magnificent.” To all those books, I say no. It’s not magnificent – I want promised a retelling and you have failed me.

House of Salt and Sorrows, you have not failed me.

This book is a retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ Twelve Dancing show more Princesses. While I’ve read this fairytale, it has been a WHILE so I remembered very little of it. Therefore, if there were hinted twists and turns toward the ultimate ending, I was not expecting them. Our protagonist, Annaleigh, is one of the middle daughters of twelve. She is, as it is put in the book, the one with the “softest heart”. Annaleigh is a good person and it’s easy to love her. You feel her sorrows and her fear, and that makes the book come alive.

Erin Craig had the challenge of coming up with eight different girls who felt different enough to be their own people, but similar enough to be sisters. She did a fantastic job. I had mixed feeling on Camille, whom I didn’t always like but who I could respect in some ways. The triplets and the Graces were delightful and written with really good balance to be minor characters you still cared about, but didn’t need to see more of. Verity is a precious smol child and needs to be loved and protected at all costs. If it was just the sisters, it would have been wonderful character writing, but she did a great job with the parents and Fisher and Cassius and just… everyone?

And guys? I don’t often find myself rooting for the love story, but I was here. I won’t give away because it’s a fun subplot, but I really really enjoyed it and there’s a part at the end that broke my heart a little (a lot). Also the VERY VERY end was super cheesy and I loved it so I don’t even care.

Now let’s talk about the dark and creepy. AGAIN, I don’t want to give stuff away, but Erin hit the creepy vibes perfectly. Beyond being just a retelling, she managed to make House of Salt and Sorrows a psychological thriller, a ghost story, a fantasy, a love story. Is there anything this woman cannot write? She had me going with the psychological thriller bits and the ghost story moments were brilliant. I feel completely powerless here to impart my enthusiasm about the atmosphere and aesthetics and the little ways the plot twisted and turned. I need you to just trust me when I say, it was absolutely glorious.

I am so entirely impressed with this book. While I think it ended just fine and everything is tied up really nicely, I find myself a little disappointed there’s no chance for a sequel, because I loved the cold, salty winter and the sparkling gowns and grotesque drawings and the wonderful characters. This one will be ripe for a reread this fall, and I’m looking forward to it. show less

This dark and twisty re-telling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale was a lot of fun to read. The narrator, Annaleigh, lives with her sisters on a remote island. Their manor, Highmoor, is in the midst of the sea and their religion is rooted in the world of salt and waves where they live. The descriptions were vivid and what starts with visions of beautiful balls and elaborate gowns quickly descends into a ghost story of sorts with gods and goddesses and a creeping madness. The plotting gets a little tangled towards the end, but I still loved the shadowy world.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is my second favorite fairy tale (second only to East of the Sun, West of the Moon) and so of course I wanted to read this retelling of it. And I mostly enjoyed it. However, I think this story would have been stronger without the need to stick to the fairy tale elements (especially given how far we veer from the fairy tale in this story... for starters, the dancing doesn't even start until after 4 of the 12 girls (who aren't princesses—they're the daughter of a duke) are dead). The strongest aspects of this book were the setting and the relationships between Annaleigh, Verity, and Camille. But most of all I really loved the way the sea felt present throughout this book.

The last third of this book really show more picked up the pace, but also threw cohesiveness out the window. Without going too far into spoiler territory, I was left at the end of the book not knowing exactly what was real and what was not, or who had been murdered and who died of natural causes, and honestly not caring all that much. I was a very quick end of the book (I read the last 50% in one sitting) but I think it's the opening few chapters and the description of the manor and customs that are more likely to stick with me. show less

I'm so sad that I have to DNF this at only 13% - some of my friends really loved this one and I was really looking forward to it.

The first few pages were good - eerie, creepy waterfront atmosphere, 4 dead sisters, mourning their loss, cool sea-related mystery religion.

If only the author hadn't made their father a duke, because that's when I first thought "huh?". Because even though he's supposed to be the duke ruling over these islands and governing them, nobody actually treats him (nor his family) like that. He's just some anonymous, moderately wealthy guy (who worries if he can afford 9 pairs of shoes). His daughters are called "Miss". Dockworkers treat them with annoyance and contempt, trying to shoo them away when they have a show more question. When the heroine meets the hero and he appears to be somewhat familiar with her family name, she wonders "oh, perhaps he's acquainted with Papa!". Duh, your father rules over this land, governs it and owns almost all of it (this is a feudal society, after all). Of course, the *only* way one of *his subjects* might know the Duke's name is because he's a personal acquaintance!

I don't mean that titles of peerage must necessarily mean a lot in fantasy realms, but here, there's clearly still a king, still a feudal government, a dukedom to inherit and govern, very British dishes are served. Even a Scottish city (Selkirk) is mentioned by name (but moved to an island, so I guess that was a mistake). And yet, the Duke doesn't even have servants who could be sent to summon someone (no, the heroine is sent instead, having to leave a half-eaten meal). It's just a very confused societal world-building in which monarchy and feudalism are incongruously mixed with flat hierarchies and everyone's-our-buddy/above us.

Everyone has their pet peeves. Sadly, incongruous world-building and societies that make no sense are mine.

In addition, the "romantic" hero is weirdly rude and dismissive, but at the same time grabby from the first moment, maybe it's supposed to be a neg, or a hot-cold treatment? I look down on you, but let me fondle your palm for a moment, no now I've turned around and walked off without good-bye, now I'm suddenly back grabbing your waist, to do you the very great honor of learning my first name... And, in case you didn't guess right away, of course smirking is involved.

And then all the sisters act very unnatural and get crazed out of their mind with glee over new baubles and clothes ONE DAY after their own sister's funeral.

How can this get so many raving reviews? This makes me want to remove all YA books from my TBR, because this was the one I actually had the highest expectations about. show less

A gorgeous retelling of the fairy tale of the Twelve Dancing Sisters with a definitely haunting, gothic feel. I am a sucker for WELL DONE retellings, and this one is truly unique and spooky and lush. I loved it so much and yet I'm having a difficult time putting it into words because I feel like I will just GUSH.

Craig has crafted a twisty, creative tale of family (and secrets), monsters, myth and magic, and her setting and descriptions are so vivid that I could practically see the story unfold in front of me (and it was all told in deep sea blues and greens and blacks in my mind). Her prose was gorgeous and flowing.

Annaleigh lives in a large manor with her father, stepmother, and many remaining sisters. (Because her older ones have all show more died mysteriously and accidentally.) Everyone believes her family is cursed. But - when another sister dies, she doesn't believe it was an accident and begins to search for what really happened.

And that is when things get really weird. And creepy. She does an amazing job of building tension in some of the darker parts of the plot. There is a lot of mythology woven into the tale, And the twists just keep coming and coming, and when I think I have a clue as to what is going on, Craig completely pulls the rug out from under my feet.

The characterization at times felt a bit unsteady - Annaleigh flopped between very suspicious to overly trusting; her father seemed very dependable until the party, and then his personality completely changed (blame it on the drinking?) There were a few sisters I felt like I couldn't tell you much about, possibly as they were referred to as "The Graces" more than their actual names. (This is what kept me from giving it five stars - I'm actually giving it 4-1/2 stars.)

I was a little confused and frustrated when Annaleigh's focus turned from her hunt to find out what really happened to her sister Eulalie to going to parties every night, but in the end, it added to the chaos and mystery and creepiness of what was happening, and even when I thought I had it figured out Craig had one more big twist to throw at me.

Overall, this book was just a big WOW for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of the book for review. show less