House of Salt and Sorrows (2019)

Once there were twelve. This book had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire thing. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen it drastically changed. This is by far the best book I have read in a long time. If you are looking for a new book to throw yourself into, this is the book for you!

The book starts out with a funeral, it’s dark, raining, and it's cold. This completely sets the scene and mood for the ENTIRE book. Just when you think things would get better, they only get more intense. The village people are called “The People of the Salt.” At the beginning of the book they are at the funeral for one reason only, to pay their respects. However they would like to stay as far away from the Thaumas family as they can. This is the Thaumas’s 4th funeral and each death of this family was just as tragic as the last. Death by the plague, a fall of a bookcase ladder, drowning in the bathtub, and a plummet off a slippery cliff. No one knows why this is all happening but it’s affecting everyone. These deaths are not just accidents though. There is something more going on, the village believes in a curse over the Thaumas family, the main character Annaleigh believes murder, her father and family are clueless and want to believe it has all just been a very unfortunate series of events.

Annaleigh and her sisters are all wondering and waiting who is going to be next. Who knows if it really is a series of unfortunate events? The village is convinced of a curse and refuses to go by them as if the Thaumas family is diseased. As each sister dies their horrible death the next sister has to step up to claim the throne when their father is ready to pass on the throne and none of them are prepared for it. They wanted to find a way out of their responsibilities, a way to let go. When they were on a treasure hunt they found a secret door in their garden which led them directly to a world they won’t ever forget. They found peace and excitement in their dancing, but where are they really going when they step through the door?

With this book advertised as a twelve dancing princess retelling I just knew I had to read it! Since I was little I was obsessed with all things princesses and Disney. I was super excited to read it when I heard that it was a little dark, as I am also into horror and mystery books. I knew there was going to be a plot twist but I never expected anything so thrilling and confusing at the exact same time. Read this book! That’s about as plain and simple as I can put it. This was a pretty quick read and didn’t take me long at all. It definitely was a little hard to get started in the beginning of the book because it was mainly background information but by chapter 5 it had me reeled in.

"When certain kinds of people get desperate enough, they're willing to do anything."

I always say when little kids start seeing ghost that's my cue to nope the heck outta there and never look back.

Fortunately, characters in movies and books don't feel the same way.

I definitely stayed up way too late to finish this book, but I regret nothing. ( )

It was fine. I wanted to love it but the "twist" was not interesting and the sisters mostly blurred together. I also sometimes wanted annaleigh to tell Camilla to just shut up already. ( )

I actually really enjoyed this book. I’m not usually a huge fan of fairy tale retellings but this one was extremely well written. I loved all of the characters, I loved the main characters inner turmoil and I really liked the romance and felt like it didn’t take too much away from the book.

The only issue that I had was the mystery. While I did enjoy all of the different possibilities there were, the real solution ended up being something that I couldn’t have possibly guessed on my own. In a way.

Either way, I really, really enjoyed this. ( )

So this should be read as a gothic novel. Not quite a true gothic romance as the romance takes backseat to a true mindf*ck of a plot. Lots of people die... or do they? Nothing is real and everything is real, madness and reality swirl together.
When I hit 65% in my audiobook, I was still not sure if I liked the book or not. That’s sort of odd, but eventually I realized it’s because the romance felt a bit forced and because it was much darker than I had expected. It could very easily have been an adult gothic, and as it stands it’s definitely an older YA.

Anyway, spooky and twisty, much murder, much danger. ( )