Thoughts on : House of Salt & Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

Posted by Kay on October 25, 2019 11:07 am in 3.5 stars reads | 2 comments

House of Salt & Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Genre : YA, Fantasy
Stand Alone

About the Book  :

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

 

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

 

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

 

When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next. 

The days are getting shorter and only a short week stands between us and Halloween. This is the perfect time of the year to read creepy, atmospheric and mysterious stories, and if that’s what you’re looking for, House of Salt & Sorrows might be for you.

First of all, I want to say that overall, I quite enjoyed this book. I loved the world, Annaleigh was a great character and I thought the atmosphere was on point. I personally like slow-paced books, so I felt things were moving along pleasantly slowly, and when things took a creepier turn, I absolutely enjoyed it. Many horror scenes felt cinematic, and truth be told it was more frightening than I expected it to be (a good thing!)

I also loved how the author played with fiction and reality. While some elements of the story were predictable, the way she weaved the tale had me constantly questioning myself and what I knew, wondering what was true and what wasn’t. 

However, I never was completely hooked. I liked it, but it took me almost 3 weeks to get through it because I didn’t always feel compelled to pick up the book. I think that’s because the book is a bit overly ambitious, in that it mixes a ton of genres and tropes within only a short amount of pages. There’s elements of horror, mystery, fantasy, romance and retelling, but with everything that’s going on it feels as though we never get to explore any of these fully or to completely know the characters. The mystery feels shallow, as does the romance. The world the author created was super interesting, but I felt as though we barely scratched the surface of it.

I also really disliked the epilogue; I can’t explain why without spoiling the story, but I prefer to imagine the story ended just before!

All in all, House of Salt & Sorrows was an atmospheric tale of fantasy and horror, and an interesting take on The Twelve Dancing Princesses. It was flawed, and didn’t quite hit the high notes I was hoping for, but it gave me a bit of that spooky atmosphere I always enjoyed in the fall. I’d be curious to see what the author will write next!