House of Salt & Sorrows! (review)

Title: House of salt and sorrows.

Author: Erin A Craig.

Format: Hardcover from library.

Publisher: Delacorte Press.

Page count: 400.

Release day: August 6^th 2019.

Genre: YA, fantasy, retelling.

Rating: 4 stars.

What is it about? (Summary from GoodReads)

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.

My thoughts:

My main reason for loving this book was the writing! I absolutely fell in love with Craig’s writing style, and I now want to read everything she writes! Another thing I absolutely loved was the atmosphere! It reminded me a little bit of the atmosphere in The wicked deep! (note: reminded, it was not the same!)

This book is a retelling of ‘The 12 dancing Princesses’, which is a story I haven’t read, and tbh haven’t heard about. So I’m unable to say how similar the stories are. But there are 12 daughters, and dancing is quite a big topic, if that says anything!

But back to the atmosphere, this atmosphere is created by the ‘curse’ that this family might be suffering from. The fourth sisters dies in the beginning of this book, and throughout this whole story this curse keeps being talked about and you keep wondering if it is true or not, just like our main character Annaleigh. There was also a little bit of magic, which really added to the atmosphere and made this book complete!

Annaleigh knows for sure that there is no curse and she is trying to proof it. But every time we think she is getting somewhere, something weird happens again. I really liked reading from Annaleigh’s perspective, she was quite naïve and quite relatable in my opinion!

I really liked figuring out what this ‘curse’ was, I do have to admit I did start guessing the answer already halfway through the book, but I kept thinking ‘no that can’t be true because this and this’. But in the end I was right, and it was explained, but there were some things that still surprised me! But me guessing it is the reason for taking a star!

You shouldn’t read this book expecting a lot of action, it is more of an atmospheric read! I definitely recommend it, already because of the writing!

I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!

Have you read this book? What did you think?