House of Salt and Sorrows (Sisters of the Salt, #1)

by Erin A. Craig

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Get swept away by this “haunting” (Bustle) novel about twelve beautiful sisters living on an isolated island estate who begin to mysteriously die one by one.

"Step inside a fairy tale." —Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Caraval

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

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there 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 her sister's deaths were no accidents. The girls 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. House of Salt and Sorrows is a spellbinding novel filled with magic and the rustle of gossamer skirts down long, dark hallways. Be careful who you dance with...

And don't miss Erin A. Craig's newest novel, The Thirteenth Child, a haunting and romantic novel about the impossible choices we make in the name of love.

• ISBN10: 198483195X
• ISBN13: 9781984831958
• Publish Date: 4 August 2020 (first published 6 August 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781984831958

Reviews

[Danielle Ackley-McPhail]

Perhaps one of the most amazing and disturbing books I have ever read. In a good way. Quite a unique retelling of the classic fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I liked that it was a framework for a totally unique and intricately developed tale that only echoed the old tale. I loved the characters and the skillful way the author wove in doubt and madness into the plot without robbing the main character, Annaleigh, of her inherent strength.

Not only was the character development masterful, but the worldbuilding transformed the backdrop into a character all of its own.

You want to read this book...but keep the lights on.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!*~

Am I the only person who didn’t love this book? It has a 4+ star rating on GoodReads! I just don’t see how…I wanted to like it. I wanted to LOVE it! Come on, just look at that cover. It’s stunning. Sadly though, the cover was really the only thing I could 100% get behind with this book.

The Good

- The writing itself was quite good. I would read something else by this author without hesitation. It was just the actual plot and storyline I didn’t care for.
- As I’ve already said, the cover!
- The creep factor in the last half of the book really amped up and was extremely well done. I completely doubted the conclusions I had already drawn, haha! The author was great at dragging the reader right along into all the confusion and dream-in-a-dream confusion of reality along with the characters.

The Bad and the Ugly

- Our heroine, who is built up as this fearless, snarky, go-getter in the first few chapters of the book, takes one look – LITERALLY one look – at a handsome man and becomes a tongue-tied, bumbling, helpless girl. She’s had a sheltered life, has met very few men outside one of her family’s servant’s sons and her father, and all of a sudden she sees a stranger and completely falls for him. Really? This is 2019, I thought we were past this sort of ridiculousness.
- The first half of the book is almost all dancing and balls and fancy dresses and shoes. I wanted to stab my eyeballs out. How many descriptions of dancing shoes and ballgowns does one really need? Like nothing was happening except they were dancing. I get it, it’s a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses…but COME ON.
- The villain of the story was SO OBVIOUS and it was such a worn-out trope I wanted to fling the book across the room (except, I was reading on my iPad, so I couldn’t). Can stepmoms catch a freaking break already?
- At the very end, I actually thought the author was going to redeem the story by not wrapping everything up in a pretty little bow as far as the romance. BUT OH NO! There must be a romantic interest and there must be a pairing up or I guess it’s not a good YA story.

2.5/5 stars. If you’re a die-hard fan of retellings you might enjoy it more, also if you’re more of a love-at-first-sight person than I am. Otherwise I’ll have to recommend you skip it, but keep an eye out for other books by the author!

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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[Jo]

Trigger and content warnings under spoiler button because there are quite a few.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features sex, death, grief, funerals, discussion of suicide, descriptions of multiple dead bodies, murder, the idea of "madness" born of magic, pregnancy, birth, a stillborn baby, and mention of violence against women.

I'd not read a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm before, so when I heard about House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig, I was so excited to read it! But while I was captivated the story, and needed to know what was going on, I finished it feeling quite disappointing.

The Thaumus family are grieving. One by one, the four eldest sisters have died. There has been so much sadness, but for Annaleigh, the latest death of her sister Eulalie doesn't make sense. Her body was found at the bottom of a cliff, so everyone assumes she died by suicide, but Annaleigh is sure she wouldn't. She starts looking into Eulalie's life, the more certain she is that Eulalie wouldn't end her own life, and when she discovers a witness who says there was a shadowy figure on the top of the cliff when Eulalie fell, she's positive Eulalie was murdered. But the family has had enough of grieving; her father's new wife is pregnant, and they want to look forward, so will hear nothing of it when Annaleigh brings her discoveries to him. It's difficult to move forward when the people around you won't let you, though; with the first four eldest sisters dead, one after the other, the townsfolk start to question whether the family is cursed. Which makes it difficult for Annaleigh and her older sister Camille, who is set to inherit the estate as the eldest,  to find suitors. When the sisters hear rumours of a door Pontus, god of the seas who they worship, used to visit, a door that could take them anywhere in the world, it's decided to find it to try and find suitors elsewhere, who won't have heard the rumours of their curse. When the door is discovered, it takes the sisters to various locations where they dance at balls every night. But the dancing can't distract Annaleigh from what happened to her sister, and can't understand why her sisters keep going back, especially when the witness of Eulalie's death dies mysteriously. Annaleigh is determined to get to the bottom of what happened to her sister, whether anyone believes her or not.

So what annoyed me slightly first of all is that the description is misleading; Annaleigh doesn't discover her sisters are dancing every night - she's with them for the very first ball, and for most of the following balls. And the dancing element of the story is actually kind of small in relation to the larger element of the sisters' deaths, this idea of a curse, and the mystery surrounding Eulalie's death in particular. A fair amount of the book goes by before anyone is sneaking off to go dancing. Including the conversations with her youngest sister, Verity, who has drawn the deaths of each of their older sisters - despite the fact that she would have been too young to remember them, nor would have seen their bodies -  or their dead bodies around the house. According to Verity, their older sisters never left, and are still in the house. So you've got both of these elements; the mystery, the curse, the haunting, and the sisters who become obsessed with dancing each night.

House of Salt and Sorrow is written wonderfully, though. I was completely captivated by the story and by the language, desperate to know what was going on. My very first theory about who is behind everything was correct, but there are so many redherrings, I ended up doubting myself a number of times, and thinking it was someone else. Which made the why, and especially the how, very elusive. There is a romance that is, I feel, completely unnecessary. The mysterious sea captain (who isn't a sea captain, but a sea captain's son) is Cassius, and he almost completely distracts Annaleigh from trying to find out what happened to Eulalie, because he's just so handsome. There was a lot of eyerolling. The romance doesn't really add much to the story, and yes, Cassius is helpful in places, but I do think for the most part he wasn't needed and didn't need to be there. It felt a lot like instalove, and just didn't fit with the rest of the story. I didn't believe it.

The book gets more and more creepy and weird as it goes along, and I got to the point where I just didn't have any idea what was happening, but in a good way, because it's just going to be awesome when everything falls into place, right? But then we have the big reveal, and I was just so confused. Normally when you have a big reveal, my reaction is, "Oh my god, of course!" and I think back over the story and can see how X and Y and Z led to this reveal. But to be perfectly honest, there is no X, Y, or Z in House of Salt and Sorrows. There is no-way anyone would have a theory of what, exactly, is going on, because there are no clues. I mentioned earlier that the how was elusive, and it's because there is nothing pointing in it's direction at all. And so I think the worldbuilding just wasn't developed enough, because there are things we don't hear about - in any way, shape, or form - until the reveal. You could not guess, or predict, or have a theory, because you've not heard of them before, they're only introduced as you're being told what's been going on. A lot of things came out of nowhere. I do think a major part of enjoying stories with the mystery element is trying to work out what's going on, but we have no chance with this book, and I kind of feel cheated. It's all explained enough, because it makes sense - A exists, and this is what A is, so this is the the consequence of A - but it doesn't make sense because there was never any prior mention, not even a tiny mention, and I just wondered where it was all coming from. It just ruined the whole story for me, because I was just thinking the entire time, "What? Are you serious?"

And the ending was really disappointing. So disappointing. It was just so lacklustre, and ridiculous because of it. Even with the confusing, weird reveal, there was tension and action. This just felt really, really lazy. I'm sorry to say House of Salt and Sorrows really wasn't for me, but a number of people really enjoyed it, so read a few other reviews before deciding whether or not you'll read it.

[kalventure]

I’ve been trying to find the words necessary to write this review for almost two weeks, but words cannot express how much I loved House of Salt and Sorrows. This debut Gothic fantasy is masterfully crafted, hauntingly atmospheric, and full of magic and love. I devoured my eARC in one sitting and stayed up until 4am to finish reading it. I will be instantly buying any of Craig’s future books.

Craig’s writing is captivatingly descriptive without overburdening itself. Her descriptions are so vivid that I truly felt like I was watching a movie in my head while reading. The mood and Gothic atmosphere creep into her word choices, sweeping me away. Also: I want a pair (or twelve) of those fairy shoes. “We are born of the Salt, we live by the Salt, and to the Salt we return.”I was swept away immediately by this retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm. The worldbuilding is masterful. The book begins with a funeral, and three pages in I was fully immersed into the world that Craig crafted. You get a true sense of the beliefs and history of the characters without it ever feeling like an info-dump.

“Sickly-sweet incense still danced through the room but couldn’t quite block out the tang of salt. No matter where you were on the island, you could always taste the sea.”

The home feels so lived in and full of love despite all the heartbreak and loss the family’s endured. If you enjoy stories centered on sibling relationships, you will love House of Salt and Sorrows. The sisters and their relationship with one another gave me Little Women vibes in the best of ways. Their love for one another shines on the page, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t poke fun at one another or get annoyed.

“At least we’ll always have each other. Sisters and friends till the end. Promise me.”

There are a lot of characters but each of them feel distinct and as real as you or I. I felt strongly connected to Annaleigh and her sisters: Camille’s responsibility as heir and desire to find a partner, the Graces' excitement for their debut and the next chapter in their lives, Verity’s childlike wonder. I found myself loving them completely and anxious about their well-being while reading.

“The euphoria was tangible: I could taste it in the air, the sweetness coating my mouth and going straight to my head like champagne.”

I found the book to be equally driven by the characters and plot. I was simply mesmerized by the story and interested in what would happen next, but I was equally invested in the well-being of the characters. I found the pacing and build perfect, but it does take some time for the story to get to the nightly dancing. I was so invested in the characters and world that honestly, I would have read just a boring Day in the Life narrative and found it interesting.

“Flushed with starlight and moonlight drowned,
All the dreamers are castle-bound.
At midnight’s stroke, we will unwind,
Revealing fantasies soft or unkind.
Show me debauched nightmare or sunniest daydreams.
Come not as you are but as you wish to be seen.”

There are layers of complexity to the story: love and heartache for those they’ve lost, a desire to move on, the town’s fear of the curse, the nightly balls the girls attend. The tension (and sorrow) is absolutely palpable as the mystery unfolds, and honestly, it gets quite creepy! I was so immersed in the story and there are some truly nightmare fueling moments. If you aren’t a fan of hauntingly spooky stories, you might struggle a bit with some of the tale. I live for horror and creepy vibes, and was pleased with the number of ‘NOPE’ annotations that my eARC received from me while reading!

There is so much that I loved about this book, and I am sure that it will make my top reads of the year post. Stephanie Garber blurbed House of Salt and Sorrows saying “Step inside a fairy tale,” and that is the perfect description. In a way, the story bends genres because it fits both the Gothic fantasy and mystery bill, with a generous dose of magical realism. If you are a fan of atmospheric and magical fantasy driven by the characters (and sisterly love), I cannot recommend this book enough. Please, read it unless the idea of being a little scared doesn’t bring you joy.

CONTENT WARNINGS: death, hallucinations, loss of a loved one, suicide
REPRESENTATION: none

Many thanks to Delacorte Press for providing me with an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Quotations are from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon final publication.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of House of Salt and Sorrows through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

House of Salt and Sorrows is the debut novel of Erin A. Craig, but don’t let that reduce your expectations any. House of Salt and Sorrows is a deeply complex and emotional piece of work – one that’ll chill you to your bones.
House of Salt and Sorrows is a retelling – yet another in a huge list following this trend. But it stands out for me, turning itself into something wholly new and different. Here it follows the tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, though you might know it by another name (it goes by many).
This novel follows Annaleigh Thaumas, one of the Thaumas dozen. Well, one of the ones that are left, at least. If you believe the townsfolk, she and her sisters are cursed – though nobody quite knows why. Annaleigh is determined to find the cause of her sisters’ deaths, before she loses any more of the ones she loves. But what will she dig up in the process?
House of Salt and Sorrow blends young adult with fantasy, adding a dash of a thriller element for good measure. It’s a perfect balance of the three, and held my attention from start to finish.


Warnings:
Warnings: House of Salt and Sorrows lives up to its name. It has some heavier elements to the novel, including (but not limited to), mentions of suicide, infant death, graphic deaths, and body descriptions.
House of Salt and Sorrows was everything I had hoped it would be – and then so much more. I loved everything about this novel, even the parts that occasionally broke my heart. Annaleigh’s journey was beautifully written and so compelling. I simply couldn’t put the book down until I was finished.
With a title like House of Salt and Sorrows, you already know to expect it to be at least a little bit depressing. And this novel didn’t let me down on that account. But it was more than that as well. It was intricate and beautiful and mysterious, all in one.
The world in this novel was so detailed that it felt real. In fact, it almost felt historical, thanks to all of the details and the tone of the novel itself. It was the perfect setting for Annaleigh and her sisters. Speaking of, her sisters (while many) were all unique and clearly well thought out. They all fit together as a family unit – but more than that, they were all unique enough where they didn’t have to be considered ‘Annaleigh’s sister’ in order to fit into the plot.
I loved Annaleigh’s journey to find the truth of what happened to her sisters. Well, really it started with the focus on one sister. But over time, things changed. The truth was revealed or obfuscated at every twist and turn. It’s no wonder Anneleigh found herself so confused.
Erin A. Craig wove this mystery perfectly. It was not given away at the start, but she dropped enough hints and pieces along the way that when the final reveal was made, it made complete and total sense. I absolutely love that.
One thing I failed to mention earlier – there’s also a love story that occurs within these pages. It blended in well with the mystery and tension of the series. At times it gave relief, and at other times it added to the concern and stress of the tale. In short, it was perfect.
House of Salt and Sorrows was a brilliant read. One that made me sad to see it end. I’m truly looking forward to seeing what else Erin A. Craig comes out with. And I promise I’ll try to be patient waiting for news.


For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[tweetybugshouse]

A dark, twisted, creepy, ghost filled retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princess written originally by the Brothers Grimm. If you don’t know now let me tell you those original tales are not the fairy tales i grew up with. They are just as dark and creepy as this retelling. At times i was so entranced by what was occurring on the page that if a dog barked or some loud bang happened i totally shrieked or jumped out of my chair. I not a huge fan of creepy but sometimes i do like to be scared to the point that i just so caught up i lost what is reality and what is make believe just like our main character in this tale. She haunted by her dead sisters and barely realizes she got in a game hosted by Gods.

Their is a lot of stuff in this book that could be triggers for people, still birth, dead siblings, ghosts, murder it a very dark tale so be fore warned if your not into creepy this retelling is not for you. All of the story gets wrapped up in this on creepy book so your not left with any haunting cliff hangers or anything. Pick this up August 6, 2019 and enjoy then or savior it when Halloween comes creeping around the corner.

[bookishzelda]

House of Salt and Sorrow is one of those amazing books that you just can’t put down. A retelling of one(I have many) of my favorite Fairy Tales (Another one I would rewatch on Fairytale Theater) the Twelve Dancing Princesses. It takes the story and changes it up into something completely new and exciting.

The one thing I really really liked how about the story is how close the sisters are. They truly love and rely on each other. When we open the story we are at one of the twelve sisters funerals and as the story progresses you start to feel sad that you didn’t get to know the sisters that are missing. Due to the deaths though, the family is considered cursed and the girls find that they are feeling trapped. There is no one that is willing to even dance with them, let alone court them for fear that they will be cursed as well. So the girls decide to find their own way to have fun.

There is also some thriller/mystery parts of the book as well. Which leads me to do my best not to give the plot away because it is good. It keeps you wondering what exactly is going on and when all is revealed you kind of have that. Ahhh moment.

I love Annaleigh and her thirst for truth. She also kind, in the face of not wanting to be kind. Which is where we see a lot of her interactions with her father and her stepmother. It was interesting to see how much interaction we get from them. I also like how she isn’t so easily swayed and does not easily back down. She knows there is more to the story and she will find out. I also really enjoyed Cassius and her interactions with him.

So this book does have Gods. The most prominent in the girl's life is Pontus. He is the creator of the island and the island people. So with that they have a different culture than the mainland. One of the main things being the treatment of heirs and girls. Having twelve daughters was joyous for their father. He didn’t need a boy. There are other Gods and different parts of their world are considered those Gods/Godesses people which is all explained in the story.

I loved the writing style and the pacing. I felt both were perfect for this type of story. I could see how it might feel slower for others though.

I loved House of Salt and Sorrow and you should absolutely pick it up. Especially if you love retellings that use the framework but turn the story into something completely new.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight .

This was different than I expected- in a good way! I mean, to be fair, I never fully know what I am expecting because I rarely make sense, but that's okay. Fine, I thought it was about mermaids or something, shhh. (It isn't, by the by.) It is, however, about an upper-crust family consisting of a bunch of sisters (twelve in all but a whole bunch are dead) who live by the sea and are sure they are cursed. Which tbh, I feel, because how else do you explain all these deaths, goodness!

The sea setting is kind of awesome and atmospheric. To be fair, I could have used a little more worldbuilding, but that is because the worldbuilding we did get was interesting and I wanted to know more stuff! The family is incredibly tight knit, especially after all their losses. The sisters disagree on a lot of stuff, but they love each other so very fiercely. It is kind of how I imagine having sisters would work, really. You might get on each other's nerves, but you love the heck out of one another. That's how this group is, and obviously their terror of losing another one of them adds to both the tension and the love.

There's a mystery at the core of the story. What exactly is happening to the sisters? Is there a curse? Can it be stopped? And hey, what's with all the worn out dancing shoes, anyway? I'd do you a disservice by talking about any of it much more. You'll get an ending that satisfies your answers to all those questions and more. Promise.

Bottom Line: Atmospheric and full of familial love, House of Salt and Sorrows lives up to its name and then some.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

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 for 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 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.

[A Darker Shade of Rosie]

LOVED:
- Unreliable narrator who may possibly be descending into madness over the loss of her sisters? YES.
- Magical doorway that leads MC and sisters to faraway palaces where they dance the night away at extravagant balls? HECK YES.
- Family is possibly cursed? Gothic sea vibes? Spookiness?? Undeniably eerie, but beautiful and magical at the same time? JUST. YES. !!!
- Younger sister creepily draws gruesome portraits of her dead sisters... Handsome stranger and love interest might be a suspect.
- Just everything about this novel was fantastic! Can NOT wait to read more from this author!

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