NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Get swept away by this “haunting” (Bustle) YA novel about twelve beautiful sisters living on an isolated island estate who begin to mysteriously die one by one. This dark and atmospheric fairy tale inspired story is perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.
"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 Craig's Small Favors, a mesmerizing and chilling novel about dark wishes and even darker dreams.
I should preface this review by saying I, generally speaking, do not enjoy horror and only picked this book up because it was our October 2021 COYER YA Book Club pick. So the fact that I'm giving it 3 stars - meaning I actually finished it AND found parts of it enjoyable - says a lot. If you like horror, I expect you'd enjoy it a lot more than I did. In fact, I buddy read parts of it with both Stephanie and Lillian and I know they enjoyed it more.
Let me start with what worked for me: - The mystery side to the plot was well done. I had lots of guesses and while I circled the right answers, I was kept constantly guessing. - The characters were well-written and full. I really feel like I grew to know and care about the central characters - and there were quite a few of them! From the many sisters (7 still alive when the book starts, 12 total), the step-mom, the dad, the friend Fisher, and the love interest, I grew to have distinct feelings (not all positive) about all of them. So that was well done.
And what didn't work for me: - I'll just wrap all the horror into one bullet point. I just don't think I'll ever understand the appeal or the need to get so graphically gross, bloody, and just well, horrific. But if that's your thing this book has it. I will say, it didn't overwhelm the book. There were really decent lengths with no horror, which is why I made it through. - The setting in terms of time and location was really poorly defined and it really bugged me. It made understanding their world and what could/could not happen really hard to predict. I think that might have been part of the goal, to keep me on my toes, but I don't feel that providing a hard to understand world makes for a good mystery. While I knew we were in a sea-faring island, I couldn't tell what time period we were in and what sort of island it was meant to be for a quite some time It really impacted my reading of the book.
So, I think the best way to sum this book up is, if you like your mystery with a healthy helping of horror, you'll enjoy it quite a bit. I don't, so it was just okay.
Qualifies for COYER Fall Scavenger Hunt item #8 - Book for October COYER Book club.
