“This house has always felt full of ghosts to me–not of spirits in white sheets and chains, nothing as cliched as all that–but of memories snatched away. Memories I’ll never be able to claim as mine.”

Flash Book Review: Atmosphere & Insta-Love

Verity is the youngest of the Thaumas sisters. After tragedy took so much of their family, her oldest sister, Camille, has kept her close at the Highmoor estate, but Verity longs for her own life to start. When she receives an invitation from the Duchess of Bloem to paint a portrait of her son, Alexander, Verity flees Highmoor without permission, afraid to see her life pass her by. She’s instantly charmed by the beauty of Bloem and its kind future duke, but there are dark secrets beneath the surface of Chauntilalie estate. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Random House/Delacorte Press. Trigger warnings: character death (on page), child/parent death, poisoning, fire, violence, severe injury, ableism (countered).

This has a lot in common with House of Salt and Sorrows, as in, it’s still recognizably Craig, an atmospheric mix of horror, fantasy, and mystery, with a strong dose of flawless romantic love interests. I think the difference for me came down in the kind of atmosphere. Whereas the first book had spooky ghosts and an ocean aesthetic, this one has lush gardens, plants, and mad science. I’m a ghost girl, not a flower girl, so it’s fairly easy to see why I didn’t really vibe with this, but that’s going to vary from reader to reader. After the initial chilling twist (which, having now read the description, I realize is not actually a twist), most of the ghosts turn out to be helpful rather than spooky.

The plot is a little slow-moving, and there are points where it seems like we’re floundering around in the same clues, all of which lead to a pretty obvious conclusion. I do enjoy Craig’s flowery (in this case literally) descriptions and the rich cultural fantasy worlds she creates without ever bogging us down in world-building details. I don’t find the People of the Petals as interesting as the People of the Salt, but again, that’s just a personal preference. Verity is a more naive heroine than Annaleigh, but they’re both ruled by their kindness. (In fact, I’m finding it a little difficult to tell Craig’s leading ladies apart, if we’re also including Small Favors.)

What really threatened the book for me is the romance. While I sometimes enjoy romance as a genre, I tend to not like it as well in my fantasy, and there’s just so much of it here. The two leads have an instant connection that’s very deep as well as sappy (I’m sorry, don’t mind my aro heart), and Verity’s instant devotion makes me want to shake her. Girl, you just met him five minutes ago, and you’ve barely even spoken to another man before this. While I appreciate a disabled love interest (Alex uses a wheelchair after a childhood accident left him paralyzed from the waist down), we’re practically beaten over the head with his goodness. Let the man have a flaw. The ending seems to be going for shock value more than logic, and while I didn’t love it, I’m interested to see how the consequences play out in the third book.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

Rating: 3 stars
While the first book held my interest, this sequel failed to captivate me. Despite its commendable eerie, Gothic atmosphere, the plot, romance, and pacing fell disappointingly flat.

I am giving this one four stars. I didn’t get to it in time to give a full review and I apologize for that

When I first picked up House of Roots and Ruin I didn't know it was a sequel. I had to go back and read book 1. There was a huge gap of time between the first book's release and this one. I absolutely loved Small Favors by Erin Craig so I was excited to read more from this author. This book is fantastic! House of Roots and Ruin is even better than House of Salt and Sorrows. The ending was mind-blowing! I can't wait for the next one to release. Thank you netgalley for an arc.

Overall, this novel is a masterpiece of gothic fiction that will leave readers captivated and enthralled.

Erin Craig continues to write creepy and terrifying quite well without stepping into graphic horror. This is a great continuation of this series.

I loved this book. Erin Craig truly knows how to create a spooky and twisty story. It was so fun going back into this world that was first introduced in House of Salt and Sorrows. You can’t help but become enthralled in the mystery of the story and the development of the characters.

I likes this one even better than the first one I'm the duology. I will be purchasing a physical copy and Erin is quickly becoming an autobuy author for me!

I loved the idea behind this novel, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. I love that Craig plays into Gothic tropes, and thought that was well done. I think my interest was waning on the main characters. I found the heroine immature and hard to relate to.

I didn't quite love this one as much as I fell in love with the first one... This one was just a bit harder to get into.


But let me just say Erin Craig will still be auto buy author for me. The writing was still just as great!
Don't get me wrong this book was good, I think I just had higher hopes because of how much I loved House of Salt and Sorrow!

Erin A. Craig sure knows how to write a damn book. I put this book down to go to sleep but I couldn't stop thinking about it and ending up waking up to read the rest of the whole darn thing in one night. The characterization and plot twists (that you get crumbs for! but are you smart enough to eat them?) I will read anything this author writes from now on and this book just solidified it.

I am not really one for horror or suspense but after reading House of Salt & Sorrow, I had to read House of Roots and Ruin.

In House of Salt & Sorrow, Craig's writing drew me in and it felt almost impossible to stop reading, even if I was scared and the same is true for this book. Craig writes so well that I am willing to be frightened.

A spellbinding sequel that also works well as a standalone.

A gothic fantasy, terrifying and intrigue filled, it kept me guessing until the very end. Not my typical read, there was definitely some spicy content, more than the things briefly mentioned in the previous book.

I was drawn in by the twisting plot, mysterious characters in a fantastical and haunting setting. So many surprises, and plot pivots. It kept me reading, but I'm not sure if I'll continue the series.

I received a complimentary ebook. Opinions are my own.

I loved HoSaS SO freaking muchhhhh! And then HoRaR was just not it for me :/ I DNF'ed at about 43% on this one unfortunately. The pacing was off, "nothing" really happened, and the central plot thread only got updated every fourth chapter. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

I love a book that feels slightly haunted and eerie, and I love, LOVE a book with a twisted ending. Even though I saw it coming, I'm so glad she went there!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was incredibly atmospheric but slow at first. I found the subject matter and content to be quite adult focused and would not recommend this for a YA Audience. Regardless of this, I quite enjoy Craig's flowery writing and gothic stories (as an adult) so I will keep reading Craig's books.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

I didn’t really love this one, but didn't hate it either.
Compared to the first book, it was a bit slower and took me much longer to get through. The storyline was interesting but not interesting enough to captivate me. I did like that it was set more into the future and we were able to see more of Verity's character and an insight on her development, but I honestly wish it involved more of her sisters and not just Verity. If you liked the first book definitely still give this one a go, it just definitely didn't live up to the first book.

This was good story. Not great, but good. I struggled a bit and I know this is a classic case of, “it’s not you, it’s me,” since everyone I know that read it, loved it.

I loved this even more than House of Salt and Sorrow!! This was full of mystery, romance, and fantasy! I was SHOOK for a couple of the reveals! It was an amazing read! Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read!!

Audiobook
I enjoyed this storyline. I did think it was a little long, but the mystery keeps you on your toes. I didn’t really like how this ended. Kinda leaves you hanging with your mind jumping to conclusions. I have to remind myself that Verity is barely 18 and maybe that accounts for her actions/ stupidity. She did bug me sometimes. She definitely thought she was older than she was. With Verity’s level of maturity, the romance parts threw me off. More than fade to black, mostly emotional elaboration about the thinks her and Alex do/ how Victor makes her feel (I might have gotten some characters mixed up sometimes).

All the words I think of to describe this fall short- dark, twisted, mysterious, intriguing. My biggest beef is the length (absurdly long) and Verity’s personality (borderline unbearable).

Special thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the digital ARC.