when we were little, we had to memorize all the different monsters signs. Sudden thunderstorm might be nothing, sure, but it might be a Toneda. That eerie, high pitched howl that you’ll never mistake for anything else once you’ve heard it? Sarkhayir. And a perfect circle of foamy water in the middle of still sea?
That’s a Devorar.

This story follows a group of siblings sailing around the Mediterranean looking for their missing parents and fighting sea monsters.

The sea monsters are my favorite parts of the story. Each sea monster is distinct from the rest and has its own way of being defeated...which the kids have been training to do their whole lives.

I’m not familiar with the Mediterranean area so I google mapped the names of the various places that were mentioned...Marseille, Mariupol and Medenine. The islands off Portugal...the Acores? It made the story more real.

The story isn’t an action packed adventure but it is engaging. I recommend if you want a quick fun read and if your like me you’ll map out where they sailed also.

I missed Hannah Moskowitz and her sibling relationships, and although I'm more used to seeing contemporary from her, I really enjoyed the fantastical elements of this one--it gave the story a refreshing flavor that saved it from feeling overly familiar. I love the way the siblings interact, the love they have for each other, the conflicts between them. The ending felt anticlimactic and not well explained or set up, but the characters are really what you're there for.

Like a good adventure books with young protagonists, Indy and his siblings are orphans. They are left to fight sea monsters and keep each other safe as they try to find the monster that killed their parents. This was less formulaic than I sort of assumed it would be. Great characters and the familt dynamic added a lot to the story. A quick read, but a good one.

Even though their parents disappeared during a hunt three months ago, seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, continue to roam the Mediterranean on their sailboat and hunt down monsters--but Indi yearns for a more settled life for his family, and he hopes that his parents' journal with its tantalizing hints of a treasure, will provide them all with the means of escape from their nomadic and dangerous life before it is too late.- Goodreads

I thought this was going to be an intense monster hunting book, where the protagonist wants out and will do what it takes to get there.

Not the case at all. This read was slow as molasses and lacked the intensity of life at sea. There were a lot of little things that bothered me with this read.

Firstly, it takes place in modern times i.e. where there is computers, internet, cars and cell phones. I don't nor did I have an issue with these kids choosing a life at sea but I had an issue with the fact that they did not know for the most part know how to use technology or even blend in with modern to society when they made port.I understand that they are supposed to be sea folks and that is their life, however, it was completely unrealistic that they couldn't really blend in or use anything modern.

Secondly, their boat. How I pictured it was this rundown, single sail, toy wooden looking boat that had too much stuff on it to properly work or walk. I could not for the life of me understand how in a modern world this was all they had. You can argue that they were left alone after the disappearance of their parents and didn't really have anything but then I could argue, their parents are monster hunters, why was there no preparation in how to get a proper boat?

Thirdly, there was no intensity within this novel. The monster scenes weren't filled with that fight like I wanted and expected. Indi is extremely passive and didn't really fight for anything. This does not change throughout the book. I wanted conflict, at least between him and Beleza but it wasn't there. There was so much brushed over in this book that the author could have added more to character development, engagement, emotion and scenery.

Man this book could have been really good. I know I listed a lot of what I don't like but there was a lot of good to this book. The foundation was strong; kids trying to save their family, save the world and fight the internal battle of just wanting to be kids is good. The pace was acceptable and the lack of romance actually worked in this book's favor. Was there an interest? Yes, but that went left real fast and I was actually happy for that. 

I wanted more from this read. It could have been amazing.Oh yeah and the ending wasn't great either. 

2 Pickles

Not to be that girl but this book is the nautical version of the classic ‘Supernatural’ tagline where mom and dad go out on a hunting trip and have yet to return.

“Salt” tells the story of Indie and his siblings who take to the high seas hunting monsters and chasing after their parents who are most likely dead after a job gone wrong. When the pressure of parenting and the push and pull between wanting to be there for your family and make a life of your own gets the better of him, Indie takes off and finds his footing on land and discovers that maybe it’s not all its cracked up to be.

The strength of this book is the writing of the relationship dynamics between the siblings who vary in age and for two of them have had to grow up and assume responsibility for the younger ones in their parents absence. As someone who is an older sister I understood a lot of what Indie struggled with by wanting an actual life but caught between his wants and the needs of his family while dealing with the very real threat of death by the hands of sea monsters.

Apart from those family moments the book didn’t really go anywhere for me we never really learn too much about the creatures they are hunting or the expansion of the network they use to gather information and find work other than the few moments that are needed to move the plot a bit further, and the overall mystery with their parents and the hunt for the creature that is thought to have claimed their lives is rather anticlimactic as we spend the whole book leading up to this moment of revenge just for it to work itself out rather quickly and the fallout of that accomplishment being taken care of just as fast.

If you’re looking for a thrilling adventure book with monsters lurking in the depths of the sea this isn’t the book for you but if you’re in the mood for something a little more grounded in that of how far someone is willing to go for their family than this will be perfect.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**