I loved the lyrical writing style and the worldbuilding, it was so unique! I also loved the gothic vibe of the story; it was creepy and sad and fit the manor and island so well. It fell apart for me a little in the second half, especially towards the end... I would have liked something different. But I liked the Twelve Dancing Princesses influence and the book definitely kept me guessing and on my toes. I can't wait to read whatever Erin writes next!

What I Liked:

Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling – There are multiple Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White retellings, but I’ve always been partial to the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Erin A. Craig’s interpretation of the tale is familiar enough for those who enjoy the original, but takes plenty of liberties that will keep readers on their toes.

The mystery – House of Salt and Sorrows is more plot-based than character-driven and while I usually gravitate toward the latter, I became really invested in the mystery surrounding the deaths of the Thaumas’s daughters.

Horror elements – I did not expect this one to get so dark, but the lead character Annaleigh has strange nightmares, is troubled by the chilling things her younger sister shares with her about their dead sisters, and eventually begins to see apparitions with nefarious intentions.

The world-building (for the most part) – While I would argue that the novel could have delved deeper when it came to world-building, there were several elements that I really enjoyed including the mythology of this world.

What I Didn't Like:

Character development – I really wanted to see the characters in the novel grow more, but it never really felt like any of them necessarily changed throughout the course of the novel.

The first half – I ended up liking the second-half of the novel a whole lot more than the first. It’s not a slow start, but nothing in the first half made it stand out for me and I kept comparing it to the masterpiece that is Juliet Marillier’s Wildwood Dancing, my personal favorite Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling.

Annaleigh’s romance arc – I go back and forth between whether I liked where the author took this storyline or whether it just fell flat for me. On one hand, it felt very fairytale-esque with Annaleigh’s first meeting her love interest and eventually finding out there’s more to him than meets the eye, but on the other hand, I’m not sure this part of his story completely made sense to the narrative.

Didn’t always feel consistent – I mentioned both the horror elements and the mythology of this world. The problem was these two didn’t always feel like they were part of the same world. With a few changes, I think this would have worked better as a horror novel rather than leaning into the fantastical aspects.

Final Verdict:
Erin A. Craig’s House of Salt and Sorrow is a solid retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but it is the dark and morose elements rather than the fantastical that had me wishing it hadn’t tried so hard to straddle two genres.

The twelve dancing princesses, also known as the shoes that were danced to pieces has been rewritten with a tragic, creepy horror-style spin—four of the twelve sisters have died within the last few years, and the last one appears to have been murdered. Annaleigh, the now second-oldest sister has enlisted the help of her childhood friend Fisher and a handsome curly-haired boy named Cassius to try to help her solve who is responsible for all the recent deaths in their island town. And to discover who the creepy man with the dragon emblem on his suit is that keeps appearing at the balls she and her sisters sneak away at night, where their shoes are danced to threads. To save her remaining sisters, especially the youngest, who suffers from ghastly visions of her dead older sisters, as well as terrifying nightmares, Annaleigh must discover who wishes them dead, as quickly as she can, while trying to decipher who is lying, and what is even real, as her family’s memories keep changing.

Part frightening ghost story, part morbid murder mystery, this book is for fans of twisted, grisly horror versions of old fairy tales.

What a weird little book... I kinda loved it. This is part fairy tale retelling, part murder mystery, part horror, part romance. We follow the Thaumas family, whose twelve daughters seemed cursed to die in mysterious ways. Annaleigh discovers a magic door that can lead you anywhere, namely all the fanciest balls where her sisters seem to dance obsessively. Annaleigh also begins to discover some more disturbing things, a murder plot, horrid ghosts and visions, and a possible deal with a demon. This story has a fantastic ending too. I will mention here though that this book can get pretty darn graphic and disturbing for “YA”, if you are bothered by gore you probably won’t like some of this.

I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this title.

I loved this book so much!! For a debut novel, this is a must-read. A dark retelling that you can't help but sink your teeth into.

I enjoyed this dark retelling. We're thrust into this world which was beautifully crafted and I was hooked from the start with the paranormal mystery weaved into the text.

This book was incredible!! I really hope the rumors are true about a second book. I need more of Annaleigh and her sister’s stories. Plus Cassius. I can never forget him.

I have not read 12 Dancing Sisters. The book this is based from. I still thoroughly enjoyed it though and now I want to read the original. Lol

Annaleigh’s story is sad but happy. I can’t imagine losing my sister or my mom. Mourning for 6 years and wearing black and gray clothes. The clothes I could handle. I think I would’ve went a little bit crazy with each death.

She’s a strong and reliable character. The book drove me crazy at parts. I kept yelling at my kindle quite a bit. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the twist. It didn’t go the direction I expected and I loved that.

House of Salt and Sorrow is creepy and mysterious. When you think you have it figured out Ms. Craig throws a bombshell in there that you didn’t quite expect. This is a must read for fans of thrillers and creepy, mysterious books. Also fans of mythology. I’m so excited to get a signed copy of this beauty to put in my shelves.

by Erin A. Craig


TW (SPOILER WARNING FOR SOME!!!): mental illness, suicide, rape, stillbirth, death (lots of it)


Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press for the ARC.


This was such a great summer read! It's billed as a YA book, but there are some dark situations that aren't seen in literature for teens, so be prepared. It's loosely based on "The Twelve Dancing Princesses and has a slight twist of horror added.


Annaleigh Thaumus is the sixth of twelve sisters. Four of them have died mysteriously, along with the matriarch, and people outside of the Thaumus family are afraid there's a curse. Morella, Annaleigh pregnant stepmom, urges the family out of morning with a ball for some of Annaleigh's younger sisters. Later on, the surviving sisters start attending mysterious late night balls, and that's right before the real trouble begins.


One thing I dislike about a lot of YA novels is love triangles, and this one almost had one. I also have a hard time with heroines/heroes that just happen to be talented at everything, and that definitely happens with the MC here.


I would definitely recommend this novel if you like fairy-tale re-tellings; just be careful with the TWs.

This 12 Dancing Princesses story BLEW ME AWAY!

This dark, twisty atmosphere sucked me in from the beginning. It was hard for me to believe this was a debut author.

I adored the famiky dynamics within the story. We are dealing with girls who have lost not only their mother, but some of their older sisters as well. The way these girls deal with their grief is so real and raw.

We also have the handsome males who come to try to help.

The way the twists in the story came about were absolutely well crafted, and I was on the edge of my seat through the whole book.

Highly recommend everyone check this out if you like dark fairytales!

Wow, this was fun. It's rare to see a fairy tale retelling set in a dark fantasy world and is a mystery/ thriller to boot. I have not read the original Grimm's Brothers tale, but I wish that I had. I love that the mystery is set up so well, it's dark and moody without being overbearing, and we have a wonderful lead.

There are so many good things about this book, first being that the whole story has this genuinely creepy feel to it, even right down to the mood changes Annaleigh, our lead, sees in her father. There's some hauntings, a suspicious love interest, high cliffs, and a bubbly new step mother who is way too chipper to be real. I loved it. I also loved that Craig was able to mash together so many different genres together in a coherent story. I would love to see more of this mystery/horror/fantasy mashup in the future if they are all this good.

I have only ever read one other retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses and I loved it. So I admit that I had very high expectations for this book. I think that overall, this book delivered.

The book was perfectly balanced between the light and silliness of little girls and sisters, and the darkness creeping towards them. Somehow I ended up reading the creepiest parts of this book in the middle of the night. I'm not even exaggerating. There were a few nights that I definitely was creeped out in my own house and didn't want to be walking around in the dark. There were some truly chilling passages and times when I didn't know what to believe either.

The story follows Annaleigh and her sisters as they grapple with the terrible grief of losing their elder sisters. After a series of ghostly appearances, Annaleigh is convinced that her sisters' deaths weren't accidents. So we follow her and her quest to discover what truly happened to her sisters and why.

Honestly, this book was pretty compelling although I was a bit annoyed with the girls' father, Ortun, (Morella) their step mother, and Camille (Annaleigh's only remaining older sister). They all struck me as quite selfish. Out of all of them, I really disliked Ortun which disappointed me a bit. I was hoping he'd be the type of father that it warm and kind, but yeah... I didn't get what I hoped for.

I absolutely loved Annaleigh's younger sister, Verity. She was so sweet and adorable.

All in all, I think the author did a good job of assembling a cast of flawed but forgivable characters (with the exception of Ortun and one other but I don't want to spoil anything). It was a very large cast of characters so it was a bit of challenge keeping all of the sisters straight but I felt like the author did a really good job of identifying the girls each time so that I never felt lost.

Of course, a fairytale retelling isn't complete without suitors and I really loved the ones in this book. They were endearing, distinct, and great compliments to the sisters' dynamics.

The thing that impressed me most about this book though was definitely all of the twists in the last half of the book. The world building in this novel was incredible. The story takes you on quite the roller coaster and I didn't expect any of it. House of Salt and Sorrows is a very clever take on the tale. At the end of this book I was left surprised by all of the twists and turns and completely satisfied.


My review will be live on my blog on August 5th.

This was hard for me because I did really enjoy the mythology of the story in the beginning and how much reverence they had for the ocean. But I just could not really get into the characters and that made the story start to drag.

This book was entertaining but there were some aspects that did not blend well. The mixture of multiple genres did not work. The fantastical elements took away from the creepiness elements. At points, it felt like this story did not know where it was going to go.

Eerie and gorgeously written, this sprawling novel is delightfully creepy. I was drawn immediately to the cover because I love any fantasy book having to do with the sea. And then I read the back of it. 12 sisters cursed in a huge estate on an island? Sold.

I don't want to spoil anything because that would be a disservice to any future readers but please know that this book kept me on my toes the entire time reading it. I truly bit through my nails while reading and often missed appointments and meetings because I was too busy trying to finish one more chapter.

I loved that this book wasn't strictly one genre. It has fantasy elements but also horror elements. None of the characters are sacrificed for the sake of a grim death and I felt that the heart of this novel was something sweet and lovely: the love the sisters shared for each other and their protectiveness toward one another.

Erin Craig's worldbuilding also deserves many many awards because it was so in-depth and intriguing that I found myself wishing we were given more of the various lands of this world.

This book is definitely recommended and I can't wait to read what's next from Erin Craig!

4 out of 5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacourt for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good retelling and this is definitely a good one. This is a retelling of the classic fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". This is a Gothic retelling of the tale told through the POV of Annaleigh one of the middle of twelve sisters. The family resides at Highnmoor Manor on an Island and one by one each sister is found dead. Each death more tragic than the last one. Everyone believes that there is a curse upon the family and basically the sisters are just waiting to see who will die next. Annaleigh has gotten to the point that she can't even cry anymore as she continues to lose her sisters.

After all of the grief Annaleigh's step Mother suggest they start living again instead of always being in mourning. Annaleigh is not sure that this is something that she wants to do but for the sake of her sisters she decides to try. But, she also is determined to find out if the family really is cursed.

This is a beautiful and sad tale with a lovely creepy, Gothic vibe. Darkness around every corner. I really enjoyed this novel!

I want to be coherent about how much I loved this so I'll take a moment to collect myself.

...

So, The Twelve Dancing Princesses has always been a favorite tale of mine and hearing it was going to be done in a Gothic vibe with all the beauty of the original tale? I jumped at the chance and can't say how thankful I am that I was able to read this early.

Right from the first page, I realized that I was going to love this book and I was going to reread this, multiple times.

Craig keeps up the gothic and creepy vibe the whole time, which is impressive and she doesn't go too over the top or ridiculous with it, which is important for me as a reader.

I adored every clothing description in this book and I loved all the sisters, Verity was hard not to love and Cassius is now probably one of my favorite characters. Ever.

It's more than just a tale with pretty dresses though, there's so much loss and grief and it feels so raw with our MC and I think that was important to focus on, and it did really keep the best parts of the original tale.

This book liked to consistently stomp on my heart and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Wow, House of Salt and Sorrows. Going into this book, I knew that it was a rough retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses tale (which I couldn't even recall very well, tbh). I had NO idea that there would be so many horror elements involved. Seriously, I had to stop reading this one at night because it creeped me out so much.

The main story is as follows: Annaleigh Thaumas, one of eleven sisters, is daughter of a Duke of salty ocean islands. Tragedy strikes the family when the girl's mother dies during childbirth. Then, tragedy comes on a-coming as Annaleigh's sisters pass away. We come into the story after the third sister has passed; the family is obviously broken and grieving and everyone in town is talking about the Thaumas curse. Annaleigh's stepmother convinces her father that this is enough - no more mourning these dead sisters! Let's throw a ball! Everyone gets fancy new shoes to wear and things go off fairly well, except for the fact that barely anyone will dance with the sisters (you know, because of the curse and all). Lots of creepy stuff happens, more sisters die, more dancing ensues. There is a twisty ending, revealing the truth of the curse and tying this one up, probably for good.

This book was A LOT. There were a fair amount of subplots, some more successful than others. I never really got a handle on the patriarch of the family or some of the sisters. There was romance involved that was fairly successful in the romance sense, but the romantic lead had some random reveals that I don't think worked all that well. Too much plotting came out of left field and didn't tie together cohesively. And again, the horror elements are much more pronounced than I had imagined.

Overall, this is a good book for someone interested in very dark fairy tale retellings, horror elements in YA, a little madness, and some twisty elements to bring everything together.

So this was really good. I like a good retelling and Craig does a great job with "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by the Brothers Grimm. We follow the main character Annaleigh who is intent on figuring out if her older sister was murdered. From there we have Craig work in Gothic elements as well as some pretty dark horror elements as well. I loved the world building and would be interested in reading more about the sisters. The main reason why I gave this 4 stars though is that the book noticeably drags in a lot of places. And honestly, I started to get all of the sisters confused after a while except for Verity and Annaleigh.

"House of Salt and Sorrows" follows Annaleigh Thaumas who is reeling from another funeral. Her sister was found dead and this makes this the fourth sister (out of 12) who has died over the past few years. Many in the community believe that the Thaumas sisters and family are cursed. With Annaleigh's father remarrying and expecting a son, she wonders if someone out there is out to hurt Annaleigh and her sisters due to the manor and all of their riches going to the eldest child, not the male heir.

Annaleigh was a great heroine to root for. She loves her sisters, misses her mother, and is trying with her newest stepmother. However, she starts to wonder if someone or something is stalking her sisters and her. When she and her sisters start to sneak out to dance at balls (they have been dealing with mourning rules for about 5 years) she initially doesn't think what they are doing is wrong. However, she quickly grows afraid since she keeps getting visions about her sisters dying all around her. When she meets a young man named Cassius, Annaleigh starts to dream about maybe falling in love and marrying.

The other sisters besides Verity kind of got lost to me after a while. I know that there were triplets (I think) and there may have been twins. Seriously. I needed a family tree or something like that when the book first starts that I could have flipped back and forth to make sure I was tracking people correctly.

I loved Cassius and his whole backstory. I don't want to spoil, but that is why I thought that Craig did such a great job with world building that I think she can revisit these characters or locations in subsequent books.

The writing does a great job with blending the fairy tale elements (an island that is devoted to the sea and has their own High Mariner) as well as taking Gothic and Horror elements and blending them all together. The flow though as I said was a bit of a mess. I get the idea behind slow burns books with mystery elements (Annaleigh trying to figure out if her family is being murdered or cursed) but the book stops in a lot of places that had me going eh. There's some things that could have been cut to make the story much tighter.

The world building as I said was fantastic. I loved this society called The People of the Salt that seems focused on the first born (not caring about whether it's a boy or girl) with their own beliefs and rituals dealing with returning their loved ones to the salt when they die. We even have gods and goddesses in this one that influence people we find. There seems to be some other kingdoms/gods in this one that I definitely wanted to know more about.

The ending was very well done though I wanted more repercussions once the mystery is finally solved. What can I say, I am all about the vengeance. This was a very good and solid book!

I’m a big mood reader and wanted to read a fantasy book that doesn’t give me winter feels. So many of my fantasy books on my TBR are set in winter, which is my favorite kind of fantasy, but I wanted something set around the ocean so it feels like a summer read but that also gave me dark and moody vibes I love. AND THIS WAS PERFECTION. Set on an island where you can almost taste and feel the harsh air and salty seawater. I went into the book with little expectations since I wasn’t familiar with the synopsis or author. And I devoured this!

Apparently, this is inspired by the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I didn’t really know anything about the fairytale before reading so it’s not necessary that you do since it’s s more inspired by the story and not a retelling of it. I love that this was a fantasy book set in an older time period. We have dukes, sailing, aristocratic manors, beautiful dresses and balls, and, of course, romance!

“All my life has been moonlight and the stars. I can smell the sunlight racing through your veins from across a room. Sunlight and heat and salt. Always the salt.”

This is set in a world where the people of the islands and mainland worship different gods and goddesses. The time period and social customs feel like Western Europe but the religion and setting made this world feel unique and original. Everyone on the island of Salten worships Pontus, the god of the ocean. We see cultural differences between those who live on the islands and those from the mainland. I felt the mention of different deities created a rich world that seemed larger than just what was happening on the island of Salten where our characters live.

“We are born of the Salt, we live by the Salt, and to the Salt we return.”

Everyone thinks the women of the Thaumas house are cursed. Annaleigh and her sisters have lived most their lived in mourning. First, the mom died. Followed by two sisters. And the book opens up at the funeral of a third sister. Annaleigh is our main character and now the second oldest in the family. She believes that her sister did not die accidentally but that she was murdered. Something is clearly going on and she wants to find out before anyone else dies. But with a new stepmother from the mainland and her increasingly resentful older sister, her father decides the family should have a new beginning and stop mourning. So the sisters are thrown into a new life of colorful dresses, outings, balls, and dancing. Annaleigh meets a new man, Cassius, who is kind, dashing, and shows interest in her. But all the good changes don’t change the fact that something sinister might be going on, even though her sister and father insist the deaths have been coincidental and to stop stirring up trouble.

“Noises in the house became my departed sisters creeping in, ready for me to join them.”

This book was atmospheric with dark and gothic vibes. I was sucked in right away trying to figure out who or what was behind all the deaths. Is there a curse? Is the new handsome stranger, Cassius, somehow involved? Are the gods behind it? I kept thinking this person or that person was suspicious. I was sucked in right away and the pacing was excellent. Seriously, there were so many twists and unexpected events that kept me hooked throughout the entire book.

And in general, the whole book felt like a fairytale. From the setting to the events that happened, it read like an original fairytale. And I loved it! This is a standalone fantasy and I thought the book wrapped up well. I feel like there is so much about the world that we haven’t explored so it would be awesome to get another story set in this world – maybe on one of the other islands or the mainland.

An eerie and gothic twist on Twelve Dancing Princesses with vengeful gods, haunting nightmares, and sweeping romance, House of Salt and Sorrows is the kind of masterful debut that authors dream of. Craig's descriptive writing is so strong that you can feel the silk of the shoes, smell the salty brine of the ocean, and hear the creaking of the manor. Unforgettable and captivating until the very last page.
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