Set in a land far, far away, the story follows a beautiful young maiden, Annaleigh, who lives with her litter of sisters in a stately manor overlooking the sea. The story begins with a seaside funeral for one of several sisters who have fallen victim to the dreaded curse. Year after year, the girls are forced to dress in black as they mourn the fallen ones who left the ethereal world to be with Pontus, the God of the high seas.

Trapped beneath the dark cloud of impending doom, the girls live solitary, sheltered lives within the walls of Highmoor manor. No suitor will dare to go near them in fear of becoming ensnared by evil forces. Thing get spooky when ghostly apparitions start beckoning to the girls at night, reminding them that death is near.

With an absentee father and a very pregnant stepmother running the show, Annaleigh must take it upon herself to root out the origin of the curse before tragedy strikes again. When she and her sisters discover a magical passageway to a mysterious land of never-ending masquerade parties, more nefarious characters enter the scene. Like Dorothy entering the land of color, the girls shed their mourning clothes and immerse themselves in the enchanting party scene–replete with with twinkling fairy lights, dashing mystery men and bottomless champagne flutes.

It’s all fun and games until Annaleigh’s sisters start dancing their lives away, shredding all of their fancy shoes night after night after night. After a creepy encounter with a sinister masked man, Annaleigh, she hangs up her tattered dancing shoes and sets forth on a mission to vanquish the family curse.

I won’t spoil the fun by going any further, but I will say that this is a solid mystery with a couple unexpected plot twists! The mystery and the characters–even the evildoers–were great, but what sets this book apart from the rest is the setting.. I just loved envisioning the Gothic manor set atop a craggy, salty landscape overlooking the choppy ocean. The feeling of isolation adds to the spook-factor when the ghosts make themselves known within the dark, cavernous rooms. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys those twisted tales by the Brother’s Grimm. Here’s hoping for a sequel!

Wow, there was a lot going on in this one! Reminded me of Caraval in some ways, and was reminiscent of a modern Twelve Dancing Princesses. Overall, I loved the writing and the storyline was compelling. I had a hard time buying into the love story, but I loved all the twists and turns. Some were handled better than others, but it was well told and intriguing from beginning to end.

Now this is how you write a YA fairy tale retelling! House of Salt and Sorrows went from good to great over the course of the story-- and by the end, it became downright amazing. Admittedly, I've been skeptical of young adult retellings since I haven't read that many great ones ever, but this book blew me away.

I don't know anything about the original Twelve Dancing Princesses story, but I'm assuming it's a lot different than how House of Salt and Sorrows turned out. First of all, there's not even twelve sisters; at the start of the book, there's like, nine of them or something because the other sisters already died under mysterious circumstances. The whole point of the novel is to try and figure out how the sisters died, and if there really is a curse placed on the large family.

The first half was good, but the second half was even better. I loved the grotesque elements of this book especially-- some parts were so vividly gross that I felt queasy just reading it. In the later parts of the book, the reader starts to gather clues about what's really happening to the sisters, and it's awesome. There are supernatural elements included that get pretty scary, too.

I loved the ending especially, even though there are several deaths. Maybe I thought the ending was so good because it was dramatic? Either way, House of Salt and Sorrows was an amazing read and I recommend it to anyone who likes YA retellings and even those who don't.

So to start off, I was drawn to this cover when I saw it on Netgalley and it’s been sitting in my Kindle app for a few months now (I don’t use my kindle app often). I’m so glad I picked it up though!

Overall, House of Salt and Sorrows was a 3/5 for me. At first it was a little confusing to follow since there are 12 sisters in this family, and I wasn’t sure that would convey well as far as characters personality went. But I was wrong, yay! I’m not sure how, but Craig kept the sisters balanced well so we got to see a little bit about everyone and their personality, as well as their impact on the story. Tbh my favorite sister was Verity, but I enjoyed getting to know the other sisters as well.

So as for the tone, damn it seemed nice and fun at times, but the deeper you go the darker it gets. At one point I started getting Haunting of Hill House vibes, which I loved. It got spooky, confusing, and made me doubt literally everything that happened beforehand, Shutter Island style. It got a little psychological. But things worked out for the most part in the end, but it really made me think twice with a few of the twists. Also the setting of a small island town that worships the sea gave a great feel to the whole book. Their religion and worship of the sea god Pontus was so well done and interesting.

As for things I didn’t care for, there were some confusing details about the world that weren’t really established, like how gods walk the earth. It seemed like they did long ago but don’t anymore, like a myth, so it was a little jolting when an actual god or demigod child showed up. Another thing was It was definitely interesting, though, and a great story!

I am heartbroken, freaked and even a wee bit of enthralled. I am also quite intrigued that this book was a spin of a Brother Grimm’s fairy tale which was interesting it was one I had not heard before.

My emotions were taken on a rollercoaster that left me spent. In the beginning, I was intrigued. I truly loved the bond Annleigh had with her sisters. I then became heartbroken as they started to die mysteriously.

Of course, then I was intrigued as I wanted to solve this mystery and with each clue, I thought I had it figured out only to have another twist thrown in to leave me guessing again.

However through it all there was the underlining love story blossoming and I was held captive to it.

This story was a delight to read as it ht all my buttons romance, mystery, thrills, and a lot of knobs to gods and Greek mythology. The author deserves two thumbs up for her spin on a classic yet grizzly fairytale and I for one am so excited I got to enjoy it.

Thank you to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read this eARC early. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

TW: stillborn children, murder, suicide, use of word whore

Friends, I have no idea how to even begin to write this review. This book has absolutely captured my heart with its beautiful setting and lush descriptions. I found that I was drowning in the story in the best possible way. Just writing this review makes me want to read it again.

What I especially loved about this was the religion system. I know what you are thinking. Lacy, you don’t like religion. You would be correct to say that. But I love learning about different religions. And the religion system here was no exception. Annaleigh’s (the MC whose name is so gorgeous) people are from the Salt or the ocean basically. So whenever they die, they are returned to the Salt. See, Annaleigh and her people believe they came from the god, Pontus, which I think is similar to Poseidon. I’ll let you guys read the book to find ore more because it’s seriously so cool to learn it all. It was one my favorite things about this book.

Annaleigh was great and I would die for her. Her love for her sisters was heartwarming. I love my baby sister with my entire being and cannot imagine losing her like Annaleigh lost several of hers. The grief was portrayed so well. Annaleigh still lived her life but never forgot her sisters. I also appreciated that she tried to get along with her step mother even though she wasn’t the biggest fan of her. Even though I had a bad experience with a step mom, it bothers me to see them portrayed negatively. That wasn’t necessarily the case in this book. The step mom tried her best and that’s all I can ask for.

The romance between Annaleigh and Cassius was swoonworthy, if a little instalovey. But I found I didn’t mind that too much. After all, Annaleigh is a teenager. I’m pretty sure when I was a teenager, I fell in love with someone everyday. I was a messy teenager, honestly.

Overall, I cannot sing this book’s praises enough. It was perfect, from the cover to the last word. The twists and the turns had me screaming. The romance made me swoon. If you only read one book this year, make sure it’s this one. Erin A Craig, you have a fan in me.

House of Salt and Sorrows is part mythology and part murder mystery as Annaleigh tries to figure out who is killing off her family one by one. Is it a suitor, business associate, servant, a family member, or perhaps even a curse from the gods?

This book had just the right amount of creep factor that leaves you double checking dark corners without being gruesome. There was a lot of building in first part of the book that made it difficult for me to stay interested, however once I got to the second half I could not put it down and finished in a single night! The plot does jump around quite a bit (which makes sense in the end) but caused some rereading of pages or passages to try to understand what was happening. There are enough characters to build out and questions left unanswered at the end that I could see more books being written in this universe in the future. I would recommend this book to a reader over the age of 15 who was interested in horror or paranormal mystery novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read House of Salt and Sorrows in Exchange for my honest review.

Wow Wow Wow This book was absolutely incredible! I made the mistake of picking it up while I was reading more than one book at a time so it only took me so long because my attention was divided but WOW!
House of Salt and Sorrows is honestly a gift! What had brought me into this story first was how present the ocean was going to be (obviously by the title) but I never expected this spooky romantic adventure!

I need this book to come out as soon as possible because I need to talk about it with someone! I love Annaleigh so so much. There's nothing on the planet she loves more than her family and I admire that so much about her. She's such a good main character and brings the right attitude into the setting of this story.

Obviously I don't want to release any spoilers since the book hasn't even been released yet but I will say the world building was done really well and I loved the setting of the story. I was pleasantly surprised when it started getting pretty spooky so just heads up on that! (I looove spooky)

I would definitely recommend House of Salt and Sorrows to everyone! 5/5 stars

House of Salt and Sorrows is a story that reads somewhat like Crimson Peak meets the 12 Dancing Princesses. It is different but better than I had expected-there is also a somewhat supernatural/evil element that was unexpected.

This book was a total mind f**k.

Fantasy/horror/thriller/murder mystery...it was glorious. I'm usually not into murder mysteries or thrillers, but the fantasy aspect made it AMAZING.

The story follows Annaleigh, one of (originally) twelve sisters. The family is in perpetual mourning as sister after sister dies, leading the town to believe the family is cursed. The summary of the book talks about pretty dresses and dancing at balls, but it is not as frilly as just that. The reason behind all of the frillyness is actually quite dark and twisted.

I enjoyed every minute of reading House of Salt and Sorrows, and I found it particularly enjoyable on dark and stormy nights. It was incredibly suspenseful and I was pleasantly surprised that my eyes were glued to the page. Not because I just enjoy binge reading things, but because I had to know what happened next. And not just at the end. But from moment to moment. This book is filled with so many twists and turns and had such an EXCELLENT way of portraying distortions in reality that I found myself pausing and being like, “WTF? Is this happening? Did that really happen? It seems like it happened? WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

Over and over and over again I thought I knew who the killer must be. As I got further into the book, I genuinely had NO clue who could be behind everything. This is in part due to Craig's amazing characterization, giving us well-rounded, flawed characters with so much depth that you feel like you know them.

This book is thrilling and captivating! If you are looking for something spooky but still need your fantasy fix, then you will love this!

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
This book is a retelling of the 12 dancing princesses. The only similarity I saw was the # of daughters.
For me, this book was very hard to get into. The daughters are a bit odd and hard to connect to. The stepmother was insipid and irritating The father is completely irrelevant to the story.
I found that the story was trying very hard to be mysterious and ephemeral. There was a gothic quality but it never quite achieved any of those things.
I could not find a single character to connect with which gave me Noone to care about.
Overall, this book was a mash up of things that did not work for me. There was no horror only mildly startling paranormslish doings.
It was just not for me.

I really enjoyed this spooky retelling!

One of the worst parts about a retelling is when you KNOW what's going to happen, because you KNOW it's a retelling and you know the story. I didn't feel that way with this one! I also loved the ocean / sea aesthetic and the distinct character traits of almost all of the living sisters – not just one or two of the sisters closest to our main character.

Main reason this isn't a higher rating: I don't feel like Erin set us up for a happily ever after, after so much happened. But Cassius still came back to give Annaleigh a HEA. I love a good HEA but it felt a little too neatly done, and not the right fit for the story.

Brilliant retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses fairytale with a distinct Gothic twist. The writing was clear and not overly wordy (I tend to get impatient if there are too many adjectives), and the characters were well drawn out. The story starts out with a young girl named Annaleigh whose sisters have one by one succumbed to tragic and freak accidents. But were they really accidents? Things take a turn when Annaleigh starts discovering secrets of midnight dancing and very macabre elements. I really enjoyed the story and I would honestly love to see a continuation of the story in a second book. Could this possibly be the first book in a new series??? Would LOVE that! Kudos to the author on a very enjoyable and engaging read.

This book was so unique and i was completely blown away and breathless through the whole book! I will be recommending this book to all my friends to read! Amazing!

A really great read for those that want to try some fantasy, but enjoy more thriller/horror/suspense books! This book has it all, it’s written so beautifully and really is quite creepy and chilling! I thought the author had some great character development and definitely knew how to get you engaged and also giving you chills and thrills, with fantasy!
I’m going to be highly recommending in Chapter Chatter Pub!

Ohhhh wow I love the writing omg. If you're looking for a fantasy thriller/horror, this is for you. However, I'm going to have to sit it aside for a little bit because I don't do well on horror-esque scenes; I am a supreme wimp (and aware of it) and I got too many creeps for my taste! Perhaps I'll return to it when I'm feeling more brave!

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Despite taking a week to read this, I really enjoyed it. (It was just a busy week.) Honestly, I had no idea what toe expect from this book, even while I was reading it. It was such a weird combination of story elements, but it all worked together somehow. Mix together the following, and you'll basically have this book: fairy tale (12 dancing princesses), ghosts, a little gothic feel, gods/goddesses, murder mystery, madness, and some romance. Like I said, it really is a strange mix. It's like when you make mole and realize you're supposed to add chocolate, but then it tastes so amazingly good that you don't question the ingredients list.

I really enjoyed Craig's style of writing. It was like having a really clean window with an amazing view, if that makes any sense. I didn't even really notice her writing, which may sound like a bad thing, but it's not. It was just so natural. The book was the story, not the writing. I just saw the story through the writing rather than having the writing get in the way with superfluous descriptions, unnecessary details, and distracting mistakes. Seriously, am I making any sense? I have no idea. I could easily picture scenes in my mind, and at times I was convinced that I was going mad along with certain characters. The author successfully had me questioning everything and everyone.

My favorite characters were Annaleigh (18), Cassius ("a little older, maybe"--so 19?), and Verity (6). Annaleigh was a believable protagonist--she was good but flawed. Her patience and long-suffering had their limits, but she worked to make up for her shortcomings. Though she was technically the 6th of the 12 daughters (2nd oldest surviving when the story started), she often came across as the most responsible and reliable of them. Verity was old for a six-year-old, but it's understandable given what her life has been. Cassius was immediately likable, but in a way, I initially resented that fact. He was one of several characters I was unsure of, but he was so dang likable! I had some suspicions about him right from the start. I liked how steadfast he was, even when accusations were made against him.

I was kind of sad that it's a standalone book because I'd love to read more about the characters. I suppose there is room for a companion novel or possibly a sequel, though it doesn't necessarily need either. I am generally happy with the way it ended, but that's not to say that it's all cupcakes and butterflies. To be honest, this book contains maybe one cupcake and butterfly each. Regardless, I'd consider owning it, and I will definitely be on the lookout for whatever this author writes in the future.

There were only a few inconsistencies. For example, there wasn't really an explanation of the first four deaths (Elizabeth, Ava, Octavia, Eulalie). I thought there was, but then from what two characters said, it sounded like I was wrong. I don't know. The other was an accusation Annaleigh made against a certain character, and later it changed to a different character. I'd also like to know what happened to the minor characters who went out to the shipwreck.

Note: There might have been a couple of swear words, but I can honestly only recall one. A few of the girls read romance novels and jokingly made their own innuendos a couple of times. Annaleigh walks in on her father and stepmother, but it's nothing more than awkward.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this young adult fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

house of salt and sorrows (Erin A. Craig)
Title: house of salt and sorrows
Author: Erin A. Craig
Publisher: Random House Children's / Delacorte Press
Publication Date: TODAY!! (hardcover/e-book)
ISBN: 978-1984831927
Source: NetGalley

I have always had a soft spot for fairy tale retellings and this showcases one of me favourites - the twelve dancing princesses.  But it is darker than the more recent retellings of this story that I am used to.  I very much enjoyed the introduction to the novel which starts at a funeral for one of the sisters.  The world-building that revolves around the sea and island life made me very happy indeed.

I did mostly enjoy the two sisters Annaleigh and Verity but would have liked the rest of them to be fleshed out more.  I thought that the majority of the older sisters were kinda selfish and frustrating.  Not that they aren't selfish in the oldest versions of the fairytale but they seemed more like caricatures in this version.

The first half of the book was delightful but I didn't really love the turns the plot took later in the novel.  It was hard to understand what was real and what wasn't at the very end.  It was a bit too convoluted for me taste.  I would have preferred less of Annaleigh dithering and to have seen more about island life.  The romance didn't really work for me either.  I will say that I did love where the sisters ended up dancing every night.  I have no regrets about reading this atmospheric retelling for the new take on the beloved tale.

So lastly . . .Thank you Random House Children's / Delacorte Press!

Goodread's has this to say about the novel:
In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they 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 the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters 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

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Salt of House and Sorrows by Erin A Craige 5 Stars

“To the Salt.”

I want to say that this book is for fans of Grimm’s retellings, but that is simply not the case. This retelling of Grimm’s story “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, is for a much wider audience than just fans of Fairy Tales. This is for fans of fantasy mixed with a twist of a Gothic thriller, with a dash of gods of ancient myths.

One of the things I love most about this novel was that the main character isn’t special in any way, she is simply caught in between a terrible promise that wreaks havoc on her entire world. Secluded on a string of Islands, Annaleigh and her family live with what the People of the Salt call a curse. Her sisters seem to be dying off one by one, each death more terrible than the last. Is it a curse? Will Annaleigh soon follow her sisters into the brine?

The one thing that would cause me to DNF a book is terrible writing. This book is the exact OPPOSITE of that! Craige’s writing is stunning. Her use of metaphors, similes and general command of the English language, guides her readers through her creative vision. She places us in the center of Annaleigh’s crumbling family, and allows us to see through her eyes and walk her nightmares with her. I loved feeling so swept up in the magical words in this novel.

Another piece of praise I have is the flow of the plot. I felt that the story took twists and turns that kept me up at night (although I’ll never take a bath again, showers from now on). Her book dips and dives, tossing readers emotions like waves on an ocean. The characters develop along the way learning how to navigate themselves, and their relationships with each other and the mysteries that surround their family.

My only complaint is that I wish there was more. I wish I could have spent more time with the characters. I wish I had more history of The People of the Salt and Stars and so on. I would have loved to see more of their world and more background information about the gods and other characters.

I don’t want to give away spoilers, because everyone should enjoy this book for themselves.

Wow! I loved this book! It immediately drew me in and kept me fiending for more until I reached the end. It probably is the best retelling I have read so far. It was magical, eerie, beautiful and captivating. I loved the world building, I loved the main character Annaleigh, and I swoon over Cassius. It was just the right amount of creepy to add that element of haunting to such a magical story (if that makes sense). The pacing was excellent and it didn't feel drawn out or too long. The only thing I could say is the ending could have a bit better and not so tidy (I'm not talking about the epilogue of seven months later, which I loved). 

If you like The Iron Isles from GOT and fairy retellings, you'll love this.