This was such a great read! I went into it with pretty high expectations based on the blurb, but it exceeded even those. The tension throughout this book meant it kept me reading late into the night!

Loved this book. I knew I would.
Capri is magical and described so well.
The characters are complex, not necessarily likable, but layered and complicated.
There is mystery on mystery and dramatic reveal on dramatic reveal.
I don’t really want to give a synopsis because really, you should just read this one.
It’s beautifully done and I enjoyed it so much!
Thank you netgalley!

The cover: gorgeous
The setting: brb booking my flight immediately
The characters: rich, messy, scandalous, traitorous

Admittedly, it took me more than halfway through this book to become truly invested in the drama. It was slowwww going at the start, and then the chaos really picked up. It could've been much shorter, in my opinion.

The twists were twisting, but I fear the multiple perspectives and timelines had my head spinning a bit.

Toward the end, there was one revelation after another that created the shift in momentum. I did guess one of the plots, but did not expect the outcome. I found myself wanting my jaw to be on the floor but I didn't really feel anything for these characters so it was just a nice, entertaining read but I couldn't get emotionally invested.

The overall vibe of the book was right up my alley; mystery, family drama, luxurious setting, rich people behaving badly, but the execution left a little something to be desired. The multiple timelines and perspectives felt overly complicated and hard to follow. I relied on the narrator's change in voice to determine whose POV chapter. It was additionally too long, there were chapters where little happened and felt repetitive. I still finished the book because I was curious about the various plot lines' resolutions.

Overall, a good slow-burn mystery with a moody setting and complicated family drama, just not a five star read for me.

The first thing that caught my eye was the cover!I just loved the look of it and once I read the description I knew wanted to try it out. It was a good read with a lot of twists! I did guess what happens but it was still an enjoyable read and would recommend

This was a bit of a departure from my typical read. I didn’t expect to love this so much but it was such a sweeping saga! It had a little bit of everything; historical fiction with a dual timeline and multiple POV, family drama, murder mystery, and some romance. The setting on the island of Capri means the reader gets to spend time off the coast of Italy living like the 1%. I was impressed by the scope of this novel. It’s long but didn’t feel too long while reading. I loved that the author takes us really in-depth. We get to know these characters but, at the same time, due to the mystery element, we’re always wondering how well do we really know them??

The twists at the end completely took me by surprise! I was so shocked!

I really loved this and I think it will resonate with readers of multiple genres.

*Saltwater* by Kathy Hays is a beautifully written family drama that explores the rippling effects of secrets, grief, and reconciliation. Centered around a coastal town, the story follows generations of women as they navigate love, loss, and the ties that bind them.

Though the pacing is slow and deliberate, allowing emotions and tensions to simmer, it’s this careful build that makes the characters feel so real. The last 25% absolutely gripped me—I stayed up far too late needing to know how it all would unfold.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Notes and observations about SALTWATER:
-it's about rich people behaving badly
-beautiful setting... but it's also ~dangerous~
-blackmail and lies from every direction
-"upstairs/downstairs" drama
-everyone is cheating on each other all the time
-twists and turns galore in the final chapters
-multiple POVs and timelines

Overall impression: I had a decent time reading this over two long sittings. It was compelling enough to keep me turning pages, but I'm not sure it will stick with me too long. Would make a good airplane or vacation read.

A thriller as twisty as the mountain roads of Capri, where it is set, Saltwater is a multi-point of view novel exercising the trope of the dysfunctional rich, selfish, patriarchal family. Helen’s mother died on the island when she was only three, and the ultra-private family barely mentions her name. The family is sacred, and anything that would sully the name is verboten.
Further, Helen is not allowed to intermingle with the underlings, basically anyone outside the family. In her effort, at thirty-two, to break free from the bonds her father and uncle impose, Helen hatches a plan. The disappearance of her father’s assistant, Helen’s friend, in a fashion remarkably similar to Sarah, Helen’s mother’s disappearance, starts the whole thing unraveling.
This isn’t a particularly deep book. Many of the characters are cardboard cutouts relying on our images of rich, cruel people, and we want a character to root for. Helen should be it, but sadly, she’s inherited the greed gene.
The book would be fun to read on a cruise, beach or especially on a trip to Capri. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for the advanced readers copy. Saltwater was released March 25, 2025.

First off, the setting? Gorgeous. The whole thing takes place in Capri, and Hays does such a good job painting the scene that I swear I could feel the salt in the air and hear the waves crashing. I wanted to be there—minus all the dark family drama, of course.

The first half dragged a little for me, and the shifts in time and perspective were a bit confusing at times. But once I settled into the rhythm, I started to really enjoy peeling back the layers of this super dysfunctional, very rich family.

I wouldn’t say I loved any of the characters, but they were definitely interesting (and messy in that satisfying, juicy way). It’s one of those books where everyone’s got something to hide, and you’re just waiting for the truth to explode.

The premise of this book had me intrigued. A wealthy family suffers a death at their holiday retreat, but continues to return every year. Thirty years after the death, an object related to the death reappears, setting everyone on edge. Add in the White Lotus-esque background of a villa in Capri, Italy and I was ready for a dark but thrilling time.
Instead, the pacing of this book was drawn out, the characters were ambiguously rich and miserable, and the plot was barely worth the slow read. The storyline progresses from a dual-timeline mystery to a weak character study in the indulgently wealthy.
There are three main POVs: Sarah, the dead woman from 1992, Helen, Sarah’s daughter, and Lorna, Helen’s friend/uncle’s assistant. Sarah’s chapters describe the week of 1992 before her death. Helen and Lorna’s chapters detail the week of their trip to Capri, starting with the arrival of the necklace Sarah was wearing when she died. Unfortunately, all three characters are only moderately developed, and bring an absolute minimum of depth to the plot.
I think this is a great popcorn thriller, especially for a vacation trip (if you’re sure your in-laws aren’t trying to kill you). However, it’s a very surface-level thriller, with less-than-thrilling reveals that left me frustrated and underwhelmed. And surprisingly, it did convince me that I should visit Capri.
Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to read this book, but it fell flat for me. It was too twisty and unbelievable. It was a do not finish for me.

Recently I have read a couple books where the focus was on a severely dysfunctional, entitled, rich family. This book, however is even more severely dysfunctional and even downright evil than the others. At some points the family felt like the stereotype creepy underworld family.

The story's main character is Helen whose father is one of the two brothers who head this family. Thirty years previous, Helen's mother Sarah died—or was killed—while the family was vacationing on the island of Capri. Her body was found at the bottom of some cliffs with no evidence to answer the question of what really happened.

Now the family has returned. This time the girl who was only a toddler when her mother died is an adult, but under strict controls by her father and uncle. She is allowed no real freedom and cannot leave the vacation compound without someone to guard her. At her side is her friend and family assistant, Lorna. Together the two begin to plot how to escape the control of the family, but learn that Helen is penniless without her family's financial assistance.

Things begin to get strange when first Helen receives a package from an unknown individual containing a necklace that was last seen in the possession of Helen's mother. Then Lorna disappears altogether.

The first part of the book is extremely slow reading, providing a host of background material to the family. It is also told through the eyes of several different characters and utilizes multiple timelines. This always slows the story for me. Still, it was an enjoyable suspense novel and I am pleased that I was given the opportunity to read it with the expectation that I would giver it my open and honest review.

30 years after her mom died in Capri, Helen receives her mom's necklace in the mail. Her mom's death had always been an unspoken subject since it was unclear whether it was a suicide or if her family was responsible.

This was my first book by this author.
Like:
- The suspense was great.
- I love an alternating POV and I loved getting insight from all of the characters spanned through the years
- I thought Helen was pretty self-aware and thus felt like a very real person. She understood her dependency on money and knew that as bad as she claimed she wanted a new life, she could not live a life without the things she had come to known.

Dislike:
- The book had a lot of filler and felt long, despite it only being 330 pages.
- The ending felt so forced.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Saltwater by Katy Hays tells the story of the wealthy Lingate family. The Lingate family spends a yearly trip on the island of Capri despite the tragic death of Sarah Lingate in 1992. Sarah left behind a three year old daughter, Helen. Helen is heavily protected and shielded from the world as she grows up due to the death of her mother. When Helen becomes a young adult, she wants to learn more about the death of her mother. She takes it upon herself to do so even knowing that the cocoon her family has created around her may fall apart as more family secrets are exposed. Saltwater is suspenseful and will keep you guessing on what will happen next. The book is told in varying timelines to bring the story to life. Set in Capri, the tragic story is told within the lush settings and rocky coastline of the beautiful island.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of Saltwater by Katy Hays.

Thank you so much to Ballantine Books for the widget to read Saltwater! WOW this was a RIDE!

This was a twisty and fun wild ride. Who can the reader trust? Who is keeping secrets from the others? Is anyone in this family at all good?

Would recommend if you love:
-Beautiful vacation setting
-Rich people behaving badly
-Secrets and twists abound
-Decades old mystery

The characters are mostly very unlikable but it didn't detract from the story. I loved the chapters from Sarah's journal. So really, although I disliked most of the characters I was still hoping someone would solve the mystery surrounding Sarah's death decades earlier. That last twist was an absurdly wild one but.....I strangely kind of really liked it??? Overall I loved this book, it took me a bit to get into it but I'd read more from this author.

In 1992, Sarah Lingate was found dead beneath the cliffs of Capri and left her young daughter Helen behind. While her death was ruled an accident, rumors and speculation swirled around Sarah's tragic death, and on the 30th anniversary of her passing a peculiar discovery is made: someone finds the missing necklace from the night Sarah died. Sensing she's come closer to the truth about her mother's death than ever before, Helen attempts to enlist the help of a family friend who then also vanishes.

And that, for Helen, is when the story truly begins.

Overall, "Saltwater" was a pleasant step up from "The Cloisters" in many ways and demonstrated a refreshing degree of versatility in Katy Hays' writing. Whereas "The Cloisters" felt largely-original and like it was checking specific boxes of the dark academia genre out of obligation, "Saltwater" was much more authentically-suspenseful and more transportive in its backdrop of Capri. It's worth it to note that like Hays' first novel, "Saltwater" is certainly a slow burn, but the characters felt just compelling enough to keep my interest. Not bound to be a mystery of the year but still a decen palette-cleanser read, "Saltwater" is one I'd recommend overall.

Glamorous, mysterious and atmospheric but most a miss for me. I just couldn’t track the multiple timelines and points of view well enough to connect with the story. The setting was stunning and the whole vibe was captivating but the overall characters and story just didn’t mesh for me

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Saltwater by Katy hays is her follow up to the cloisters and is a nice effort to show her versatility at plot and characterization. Whereas the cloisters was a dark academia and gothic suspense, saltwater is more contemporary and soapy. Saltwater takes place in capri and is a multiple pov-multiple timeline thriller that centers around a wealthy and vapid family the lingates, who were the center of a scandal when the young and beautiful wife and mother, Sarah was found dead at the bottom of the cliffs in the early 90s. Ruled an accident , the lingates never quite escaped suspicion and return to the island every year on her anniversary to prove their innocence. On the anniversary of the 30th year of her death, Sarah’s daughter, Helen and her trusted assistant, Lorna, are determined to escape from the rule of the lingates but then Lorna goes missing and all the secrets from the past come to light…

Jumping between Helen, Lorna, and Sarah’s points of view and moving back and forth between present and past-Hayes tracks the downfall of these women under the rule of this family and rachets up the suspense and the red herrings while capturing the cloying atmosphere of capri in the summer.

A fun escapist read this will be a great beach/pool read for the summer. I may have been in the minority, but I did enjoy it more than the cloisters and recommend it to anyone who enjoys suspense, mystery, popcorn thriller, and the white lotus!
Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Just like having maps, I like having newspaper clips in the books. It's a very easy way to say a lot without writing another chapter and it grounds the story. We started with the news of Sarah Lingate's death. Then we jumped back to today where her then 3 year old now 30 something year old daughter going back to where her mother died

This wouldn't be the first time Lingate family coming back to Capri; they did this every year. I don't know how I feel about taking a child back to where her mother died, but maybe it was meant to be. She was presented with her mother's necklace in a very curious way, and that peaked her interest in her mother's case. She meant to open a lot of cans of worm; but if it was going to get her the truth, so be it.

The villa and set up here reminded me so much of "Diavola". I think the twist at the end was very cleverly placed to shock the ready where earlier twists created this image that those were supposed to be the big revelations. You would think this is a beach book, but it's one hell of a page turner.