A story about three sisters coming back to each other in the midst of climate destruction, late stage capitalism, and the lengths they'll go for their love for each other.

I was nervous in the beginning because this book reminded me of a couple books I didn't like at all, but in the end I found myself caring about the sisters and the way their relationship grew and changed, the espionage they had to do trying to fight capitalism, and just how different three sisters can be. I'm excited to pick up more from Yume Kitasei!

I enjoyed the audiobook narration. The story flowed so well and the narrator's voice made it incredibly easy to listen and really conveyed the emotion of each sister extremely well.

I enjoyed this audiobook! The narrator’s voice was soothing in a way, and she differentiated the characters clearly.

The story itself was interesting - the capitalistic post-climate-collapse world that the author has built felt realistic and made me want to know more. The characters, our trio of sisters, are simultaneously extremely naive and world-weary. Anyone with siblings will likely relate to them in some way! I sometimes felt like the pacing and dialogue was a little off, but overall I enjoyed the story.

I loved this book from start to finish. The narration made it even better. This was a tale of two women who set off by boat to find/rescue their lost sister. They live in an a dystopian world, teetering on the brink of either salvation or ruin. The plotting was so tight and the vibes were edge of the seat from start to finish! I was so disappointed with Wild Dark Shores and Migrations and feel like this is the way they could/should have been done. I hope that Saltcrop gets all the hype because it’s definitely worth it!!

So far, Yume Kitasei books just don't disappoint. This story follows 3 sisters, so it's separated into 3 parts, and we get each of their POVs. At first, it's a story about 2 sisters looking for their missing sister, Nora, who just disappeared, but the further we get into it, the story becomes more of a mystery, conspiracy-uncovering type of thing, and the ecological disaster that has ravaged this world comes more to the forefront as we discovered why it happened and who's behind it.

This is a dystopian, sci-fi novel with an engaging plot, characters, and situations that feel very real, a great pace, and themes of sisterhood, family, friendship, and sacrifice, with social commentary on capitalism and its corruption, climate change, and the role society plays.

The audiobook was great! The narrator's voice is nice and she did a good job of bringing these sisters to life.

Actual Rating 4.5

One of the strongest aspects of this work for me was the sisters’ relationship. The author did such a wonderful job portraying the complexity of that relationship, including the positive and the negative. I really enjoy complex sibling relationships, and how events can be remembered differently by two siblings and interpreted vastly differently as well, and this was included throughout the book. This was aided by the fact that the story was told in three sections, and each section was from the POV of a different sister.

The setting was also well written. It was intriguing and made a strong backdrop for the characters. There was also a decent amount of worldbuilding included, enough to support everything going on. While I didn’t find the overarching plot and reveals to be anything too surprising for a dystopian fiction, it didn’t matter. The world, the setting, and especially the characters were plenty to keep this work interesting and engaging. I also liked that the author didn’t choose to go the route of “our MCs are going to save the day by being the bravest and smartest folks where everyone else has failed!” and instead kept it at a much more realistic level that was even more satisfying because of this.

If you enjoy dystopian fiction set in realistic worlds with engaging characters, then this is a must read. The pace is slower, but I wouldn’t call it slow. Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

4.25/5

This review is for the audio version of the book, narrated by Eunice Wong (I adore her audio books, she's got such a soothing way of telling a story)

This was such a beautifully written book.

This is the story of 3 sisters, Skipper, Carmen, and Nora.

Nora, the eldest, has gone missing from her job working for one of the world's major agriculture tech firms, in the city. Skipper, the youngest, decides that she needs to go and look into Nora's disappearance. Carmen, the middle sister, decides that Skipper needs someone along to look after her.

The search for Nora takes Skipper and Carmen across half the world. Sailing through dangerous seas, fending off pirates and shady corporations, and dodging political uprisings, as they follow the trail.

This was an amazing story. It was easy to keep falling into the rhythm of the storytelling each time I had to stop and pick it back up. The world was described so beautifully and it was so well put together.

The characters were complex and full of emotion. It was fascinating to see the varying outlooks as the point of view switched throughout the stories. Each sister had a distinct way of seeing and interacting with the world at large, and it worked really well to shape the story.

This was my 1st Kitasei novel, I hope it won't be my last. This is worth the time to read.

A near-future story of three sisters told in three parts. Nora, the eldest, has left her research job at a big Ag company (think Dow or Monsanto) but no one has heard from her in weeks. When she doesn’t come home, the two younger sisters take their small sailboat out to find her. Their hazardous and at-times harrowing journey tests them in ways they had never imagined.
The audiobook is well narrated and easy to follow since each major section of the book is told by one sister at a time.

There’s lots to think about in this novel. Post-climate-collapse, where it can take up to a year to obtain a needed part for a motor for example, means the more isolated places have had to become self reliant. Traveling to Nora’s last-known residence in the big city exposes her sisters to other ways of life, for better and worse. Big Ag is evil, of course, because their bottom line comes before a sustainable planet, such as Monsanto enforcing its patents on seeds, otherwise freely given by the plants themselves. If you’ve ever had an herb that wouldn’t root or seeds that wouldn’t germinate, it may not be just chance.

Big Ag evil underlies their way of life, and the sisters work with others to challenge the status quo while struggling to make ends meet and get the health care that Carmen, the middle sister, needs. It’s a story about family, trust, and how just a few brave people can make a big difference. 4.5 rounded down for some slow parts and unresolved topics/ issues. Still, a very good and interesting audiobook.

My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #Saltcrop for review purposes. Publication date: 30 September 2025.

Saltcrop is an eco-thriller that takes place in a future version of our world that is devastated by climate change and corporate greed. But this book is also about sisterhood and fighting for a better world. Saltcrop follows three sisters: Skipper, who feels most at home while sailing, Carmen, the responsible sister who makes friends everywhere she goes, and Nora, a brilliant researcher working to breed disease-resistant plants. When Nora goes missing and the police are uninterested in investigating, Skipper and Carmen set off on a journey to find their sister. But Nora may have made a breakthrough discovery - something that has agents of powerful mega-corporations hunting her down.

Saltcrop was an enjoyable read. I really enjoyed each of the sisters, who each have their own set of flaws and complicated relationships that are explored throughout the book. The ideas explored (effects of climate change/pollution on the world, the danger of capitalism and mega-corporations, etc.) were interesting and handled well. The plot overall was pretty interesting, but some sections of the sisters’ journey were not as interesting to me, and at times the pacing felt a little off. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator. Overall, this was a good read and I would recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me an audio ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

A story of sisters, told in 3 parts from each of their perspectives respectively.

There was something beautiful in the resilience of bond that they shared. But likewise relatable and real in how even when they were giving up everything and traveling to the end of the world for each other, they still managed to have those petty squabbles.

I appreciated how each one manifested a different form of fierce determination and sacrifice, and the unfolding climate science fiction plots that were in the background. You never really forget that they're living in the wreckage of a major climate catastrophe and the myriad ways it affects their lives.

Well... save for the episode where a certain jerk invites himself along on the boat. But that derailment aside, I found myself very invested in the whole story and how grounded it felt. I think it'll be too quiet a story for a lot of Scifi lovers so it actually might do better with the Literary crowd. Regardless-- I really liked it.

Audiobook Notes:
Narrator did an excellent job. Her voice is mellow and often somber, but I think she conveys the text well.

This is a richly immersive eco-thriller that sweeps you into a near-future world drowned by rising seas and haunted by corporate greed. Through the alternating voices of three sisters—Skipper, Carmen, and Nora—Kitasei crafts a story that’s as intimate as it is high-stakes. Her writing is vivid and textured, building elaborate, believable worlds and deeply human characters you can’t help but root for. I especially enjoyed Carmen’s point of view for its balance of practicality, emotion, and determination, but Skipper’s grit and loyalty make her equally compelling. The book’s ending hints at the possibility of a solo adventure for the youngest sister, and if Kitasei ever chose to write a standalone about Skipper’s future on the ocean, I’d be first in line to read it. The audiobook narrator was excellent—giving each character a distinct, authentic voice that drew me deeper into the story and made the shifting perspectives seamless. With its blend of emotional depth, thrilling action, and inventive world-building, Saltcrop is both a gripping survival story and a poignant exploration of sisterhood in a time of collapse.


Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC . This is my honest review.

This is a story that will sit with me for a while. Like Yume’s previous novels, this ended up being a big adventure with family connections and high risk, but also great reward.

The pacing felt very cohesive, I like that we spend half of the book with Skipper, the youngest sister, then get to explore each of the sisters’ inner thoughts. It’s a bit of a slower pace at first but the second half picks up speed gently, like their boat Bumblebee, then wraps up fast with a bittersweet conclusion. As the middle child and also eldest daughter, I found each of the women very relatable. The way we get to experience their childhood from each perspective is really touching and endearing. The many scenes of sisterly love and bickering, then acting normal and unfazed are something every sister knows by heart.

The world building is very creative and at times whimsical, a unique take on climate change fiction that feels realistic. It’s not overly complicated and not completely terrifying either. The idea of a big conglomerate taking advantage of people is not that far fetched, and I really loved the scientific angle of this book. An interesting mystery and puzzle I liked solving along with the characters.

Audiobook performed by Eunice Wong was fantastic. She is a wonderful narrator, her voice and delivery is so effortless and soothing. I enjoyed how she put great emotion and personality to each of the sisters.

Thank you to the author for the ARC and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and to MacMillan Audio for the audiobook ARC of Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei.

I LOVE everything Yume Kitasei writes. The Deep Sky still haunts me 2 years after reading it, and I feel like Saltcrop returns to her deep insightful look at familial relationships and survival that was such a gutpunch in her debut.

While this is dystopian, and is, at times, dark, I found it also to be very hopeful. I could not stop listening, and finished the whole book in a day. The audio narration by Eunice Wong is excellently done and easy to listen to.

Saltcrop takes place in a near future Earth dystopia, where a blight has struck crops leading to mass famine, seas have risen leading to the collapse of coastal cities and commerce, mass piles of trash fill the ocean to be sold for scraps, people work for corporations that is little better than indentured servitude for survival, and animals have been turned mutant by chemical exposure. Nora, Carmen, and Skipper, three sisters raised by their standoff-ish grandmother, each try to pursue their own lives in a world of limited choices and freedoms. When Nora goes missing and Carmen and Skipper receive a coded message asking for help, Carmen and Skipper step outside all of their comfort zones to take to the seas to find Nora and bring her home.

Each sister receives about a third of the narration of the book, allowing them to tell their story and to move the tale along from their perspective and past. The heart of the book is the sisters' relationship to each other - the acknowledgement that sometimes you can say the meanest thing to your sister even if you don't mean it, because she'll still love you the next day. I so identified with these fights and frustrations as a sister, but also the deep abiding love and the wish to leave your family but also to never leave them. Kitasei beautifully illustrates the relationships between the sisters as a whole triangle and in relation to each other 1:1. She allows each sister room to grow and show who she is an adult to people who already think they know her. Each has the chance to face fears and shine and survive in a world that very much is against them.

On the book being dark, the world can seem both casually normal and horribly bleak in the same page. I applaud Kitasei's tact and nuance for this -- the sisters find eating rancid meat and getting sick from their meals, or facing a life-threatening mushroom based illness as completely normal. They are survivors, but they still seek out relationships and kindness from others that is both given and received. While they meet unsavory people, and they have to take some unsavory actions to survive, especially before the 70% mark, their actions can be justified in a way the reader barely registers, and even applauds as the right thing to do. By the time the last 30% or so comes around, it almost feels shocking to switch environments/setting as we do throughout the novel and to realize the way the world has broken down, but also the way other places have continued to excel and progress vs the way our characters are raised. I think it also shows, by the time we get to the third narration, how many extreme risks the sisters have taken in certain settings, but how, in a more "stable" or "technologically accessible" space in this world, you can make waves in a way that almost feels civil/less intense than everything else. I think some readers might find the last third to feel less of a rise in action compared to the first 70% or so, but I think, to me, that feels intentional as a state of this dystopian world.

With this being Kitasei's third book in three years, I'm beginning to wonder what genre she doesn't excel in -- this is another win from her brain to the page.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5

Saltcrop is an immersive, emotional SFF novel with captivating characters and a propulsive plot.

Yume Kitasei’s The Stardust Grail is one of my favorite sci-fi novels, so I was incredibly excited to dive into Saltcrop. It did not disappoint. The characters were vivid and compelling, and I loved their development. The exploration of sisterhood and the emotional journey the characters embarked on was powerful. Kitasei’s prose was beautiful, atmospheric, and sharp, presenting an unexpected, twisty story with a delightfully adventurous plot. The world-building was brilliant, and the pacing fit the story nicely. I also appreciated the thoughtful exploration of ecological disaster in the post-apocalyptic setting. I highly recommend this gripping story!

Eunice Wong was a wonderful narrator for this one. Her voice fit the characters and story perfectly, presenting an atmospheric and propulsive listening experience. I highly recommend the audiobook!

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

4 stars

I really enjoy Kitasei's writing, but this is actually my first of their novels; my incoming experience was exclusively with Kitasei's flash fiction, which I often teach. For me, this novel did not disappoint, and that's an added bonus because sci fi is never a guaranteed win in my reading experience.

Three sisters, Skipper, Carmen, and Nora, live in a precarious environmental situation. This is most noticeable in the constant failure of crops and the resulting situation of food scarcity and general sadness in life because who wants to be without their basic needs and who wants to live a life where food is only fuel?! While the characters each experience these environmental impacts differently in their bodies and psyches, they are all unquestionably altered by their environment, and the most obvious instance of this - and really the catalyst for all the action - is that the oldest sister, Nora, goes missing, and Skipper and Carmen are determined to find her.

There is a lot to enjoy about this novel. The ecolit and ecocrit vibes run deep here, and I'll definitely recommend this as a modern and accessible text for my students who want to go further into this space (and many do). The pacing is great; this is not a short work, but it reads like one. Best of all? These sisters and their dynamics are a joy to observe. Even the ancillary characters (grandma, Hilda, etc.) are memorable. I also felt like this was approachable as a dabbler in sci fi.

I enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to digging into Kitasei's backlog. I'll definitely be picking up whatever this writer puts down. Oh, and I'm a big Eunice Wong fan, and her narration of the audiobook is spot on, as expected.

3.5 stars

I really liked the first 2/3 ish, with Skipper and Carmen braving a ravaged environment and a corrupt mega corporation to find their missing older sister. I liked the contrast between capable and clearheaded but antisocial Skipper and charismatic but affirmation-seeking Carmen and how the two approached problems so differently. I also really appreciated that each sister narrates a section of the book (as much as I love Eunice Wong as a narrator, I would have loved to see 3 different narrators here to really drive the differences home).

However, once Nora takes over the story, things feel a bit more mundane. It feels less like a “dystopia” and more banal. Things also seem to fall into place much faster as though the author was aware that this section was less engaging and wanted to rush through it.