House of Salt and Sorrows

-

Collected Image

Author: Erin A. Craig
Rating: A solid 5.0!
Recommend: This novel is every fantasy lover's dream come true. It has the raw power needed to shove you out of your mundane life on Earth, and place you on the rocky salt shores of a time-old fairy tale - with some sinister twists that is. I loved every single word. Highly recommended.

Annaleigh Thaumas is fourth among the twelve beautiful sisters living in the majestic manor of Highmoor (sound like any fairy tales you know?). Growing up surrounded by the salty sea waves and sharp craggy cliffs of their village, Annaleigh and her family are the People of the Salt - from the Salt they are born, and to the Salt they return. 

A gorgeous depiction of Highmoor at the very top



Everything at Highmoor was fine... until the mangled corpses of the Thaumas sisters started turning up all over the estate. After the death of Eulalie, the fourth among a series of gruesome accidents, the villagers are sure that the family is cursed. 

But, are they really? And were all the deaths truly mere accidents... 

I am a sucker for retellings. And when they're done like this, in an alluring tone that enchants you to read and keep reading until you can see the small rays of dawn peeking in through the window... dear god, then that book is good. Erin A. Craig executed her novel perfectly. 

She added just the right amounts of magic and horror to make it an exhilarating read, the end result of which is a brand new story in its own right.

I absolutely loved the spooky elements in the story - from ghosts to insidious cackles, it was entirely refreshing. And it was A LOT of fun trying to figure who the real culprit was; a lot more so when my suspicions turned out to be right :v 

The biggest reward however, in reading this tale was that the author avoided cliches. There was a point when I was terribly afraid that the tale would turn out to have the same old villain. Fortunately, this was not the case and I can promise that there are abundant twists and turns capable of keeping even the most cynical readers interested.


And then of course there's the love interest...

Ah, Cassius 



It's safe to say that whatever Erin A. Craig plans to write next, I will definitely be the first in line to sign up for the ARC. Personally, I really hope she continues the trope of retelling the classics - I mean come on, she pulled off something like the House of Salt and Sorrows with the story of the twelve dancing princesses! I shudder in ghoulish delight to think what she could spin with the likes of Hansel and Gretel and Snow White. 

You can build an entire new world Erin. If you're reading this, please never ever forget that there is at least one reader out there who a hundred percent believes in you.

Perfection.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Song of Achilles

-
Image
Author : Madeline Miller  Rating: 5/5  Recommend: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This book will sweep you of your feet, rob you of your sleep, make you smile, cry, and hate and will put you under its spell till all you can see when you close your eyes is Achilles.  I shiver as I write this, the piercing, tragic story of innocence, love, heroes and a war still fresh in my mind. Throughout history, there have been men who were handsome, and men who were brave, men who sacrificed themselves, and men who destroyed even kingdoms with their madness. In her debut novel, Madeline Miller has managed to capture the stories of two of the greatest men in history: Achilles and Patroclus, friends, companions and lovers till the end.  Achilles as I imagine him Told in vivid, moving terms this book will transport you into a world unlike anything you have ever experienced before. It tells the story in Patroclus’ point of view, from the mome...
Read more

Vicious

-
Image
Vicious First book in the Villains series. Predecessor to Vengeful. Author: Victoria E. Schwab Rating: 4.8/5 Recommend: It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Marvel or DC fan or don’t even like superheroes in general. This book isn’t about heroes – it’s about super-powerful, emotionally damaged, kind of psychotic villains. SO READ IT. :) I had no idea that this book existed before a friend posted on social media that she was reading Vicious – she was talking about how the plot revolved around two college kids who turned into best friends and then into super-people and then turned into arch nemeses – a whole other level of messed up. So, of course I had to go buy Vicious. I am so glad I did. Vicious is all the fantastic mutant powers you’ve ever wanted from an X-Men movie, combined with two semi-villains and one hell of a plotline. Here is what I loved about the book: first of all, the teaming up of Victor (our anti-hero), Sydney (child who raises dead) and M...
Read more

Vengeful

-
Image
Second book in the Villains series. Sequel to Vicious . Author: Victoria Elizabeth Schwab Rating: 4.5/5 Recommend: A second book about Victor and Eli – could it possibly be wrong? Vengeful provides some much needed answers which we longed for in Vicious ; from the history of Eli, to a world rapidly getting to know about the existence of EO’s it provides all the details you’ve been craving and more. I might as well admit it: nothing can live up to the perfection that is Vicious . Vengeful, however was a valiant effort by V. E. Schwab. It’s darker than its predecessor, and there were more than a few parts where the book sent literal shivers down my spine. I write this on a gray, drizzly afternoon… I still can’t get the effects of reading Vengeful out of my mind. After the events of Vicious , many things in the Villains world begin changing. Brought back from the dead by Sydney, Victor is alive but with his power greatly flawed. There is a new government fac...
Read more