Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett Series: Blood and Salt #1
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on September 22 2015
Genres: Young adult, Horror, Paranormal
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher, Comic Con 2015
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: An atmospheric and stylish tale of family secrets written in blood, with elements of horror that weren’t quite scary enough for me.
“Which way?” he asked as we stood in the center of the barren patch of earth.
As if answering his question, the breeze whipped through the field, revealing a path and a clearing in the distance.
Rhys and I walked faster. I think we were afraid the corn would swallow us whole.
Blood and Salt has been on my “most anticipated” list for some time, and I was excited to finally get around to reading it. And while I adored Liggett’s writing and the creepy atmosphere she created, the promised “horror” didn’t quite work for me. Instead of the “terror in the corn” story I was anticipating, Liggett delivers a somewhat confusing tale about a family who is bound by blood to a dark curse, a curse that seems nearly impossible to escape. But while the story didn’t always make sense, I did love the sense of dread I felt as Ash and her brother Rhys are drawn further and further into a centuries-old family mystery. Liggett has created some very complex and compelling relationships, and these were what really kept me going, when I started to lose the thread of the complicated story. I fell in love with several of the characters, which I’ll get to in a bit.
When the story begins, Ash and her brother Rhys are living in New York City with their mother, a woman who spends hours behind a locked door making perfume. Ash has been seeing visions of a dead girl for years, a girl who is hanging upside down and bleeding from her palm. She’s so used to this ghostly figure that it barely even scares her anymore. Ash’s mom Nina believes Ash needs protection from her visions, and her solution is to etch protection symbols into her skin, in the form of invisible tattoos.
But when Nina suddenly decides to return to Quivira, a commune hidden deep in the cornfields of Kansas, Ash and Rhys follow her, not knowing that by walking into Quivira they are walking into a trap. When they arrive, the residents of this strange town welcome Ash, believing her to be the “conduit” who will lead them to immortality. But her visions are getting weirder and more frequent, and even the attentions of a stand-offish but handsome boy named Dane can’t keep her from worrying about her family’s future. When Ash gets caught up in a dangerous ceremony to bring back her long-dead ancestor Katia, she must decide what is more important: her family’s survival, or her love for Dane.
I want to start by talking about the characters, because they were my favorite part of the book. I’m very fond of brother/sister relationships, and this one worked really well for me. Ash and Rhys are siblings who are fiercely protective, and even better, they actually like each other. The story is told in first person from Ash’s point of view, and even though I adored the moments when Ash and Rhys are together, Ash lost some of her charm when Rhys was off stage. But I really loved Rhys, a snarky but loving teen who is deathly afraid of the sight of blood, which I thought was a nice touch. Rhys meets a simple, mentally fragile girl named Beth and forms a growing attachment to her. I ended up rooting for their relationship way more than that of Ash and Dane, the “Romeo and Juliet” of the story. Beth in particular starts out a bit creepy, with her homespun clothing and dreamy outlook on life. But she shapes up to be smarter than she looks, and she really grew on me by the end of the book.
Dane felt like more of a stereotypical romantic interest, and the insta-love between him and Ash felt forced, rather than steamy and romantic. Maybe I’m just too old and jaded to believe in love at first sight, but when two characters that barely know each other agree to bond together (and that bonding involves blood!), I just don’t buy it, no matter what their family history is telling them. (Although there is a delightful twist at the end that involves Dane, which I really loved, that will hopefully play a big part in the sequel.) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not really the intended target audience for most young adult books, but I’m sure teens will fall hard for Dane and Ash and the sizzling hot sparks between them:-)
Let’s talk about the corn, shall we? I think corn is creepy to begin with, and the possibilities for hiding nasty things in it are endless. I thought Liggett chose an excellent setting for her story, where the corn is almost sentient and acts as a barrier against anyone getting into—or leaving—Quivira. Just about every horrible thing that happens in the book takes place deep in the corn, and I began to dread those moments when Ash feels compelled to chase a vision through the corn stalks.
As for the plot, it didn’t draw me in as much as I hoped it would, and I found myself struggling to get back into the story each time I put down the book. I think some of this was a lack of focus, maybe there was just too much going on. For example, at first, everyone in the commune thinks Ash is a conduit, but later they think she’s a vessel. I understood the terms by themselves, but used together I thought they muddied the plot a bit. But honestly, I usually don’t do well with stories that involve visions, and unfortunately, this one was no exception. I was also expecting a much scarier tale, but I think some of the confusing plot elements, as well as the romance between Ash and Dane, kept Blood and Salt from being truly terrifying.
But I still enjoyed it, especially the ending, which was the strongest part of the story, in my opinion. If Liggett can capture the magic of the last fifteen pages or so in her next book, then she’ll have something truly special.
This one did catch my eye, but with all the books I have to read, this will likely be lower priority. I love the horror genre, but I never really expect YA Horror to be creepy, I guess! So your assessment did not surprise me too much, I think I would have expected a terror in the corn story too. And imo romance has to be handled really carefully in books like this, they have a tendency to jolt me out of the horror mood when they feel out of place. Glad to hear the story was nicely atmospheric though!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves, Announcements, and Recent Reads
The atmosphere was awesome, that’s for sure. This was a hard review because I’ve met the author and she is absolutely lovely. Wanted to give it a glowing review, but…
I’ve been anxiously awaiting for this one as well, but I’ll try to lower my expectations just a tiny bit. Faults aside, the brother sister relationship would surely be a highlight for me too. Such strong character development and relationships are the most important part.
Thanks for the lovely review.
Maja (The Nocturnal Library) recently posted…Review: Devoted in Death
She really does her characters well, and like I said in my review, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.
That’s a shame – I loved the sound of this – and the cover! Well, you still enjoyed it, but I just mean it’s a bit disappointing that it didn’t wow the socks off you.
I actually find writing romance in a horror a bit counterproductive because it pulls you out of the mood a little bit.
Lynn 😀
Lynn recently posted…Bibbity. Bobbity. Boo
That was part of the issue for me, the blending of romance and horror just wasn’t quite there.
It sounds so interested, I am just a little sad that you struggled to get back into the story. I will add it to my list, might be a perfect Halloween read.
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
missie recently posted…Review of Hush
I do think this is a great choice if you’re looking for creepy October reads:-)
I thought this one sounded pretty good, sorry it didn’t work better for you. Is it me or is there way more YA horror lately?
Lisa @TenaciousReader recently posted…Stacking the Shelves – September 12, 2015
There does seem to be more and more of it, I think you’re right. I think it’s a great trend!
My best friend growing up lived on a farm — I have seen how creepy the corn can be. For some reason this sounds like M Night Shyamalan wrote a YA story. 😛
Anne @ Lovely Literature recently posted…Anne’s Mini Reviews: July & August 2015
It does sort of, right? I’m very glad I don’t live anywhere near corn, LOL!
I’ve been wanting to read this one, even though I’m not a horror fan – I’m too much of a scaredey-cat! I’m glad this was an enjoyable read for you, despite the flaws.
Hannah recently posted…Review: Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer Trilogy) – Rae Carson
I have been seeing this book around on quite a few other blogs and I know it is a fairly popular one. I don’t read horror too much at all so I was curious to try this one. I am still unsure about it though! The plot sounds a bit confusing at times which is a smidge of a downer. But I do like that this one did cause a few creepy feelings while you reading it!
My recent post: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2015/09/my-hoarding-catastrophe-anticipated.html
I just scanned your review (because I’m actually in the middle of reading this) but I’ve heard elsewhere that the ending is the strongest part of the novel. Honestly, that’s the only thing keeping me reading because I’m not getting anything what I anticipated from this one, sadly.
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Book Review – Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien
Yeah, too bad. I really had a hard time explaining what it was about this that didn’t work, but the ending was so well written, you can tell the author has a lot of potential.
I finished. The ending was quite a twist but I was sooo disappointed overall with this one that it didn’t leave an impact as much as it should have.
It actually made me want to read this more when you said it wasn’t very scary. I hate instant love though! I believe in attraction at first sight, not love.
Molly Mortensen recently posted…The Croak Trilogy By Gina Damico
I just finished reading this one, and I was left feeling a little let down. I was hoping for, and gearing up for, an awesome YA horror story. While I liked the story and the plot and the characters, I was severely disappointed in the lack of scares. The atmosphere however, was ripe with tension and creepiness, and I loved the cult in the middle of the corn. All in all, I love Liggett’s writing style, and her characterization and plotting. I am just hoping for some more actual horror in book 2! And I am with on Ash and Dean’s relationship, though I am hopeful that book 2 will make it work a lot better, even with the crazy circumstances. Finally, GO RHYS AND BETH!
Jaime Lester recently posted…Blog Tour ~ Dark Heart of Magic (Black Blade #2) by Jennifer Estep ~ Review by Jaime and Giveaway!
This is (was?) one of my most anticipated October read, but I have sadly fallen behind in my spooky-reads endeavor! Sigh. I am still really looking forward to reading Blood and Salt, though. Perhaps November will be my spooky-reads month haha. So many awesome-sounding ones have released lately!