I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig Published by Delacorte Press on August 6 2019
Genres: Young adult, Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 416
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Evocative world-building combined with an overstuffed plot left me with mixed feelings about this YA fantasy debut.
I had read some glowing reviews of The House of Salt and Sorrow, so I jumped into this with rather high expectations. Unfortunately, even though there is a lot to love about this book, as a whole there was something missing for me. I was expecting more of a fantasy, fairy tale vibe, but folks, this book falls more in the “horror” genre than fantasy. I knew that four of the twelve daughters are already dead when the story starts, but it gets worse (sorry, minor spoiler).
The story opens with a funeral. The Thaumas family is mourning the death of Eulalie, the fourth daughter to die in a matter of months. There used to be twelve daughters, but a string of bad luck has befallen the family and now there are only eight left. The story is told from the perspective of Annaleigh. Her sister Camille is the eldest, and because of that she is first in line to inherit the family estate of Highmoor. The family has been in a constant state of mourning due to all the recent deaths, but the Thaumas triplets—Rosalie, Ligeoa and Lenore—are about to turn sixteen, and so they convince their father to let the sisters come out of mourning in order to celebrate their birthdays with an extravagant ball.
But Annaleigh is not in the mood to celebrate. She’s convinced that someone is killing off her sisters, even though the deaths all appear to be accidental. And so she begins her own investigation, questioning the men at the docks who may have seen what really happened when Eulalie “fell” to her death from the cliffs. Her investigation leads her to a mysterious man named Cassius who is determined to help her find the truth.
I want to start this review with the elements I enjoyed. By far my favorite part of this book was the world building. Craig has created a wonderful world called Arcannia, made up of a string of five different islands. The story takes place on Selkirk Island, where people worship the sea god Pontus. Their lives revolve around the sea, they mark important occasions by drinking seawater, and even their dead are eventually relegated back to the sea. We only see glimpses of the other islands, and I would have loved to learn more about them and their customs. I also loved that Craig has given her story a Jane Austen vibe. Honestly, it was like reading Pride and Prejudice at times, as the Thaumas sisters get excited when they are able to dress up for a dance, or Camille frets over finding a husband someday. When the Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling finally kicks in, we get to see the sisters’ excitement over getting a new pair of “fairy slippers” to wear to the birthday ball.
I also loved the creepiness of the story and the idea that the dead sisters’ ghosts are still around. There are some very gruesome sections that made this veer into horror territory, which I was not expecting, but I thought they added to the overall mystery of what’s going on. Craig has a wonderful talent for writing atmospheric scenes, and I could easily picture everything about this story. I especially loved a particular bathtub scene, but you’ll have to read the book if you want to know what I’m talking about.
I think my biggest complaint about this book is that there is just TOO much going on. I know many debut authors tend to overstuff their stories, and this one is no exception. First, there is the Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling aspect, which really only appears in a very minor way. We have the subplot of the sisters’ stepmother Morella, who has moved to Highmoor from one of the other islands and is basically a fish out of water. Her storyline is pretty sporadic. She appears in the beginning and then sort of disappears, and then comes back in a big way at the end. There’s also a ghost story, since the youngest sister Verity appears to be able to see and talk to her dead sisters’ ghosts. Later we’re introduced to the mythology of this world, as Annaleigh discovers the truth about Cassius and where he comes from. There’s a fascinating chapter set in his home, where we learn about his family and how he’s involved with the Thaumas deaths. And apparently, Annaleigh’s dream has always been to be the Keeper of the Light, the person who works in the lighthouse and keeps the flame burning. All these ideas are tenuously connected, but those connections felt forced, as if the author was determined to make them work together.
One of my biggest pet peeves is the trope of “is it real or is the character just imagining it?” I feel like it’s a cop-out and a way to “explain away” the more confusing aspects of a story. I won’t go into detail about this, because obviously I’d be spoiling certain plot points, but let’s just say Craig uses this trope in her story, and it sort of made me mad. It reminds me that I also don’t like stories that involve dreams or visions, because you just don’t know whether anything you’ve read has actually happened. I can see utilizing this method of storytelling if you’re writing non-genre fiction, but the fact that this is obviously a fantasy made some of the reveals hard to swallow.
As you might expect, a romance is part of the plot. Annaleigh is attracted to two different men, which made things a bit confusing. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a love triangle, but it did muddy the waters and frankly, the jealousy and posturing between the two men didn’t add anything to the story. I honestly felt bad for Camille, because as the eldest, she is the one searching the hardest for a husband. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have much luck!
It sounds like I’m complaining a lot about this book, but it actually works really well on lots of levels. I just wanted MORE of the elements I loved, like the world building, the mythology of the islands, and a little more character development. This book had the potential to be outstanding, but the scattered plot and confusing action made it feel like a debut that just needed a little more polishing. I seriously want to know more about this world, as Craig barely touches on the specifics of other islands of Arcannia, and I certainly wouldn’t mind reading more books set in this fascinating world.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
This is the second lukewarm review I’ve seen about this book. I think I’ll skip it for now. Great review!!
Yeah, also I may just be the wrong age group for this one!
I’ve seen mixed reviews but I am very curious about this one. Maybe I’ll just go into it looking at it as horror. Lots of reviews mention the creepy vibe which may work for me. Hopefully so. I’ll have to admit the two love interests does turn me off a tad though.
It’s got a lot of horror elements, so that’s a plus:-)
Lovely and thoughtful review, Tammy. It sounds like it had a lot of potential. I’m not a fan of that trope either.
Thanks Jennifer! Although many readers had no problem with the trope:-)
Sometimes the “burning need” of an emerging author to fill the book with everything they dreamed of while writing it ends up working against the story and the narrative flow. Still, the concept sounds interesting and the background fascinating, which might help in overcoming the novel’s drawbacks 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: THE BONE SHIPS (The Tide Child #1), by R.J. Barker
I know lots of readers love this book, so it might just be me being picky:-)
That pet peeve of yours reminds me of the whole “it was all a dream” plot that no one likes hahah Sorry to hear about the overstuffed plot though. The world-building and the horror stuff sounds really good, however! Excellent review as always, Tammy! 😀
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…Hawkeye (Vol. 1) by Matt Fraction
It really had some great elements, just uneven, I guess!
Oh wow, I would have been expecting more fantasy/fairytale too. Between the horror vibe and the plot with too much going on, I have a feeling this would be a miss for me too. Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts on it.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Nonfiction Books I Enjoyed Even Though I Don’t Usually Like to Read Nonfiction
I think if the story had more focus, it would have worked much better for me.
I confess I was a bit disappointed to see only 3.5 stars, but after reading your review I can see some of the positives. Still, it does sound a little too all over the place, and I think some of the things that slightly felt off to you would drive me completely up the wall! And I have an eARC of this one too…I guess I’ll read it if I have some time, no rush!
It had great promise at the beginning, and like I said I loved the atmosphere and the little glimpse we get of a bigger world. But just not executed as well as I wanted.
It does sound like my cuppa tea. And what a great cover. Might give this a try.
Laura Thomas recently posted…Number’s Up by Annabelle Hunter ~ Spotlight and Giveaway
Interesting. I have this one in my TBR and hope to get to it this fall. I was intrigued because someone said it was a bit gothic. Interesting that you say it leans more horror, I’m a bit more intrigued now. Sorry it didn’t totally connect for you. Great review!
I’d love to hear more opinions, I’ll definitely keep my eye out for your review if you happen to read it:-)
It sounds like you had a very similar to experience to the one I had with Kingdom of souls. Great ideas, marvellous world building but an abundance of ideas that leaves the overall read feeling disjointed.
Lynn.
Yep, I think we had similar experiences. The story needed a more clear direction, and I just didn’t get that.
Thank you – I was excited for a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but if that aspect is fairly peripheral I have other reads I will prioritise (not least The Girls at the Kingfisher Club from my backlist, which really TDP in the Jazz Age!)
Oh, I had no idea The Girls at the Kingfisher Club was 12 Dancing Princesses, cool!
Thank you for a really great review, Tammy. It sounds to me as if this could have been a fabulous novel, if only someone had taken the time to do a thorough development edit – what a shame!
As someone who absolutely adored this book, I am so sad that you didn’t love it as much as I did! I think I was a bit more forgiving of the tons of stuff going on because I was sweapt away by the worldbuilding and writing style – I loved that it was a horror read with a bit of magical realism thrown in. Then again, I read this without any expectations so I wasn’t a victim of hype.
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At least it didn’t end with the character waking up and the narrator saying “And it was all a dream!” This does sound pretty overstuffed!
Many things about this book sound ideal – world building, creepy horror – so I’m going to give it a go. Plus it was in one of my book boxes.
Im not gonna lie, I read evocative world building and now I need to read it ASAP.
Annaleigh is the worst