House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Horror
Pages: 403
Cover: Paperback
Age rating: 13+
Buy on: Amazon, Barnes and Noble
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Along with her sisters, their father, and stepmother, Annaleigh has a secluded life in Highmoor, a seaside manor. Now that the lives of four girls have been cut short, loneliness permeates the magnificent halls after they reach the age of twelve.
​The plague, a falling cliff, a drowning, a slippery plunge—each death was more horrible than the previous, and rumors circulated in the nearby towns that the family is cursed by the gods. After experiencing a string of spectral images, Annaleigh starts to suspect that the deaths weren't accidental. Annaleigh isn't sure if she should try to stop her sisters from slipping away to glittering balls every night or join them in their forbidden trysts, where they dance till dawn in silk dresses and gleaming shoes.
There is a race to uncover the evil that has engulfed her family before it takes its next victim as Annaleigh's engagement with an enigmatic stranger who has secrets of his own grows.
When I picked up this book, I was expecting your typical fantasy story. A badass character with powerful magic that ends up saving the world, but no, what I get instead is chilling thoughts at night while reading it.
If you’re expecting an ending where everyone is happy and where things or people magically come back to life, then you’re wrong. Tragedy keeps falling on each other, each worse than the last. So if you’re the kind of person who prefers light-hearted reads, then I suggest you pass on this.
What shocked me was the goosebumps of horror that this novel gave me, with the gore details, death, and explicit imagery. The description of people's dead bodies and the chilling atmosphere led me to think that something was constantly out to get me. That’s how real the book was getting, and I loved every single moment of it.
Despite the horror of the book, I love the character of Annaleigh. Her kindness and determination shone, as she was the only person who accepted her father’s new wife, helping her through her pregnancy. Moreover, her determination to discover the truth of her sister’s death was really admirable.
However, I thought the ending of the novel was kinda rushed, without any shocking twist, everything ended too quickly after the peak climax, which I won’t spoil. Which was one of the reasons I didn’t give this book 5 stars. The other reason was the romance between Annaleigh and Cassius, there were some cute moments between them, but I felt it could have been more developed, though I still enjoy their moments.
Overall, this book is worth your time, so if you feel like fantasy with a mix of horror is your kind of thing, then what are you waiting for? Get the book now!