House of Salt and Sorrows is aptly named: there’s a heck of a lot of Salt, and there’s way more sorrow than necessary plaguing the Thaumas family. The more you read, the more you’re like, Sheesh, hasn’t this family been through enough???
Despite having more money than Pontus, the one thing they don’t have is the ability to keep their women out of harm’s way: in the past few years, Annaleigh Thaumas has lost her mother and four — four! — sisters.
Pretty soon, the remaining Thaumas sisters are nervously eyeing each other up, wondering who’s going down for the count next. However, Annaleigh’s not buying the gossip that her family’s cursed, and she sets out on a mission to prove her family’s targeted for murder in this sweeping, magical, and enchanting fantasy novel.
House of Salt and Sorrows is author Erin A. Craig’s reimagining of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. We all know I love me a good retelling, and since the book description also promised a creepy ghost story, this novel was an automatic addition to my TBR list. It’s also a YA novel, and given the success I’ve had with previous YA reads, I was eager to read this one.
I was completely amazed by the world that Craig built for House of Salt and Sorrows. I don’t read much fantasy, so seeing someone create a dazzling, magical realm that so closely mirrors, yet is incredibly different from our own was a real treat. I loved how she blended the familiar with the exotic to build Highmoor Castle, the land and customs of Salten, and all of the book’s elaborate celebrations, festivals, and holidays. Craig draws on classic mythology to shape Annaleigh’s world, applying her own sea-inspired spins and terminology to everything. (Note: It took me about half the book to realize that “the Salt” is what people of Salten call the ocean… Sigh.)
In addition to all that, House of Salt and Sorrows is dripping with delectable, fairy tale frippery. There’s ballgowns galore, each one more magnificent than the next, and exquisite shoes and jewelry to match. The princesses go dancing at a myriad of enchanted balls, and every encounter is described in breathtakingly beautiful detail. Craig paints stunning pictures with her imagery, drawing the reader directly into the life of Annaleigh and her sisters, both the good and the bad.
Which brings me to my favorite part of the novel (of course): the spooky story aspect! The creepy parts of House of Salt and Sorrows are fantastic. FANTASTIC. There are ghostly visions that flit around darkened corners and lock you in rooms, and lucid, waking nightmares that make it impossible to separate illusion from reality.
Oh, and let’s not forget Annaleigh’s little sister, Verity, who goes around drawing pictures of her dead and disfigured sisters. Yeah. CreepyAF.
These scenes sent delicious ripples of eerie shivers down my spine. I actually could’ve used more of these scenes. But, for those of you hoping for only a moderately terrifying story, you’re in luck: the majority of House of Salt and Sorrows is more enchanting than scary.
There were a few drawbacks about this novel; though, as I write this review, they all seem rather minor in comparison to everything I loved about the book.
The story told in House of Salt and Sorrows felt a little long-winded; for me, the action and interest definitely stalled a few times in the middle. I think we could have moved on to the “Annaleigh Figures Things Out” part of the story a little more quickly. And, when everything finally did come together in the end, it felt a little…crowded? There’s just so much happening over the course of the novel! Although Craig ties it all together eventually, the reveal-upon-reveal becomes a bit overwhelming and over-the-top by the end of the book. I guess I would have preferred a slightly simpler resolution.
I admit that my frustration with the ending — and with the detailed set-up — might have been alleviated greatly if I knew the original story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses before reading this novel. Once I finished House of Salt and Sorrows, I looked up a plot summary of the classic fairy tale, and a lot of the elements I previously found distracting or random clicked into place.
Can you enjoy this book without knowing the original fairy tale? Absolutely. It’s a stunning novel filled with adventure, romance, and intrigue. But, if you can, I recommend hopping on over to Wikipedia for a little background to the Twelve Dancing Princesses before settling down with House of Salt and Sorrows.
What are you some of your favorite fairy tales that you would love to see reimagined? Or, what are some existing fairy tale retellings that you enjoy? I hope you’ll share in the comments below!
