House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Published: August 6, 2019
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: 416
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling
Rating: ★★★★★

“In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.”

A retelling of of Twelve Dancing Princesses, which is tale that I do not know but now I wish I did because this was amazing. It was so interesting and had so many twists and turns that I could not stop listening to the audiobook. There is a mythology that I wanted more information on. Everything about this, I loved. The characters are easy to love and also to hate.

There were twists and turns from the beginning when the book opens at a funeral for one of the 12 sisters. Our main character, Annaleigh is trying to piece together how her sister died. Possible murder, a suicide, an accident? There was a mystery element to the story as well that I did not really see coming. I just thought it was going to be a YA Ghost Story but no! It was so much more than that.

The images that Erin paints through our main character, Annaleigh are stunning and creepy at the same time. Normally, I am not a huge fan of books that are driven by atmosphere but this one was so different. It is a beautiful web of atmosphere and mythology and family all woven together. The other characters in the book all play wonderful parts in the story of Annaleigh and her mission to end the curse that surrounds her sisters. Her father is a sturdy figure for his daughters while the stepmother to the girls seems a little off, not being from the island. Her older sister Camile is the oldest and the heir to the Highmoore Estate is level headed and seems older than her years having to take up the alter of heir.

House of Salt and Sorrows is a book that I did not expect to love as much as I do. I thought it was going to be another story about a family of the ocean trying to solve the murder of the sister but it was so much more. If you love an atmospheric book, characters to make you love and other characters to dislike. The ghost story that is woven in with the other pieces of plot really made me walk around my hotel feeling a little creeped out and worried what I would see around the corner. This is a perfect fall read because of that.