House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

Reviewed by Amy P.
Grade 10

Erin A. Craig’s House of Salt and Sorrows is a captivating retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, but with a terrifying twist. It follows Annaleigh, daughter of the Duke of Salann, and her investigation into her family’s secrets and curses. Annaleigh’s sisters, once known as the Thaumus Twelve, are plagued with mysterious deaths until they can’t be passed off as accidents anymore. This novel also combines the classic components of a fairy tale with Craig’s lore of elemental gods and entities. Set in a manor by the sea, every chapter has a ghostly, aquatic atmosphere, leaving you wanting more.

Annaleigh had just lost her sister, Eulalie. She is expected to believe it was an accident, but who really plunges off a cliff to their death in the middle of the night in an “accident”? Eulalie was murdered, and Annaleigh is determined to prove it. While in her search, the world around her grows increasingly more twisted and a series of disturbing visions of her dead sisters torment her. Nobody around her notices, however, once her family finds a magical door that belongs to Pontus, the sea god the islanders worship. It leads to a different, wonderful ball every night and her sisters are almost intoxicated by it. But Annaleigh knows that there is something not quite right with this reality or the other.

The setting was lovely to read about; the author’s choice of words set the perfect ambiance for this book and almost made me feel like I was actually by the sea. The plot was a bit more confusing to read about, however. Although it’s normal for YA books to combine a story retelling with the author’s own mythology, I think it clashed with this one. I would rather have the author focus on only the deities and the sea setting, or only The Twelve Dancing Princesses tale, since they don’t pair very well together.

Other than that, I would definitely recommend this book. It was very exciting to read, and all throughout the novel there were new developments and plot twists. I haven’t read it, but A Court of Thorn and Roses seems similar to this as well.