House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

by Erin A. Craig
Genres: Young Adult
Goodreads

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. 

---

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

House of Salt and Sorrows is an amazing retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses written by the Brothers Grimm. In a manor in Highmoor, where once there were twelve sisters who lived with their father and stepmother, now remain eight. The villagers believe the family to be cursed as first their mother dies in childbirth and one by one the girls die of mysterious circumstances.

Annaleigh, our protagonist, is heart broken over the death of another sister that is labeled a horrible accident. But knowing her sister the way she does, she begins to suspect that there is something more to the story and that maybe she was murdered. Searching for clues leads her into dangerous and mysterious places, and into the arms of Cassius Corum. And when another sister goes missing, and the danger increasing ever more, will the sisters ever escape this cursed life?

For a debut author, the story-line is gripping. Fantasy with horror, in a wonderfully written story filled with mystery, suspense and some romance. This is my favorite type of YA. It was so creepy and horror filled and had me on the edge of my seat. What would happen to the sisters? Why would someone seem to target them? Every page got darker and drew me in even more. The best part is that while I figured out some of the mystery, I was completely blown away by most of the reveals. What a fantastic book! I seriously can’t wait to read more from this author.