ARC Review | Nameless Queen

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Nameless Queen

Author: Rebecca McLaughlin

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: January 7, 2020

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

One girl must make a name for herself–or die trying –in this royal fantasy where an unknown peasant becomes the ultimate ruler. But how long can she keep the crown if everyone wants her dead? Perfect for fans of Furyborn, Red Queen, and Everless.

Everyone expected the king’s daughter would inherit the throne. No one expected me.

It shouldn’t even be possible. I’m Nameless, a class of citizens so disrespected, we don’t even get names. Heck, dozens of us have been going missing for months and no one seems to care.

But there’s no denying the tattoo emblazoned on my arm. I am queen. In a palace where the corridors are more dangerous the streets, though, how could I possibly rule? And what will become of the Nameless if I don’t?

Thank you to Crown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

The city of Seriden is ruled by whoever sits on the throne, and its society is divided into three classes: Royals, Legals, and Nameless. Coin, is Nameless, and like other Nameless, they have no names but give themselves their own names. But if she is truly Nameless, how did the crown tattoo, signifying the heir of the throne get passed down to her? How can a King name her if she has no name? Is she a real queen or an imposter and what does this mean for the Nameless in Seriden.

I liked Coin a lot. She is a thief and a grifter, using her stealth to steal and survive but that’s not only why I like her. She’s snarky and never lets things really get to her. Even being thrown in a dungeon or finding out the truth about her name never truly dampened her spirits. She knows how to hide her fears, treating this “gift” of the tattoo as a con and noting all the players in the game. I always had this feeling while reading the story that Coin would be able to get out of any jam or situation that she encounters. She tackles the problem head on.
Coin and her relationship with Esther, the heir apparent, was something I liked because Coin doesn’t have friends except Hat. So seeing Coin have another young woman helping her and eventually in her corner was nice to see. This story has a mostly female cast which was nice.
Interesting world building about the classes of people and how the Nameless are denied rights. I kept reading to try and figure out how Coin fit into the story and how she was going to be able to help the Nameless. It was interesting enough to hold my attention and want to learn more. Obviously the Royals and Legals make out better than the Nameless but I was left with some questions.
There wasn’t a romance in this story and it didn’t need one. Coin seemed engaged enough in making connections with other people that it was okay not to have a romance. Not going to lie, was I looking for one? Always. 😅 But this story was good without one.
The story explores themes in this book about family, who you are if you don’t have a family or a name given to you-the importance of a name and belonging.

Needs more world building because there is mention of neighboring kingdoms and treaties. I kept kind of waiting for some ambassador form the neighboring kingdom to show up or something, isn’t there always some ambassador at court? But relations between Seriden and the other kingdoms aren’t strong…but why?
Esther explains the history of magic in one chapter and I get magic was bound to the one who will rule Seriden but I think I wanted to know what kind of magic did people have. It sounded like a magical world until the kingdoms bound the magic into ink. Do the other kingdoms find their heirs the same way? With magic tattoos? So in Seriden only the crown tattoo bearer can use magic. Also, the Nameless aren’t affected by magic…so Coin is raised Nameless but clearly is not, since she’s Queen now, so she did have a name – it’s a little bit confusing because apparently she’s not affected by magic. 🤷🏻‍♀️ And speaking of magic, I want to see this Seriden with magic unleashed!
The ending leaves it open to a sequel so we shall see what happens there.

If there is a sequel I hope it explains and expand on some things in the book that left me with questions. I really enjoyed Coin and her perseverance. She took what life handed her and rolled with it. Also it’s rare to find a young adult fantasy without a romance, and here we have one that is a pretty good story without one. Overall this is a promising debut!

Book Review | The Relic Spell

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Relic Spell (The Phyrian War Chronicles Book 1)

Author: Jimena L. Novaro

Format: eBook (provided by author for review)

Pages: 346

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Magic rolls through Orion Tamura’s history classroom like a tidal wave of golden light that only he can see. The spell is deadly, and Orion has no idea who cast it or what they want.

Answers are scarce—all of Port Monica’s sorcerers vanished fourteen years before, including Orion’s father. Armed with his limited knowledge of magic, Orion is the only one left in the city who is strong enough to investigate the origins of the spell.

But the city’s leaders will stop at nothing to censor and sabotage anyone who gets close to the truth. Invisible otherworlders watch every move Orion and his friends make, and a mysterious sorcerer who knows the answers haunts Orion’s dreams.

Thank you to author, Jimena I. Novaro, for providing me a copy of this book for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Orion Tamura is Port Monica’s most powerful sorcerer since all the other ones vanished during the Phyrian War. But Orion is also just a teenager with big responsibilities on his shoulders. He is protecting a town from evil and trying to help keep his family afloat and that is a lot for one kid to take on. He has his best friend Max who is a warrior in his own right and he makes other friends along the way as they try to get to the bottom of who sent out a huge, deadly spell throughout the town. Can Orion be everywhere at once and make sure everyone he cares about is protected or will he fail?

The world building in this story is really well done! We have some history about a Phyrian War which was a big event that involved sorcery, magic, demons and then some. Not many who lived through it want to remember it though. There are all types of demons and other creatures with magic. As for Orion, his dad, Daisuke, was well known in the community as a powerful sorcerer but there is bad history there and he’s been gone for as long as Orion can remember.
Speaking of Orion’s missing dad – Orion’s character is dealing with a lot on his plate. He’s a sorcery and feels obligated to keep the town safe, well obviously because a safe town means his family stays safe. His mom is trying to move on without his dad, his younger sister and brother are going through some things too and Orion’s trying to be there for everyone but burning his candle on both ends. On top of that he’s dealing with feelings for his best friend Max and trying to find out who released this dangerous spell in their town. Orion makes mistakes but the best thing about him is he keeps trying to do what he can with what power he has.
Two characters that I thought are interesting were Briar and Elsa – maybe because I just gravitate more towards strong females but Briar’s demon lineage is fascinating. I loved that Elsa was always kicking butt too! 💪🏾 Orion was pretty lucky to have her watching his back even though she had her own mission to accomplish.
There is a lot of racial and sexual diversity represented in this book, which is always refreshing.
This story keeps moving, meaning there is a lot of action! From the get go Orion and Max are involved with fighting a creature and it doesn’t stop there. There is downtime here and there in the story but it has a lot of action to keep one entertained.

Orion at times didn’t come off as a physically strong character. Like Max, his best friend was definitely more of the warrior, but at times Orion couldn’t meet his eyes. I know it was due to personal/longing stuff but I just wished at times he could assert more of his power when it was needed. But maybe that’s just a personality thing.

Some things in the story isn’t resolved by the end which makes sense since this is going to be a series. I look forward to reading book two and finding out what happened with Briar and her demon family. This is an urban fantasy story with a wholly constructed magic system and detailed world building. If you like fantasy, then The Relic Spell would interest you!

Book Review | Rules For Vanishing

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Rules For Vanishing

Author: Kate Alice Marshall

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 416

Categories: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult, Supernatural, Horror

In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods?

It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca–before she’s lost forever. And even though she’s hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends–and their cameras–following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

I finally got my hands on this book and it totally reminded me of The Blair Witch Project, which I saw on opening back in…1999. 🤭

So there is an urban legend about Lucy Gallows who went into the woods and never came out. When Sara’s sister Becca goes on this search to find Lucy, she goes missing as well. One year later, text messages are sent, to play the game to find Lucy Gallows. Sara wants to do it so she can find her sister and her old friends join her.

This was definitely like The Blair Witch Project, but with cell phones and them seeing actual ghosts! Because we all know there was like nothing to see in BWP. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I like the urban legend of Lucy Gallows – I get a kick out of stories like that. I love the ghost hunting and I’m glad the kids thought to capture video of their journey on the road because hello yes, in this day and age we need video evidence!
The road was very fascinating. I thought the gates were interesting and for the horror fans there are a lot of gruesome descriptions of people who tried to walk the road and…never made it off the road basically. 👀
The story is told in alternating between interviews with Sara (after the events of the road) and during the trip on the road. I thought it helped build up the suspense and at some points I wondered if this was all some psychological twist in Sara’s mind. It also included text messages between the group of friends and video evidence. I just like how the author used a whole mix of things to tell the story.
My favorite scene is when all of the characters are lost in a house, which s still part of the road. But it gets kind of crazy in there and that’s the part where I felt was the most creepiest in the book.

I connected to no character. ☹️ How is that possible? Maybe too many characters? And some characters going missing and honestly…at some points I didn’t remember who was supposed to be on this Lucy Gallows search party. There was a Miranda and Mel (Melanie) and I kept confusing the two. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Without spoiling – and it’s hard…there is something other than Lucy Gallows that haunts the road and it’s a big part of the story but it emerges in the middle of the story. It took me too long to hook me, plus with the confusing ending I had to process this book for a minute – okay it took me all weekend because my my brain burned out due to catching the flu. Anyway I googled this legend of Dahut and Ys and it exists! Okay why didn’t the legend just start with that instead? I guess it added layers to the story but I think at times it threw me off, maybe that was the purpose but it made me impatient.
The ending was abrupt and confusing.

I found Rules for Vanishing entertaining until the ending which confused me. It was fun following this group of teens walking down this mysterious road that shows up but the ending left me underwhelmed. On a scary scale, and I usually can’t tolerate a whole lot of scary…this one did not scare me at all. It did have the creepy factor so I’m glad about that.

Book Review | The Sound of Drowning

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Sound of Drowning

Author: Katherine Fleet

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 377

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Grief

Meredith Hall has a secret. Every night she takes the ferry to meet Ben, her best friend and first love. Though their relationship must remain a secret, they’ve been given a second chance, and Mer’s determined to make it work. She lost Ben once before and discovered the awful reality: she doesn’t know how to be happy without him…

Until Wyatt washes ashore―a brash new guy with a Texas twang and a personality bigger than his home state. He makes her feel reckless, excited, and alive in ways that cut through her perpetual gloom. The deeper they delve into each other’s pasts, the more Wyatt’s charms become impossible to ignore.

But a storm is brewing in the Outer Banks. When it hits, Mer finds her heart tearing in half and her carefully constructed reality slipping back into the surf. As she discovers that even the most deeply buried secrets have a way of surfacing, she’ll have to learn that nothing is forever―especially second chances.

Wow – so this was an unexpected read. Why did I borrow it? I’m a sucker for pretty fonts and graphics. Like…I’m that person who can go to those font store sites and scroll through font bundles and by ones on sale because I NEED that font…(for what, I don’t know…). I have like 500+ fonts on my computer! 🤣 Off tangent, I know…but the cover of this book is SO me.

Meredith has a dilemma, she’s in love with one guy and meets another guy who awakens things in her and sees her for who she is and likes her regardless. But she has a lot of secrets going on. Something happens in her past that has broken her, can Mer come back from the grips of the darkness trying to drown her?

This is not your typical YA romance story. I thought it was because of the cover and blurb. But no, no, no, it has romance but it’s more than that. There is a twist in this story that surprised me.
There are some deep issues going on in this book. Grief, forgiveness, and just learning cope and to move on. But what kind of stood out to me is the strained relationship between Mer and her mom. I related to Mer a lot, especially with her mom because I never thought any of my parents understood me when I was a teen. I remember that horrible feeling of disappointing them. But as a mom now, I also understand the scene when her mom actually tries to explain how she feels. Ugh…it kind of gutted me. The misunderstandings between parents and their own children can become such big issues.
Wyatt, the guy Mer meets is such a charming, funny character – he really comes to life in this story.
Mer is going through so much with no one to really turn to. She put all her life into one boy, Ben. Like I said, thinking about when I was a teen…I remember that feeling of thinking one boy was everything to me and how devastating it would be to lose that person. As an adult reading this, I was like her mom lecturing her about being too young and in love. Ahhh! I was just like, I am Mer and her mom…have I come full circle? My kids aren’t even teens yet! 🤣
This is an emotional read, it made me cry because some parts triggered me. It is a journey into a girl’s depression after some really tough events in her life.

Meredith is not a likable character but I totally understand her. She’s seventeen and went through some stuff but we don’t KNOW what until later. She’s cynical (but I am too, life does that to you sometimes haha), she’s a loner…but there is a reason, you just have to be interested in as to why and keep on reading. At times she comes off selfish but she’s young, she also has low self-esteem and trouble making friends before she dates Ben. So there are things happening that lead up to where she is at mentally.
Triggers: grief, depression, attempted suicide
Then ending is a surprise twist, so there is a few chapters mentioning secret about Meredith’s past that isn’t revealed until later in the book. I did at some points wish the secret would just be revealed…like come on! But this story required some patience and it keep me reading for sure.

I enjoyed this story and finished it in one sitting because it was atmospheric with the Outerbanks setting of North Carolina. I also needed to know what Mer’s secret was. I also really loved Wyatt, he infused some humor into this story and that surprise ending did its job to make me say…whoa. This book is emotional, there is grief, there is pain, but there is hope for a second chance at happiness also.

Top Ten Tuesday | 12/3/19

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. Check out their blogs for more awesome bookish content!

Holiday Reads

(Books You Love Reading During the Holidays)

I haven’t done one of these TTTs in awhile! This week’s topic is Holiday Reads-Books You Love Reading During the Holidays. I’m usually in the mood to read romance books during the holidays but not necessarily Christmas holiday romance. A few here and there is good for me. And of course I still read my young adult fantasy books. But because I slowed down in November, it feels like I’m playing catch up in December already, so I’m just going to list what I’m reading.

I posted about this title in last week’s WWW Wednesday but I gotta be honest…it’s been slow going. So far there is insta-love and a major heartbreak, and the couple reuniting which you can guess is not going so well. This book so far has been kinda depressing and I don’t know if it’s one I want to finish in December. 😞

I have the eARC of this book and it publishes in January so I’m reading a little but each day. It’s fascinating…a female version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV but whatever…I don’t even REMEMBER Henry IV, did I even have to read that in high school? There are lady knights!! Lady knights having sex with other lady knights! It’s a pretty amazing undertaking storewide because there are so man characters to follow. I finally hit 20% of the book (it took me all weekend). I’m determined to finish this by this week!

I really need to get a move on this story, I think I’m a fourth in. It’s a good story so far, I just was in the mood for romance and put this down to read the romance novels in my NetGalley shelf haha.

I just finished Wintersong, the first book in this series and I’m going to jump into this one before another book sucks up all my attention.

And yes because I need romance this month, I also started another NetGalley eARC. I’m on chapter two with this one but honestly, I think I’ll finish this one first out of the titles I just listed. 😅

Another eARC on NetGalley that I got started on and I’m at 30%. This is the second book in the Crown of Feathers series and I’m not feeling it as much as the first book in the series. Maybe I’m just not in the mood because it is the holidays? Not sure but I have some time to finish this one, it publishes in February 2020.

There you have it, 6 books I am reading when I feel like it! Haha…I don’t usually have that many open at once, but it is what it is. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s December, I’m not in a rush to read anything really unless it’s an arc that’s about to be published soon. I’m just going to try and just chill for the rest of the year. ☺️ Thanks for reading!

ARC Review | Something Wicked

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Something Wicked (Book #1)

Author: Nicole M. Rubino

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: eBook – ? / Paperback-424

Publication Date: November 19, 2019

Categories: Witchcraft, Salem, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

A breakup and a car accident are no way to start your seventeenth birthday.

For Theo Montgomery, that is exactly how it began. Her bad luck turns worse when she returns home from a school dance to find her house on fire–with her parents still inside.

Following their deaths, Theo is sent to live with her estranged aunt in Salem, Massachusetts. If a new home and a new school aren’t enough to deal with, Theo discovers her aunt has a secret: she is a witch. And so is Theo.

Theo must learn keep her magic in check, lest the Town’s notorious witch hunters discover that magic has returned to the world after more than three hundred years. But how can she navigate a new school, new magical powers and avoid the witch hunters, when she finds herself enjoying the company of one?

Trystan de Lancre is a dangerous witch hunter, but that doesn’t keep Theo from wanting to discover more about him. Harboring secrets of his own, Trystan isn’t the only perilous force in Salem. Something has returned to the village; something that the witches believed to have been dead and buried long ago.

Salem’s dark past rises to haunt Theo and the present-day witches, unraveling a shocking revelation: the real cause of the Salem Witch Trials.

Thank you to Magnolia Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Something Wicked is about a teenage girl named Theo who has strange things happening to her all the time. First, the accident with her ex-boyfriend, then her parents dying all of a sudden and things happens when she gets angry like windows slam shut. 👀 An aunt she never knew she had offers her a home with her in Salem, Massachusetts and that’s when Theo realizes she’s a witch.

Salem is also home to witch hunters, one being the very handsome, Trystan. It’s a forbidden insta-romance between them since witch hunters and witches getting together is a pretty bad idea. But they can’t fight the attraction happening between them! 🤷🏻‍♀️

What I enjoyed most about the story was learning about the history of the witches. Most of the book is about Theo learning about her powers. Apparently she’s a rare, powerful Elemental witch, and she easily learns how to use her powers…which is convenient. I thought it came way too easy for her. It is a young adult book so Theo had some teenage angst about finding out the truth about her family and dealing with boy problems.

The character I enjoyed the most is Theo’s aunt Elizabeth because she’s so smart, independent and powerful. She looks out for Elizabeth and helps her grow into being witch.

Trystan’s perspective gave us insight into the witch hunters but I think more of his story will be revealed in the sequel. I thought the history of witch hunters was interesting. Now Trystan is a bit older than Theo who is still in high school. Trystan is a college boy.

A lot of the action is at the end of the book where we get some witch vs. witch fighting. I did lose some interest around the middle of the book because I didn’t quite believe or trust Trystan’s feelings for Theo especially after some truths are revealed, but they seemed to work it out for the most part. Overall it’s a quick read about Salem witches, and witch hunters, infused with a little forbidden love. If you want a witchy read for October, this will definitely hit the spot!

ARC Review | The Good Luck Girls

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Good Luck Girls

Author: Charlotte Nicole Davis

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: October 1, 2019

Categories: Dystopian, Fantasy, Western, Young Adult, Human Trafficking, Addiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Aster, the protector
Violet, the favorite
Tansy, the medic
Mallow, the fighter
Clementine, the catalyst

THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS

The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls–they know their luck is anything but. Sold to a “welcome house” as children and branded with cursed markings. Trapped in a life they would never have chosen.

When Clementine accidentally murders a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by Arketta’s most vicious and powerful forces, both human and inhuman, their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one Good Luck Girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe.

It’s going to take more than luck for them all to survive.

Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

In this dystopian/fantasy western world of Arketta, we have a group of females who are living in a “welcome house”, basically it’s a brothel. They are raised to be sex slaves in The Scab, a mining town in what seems like the worst part of Arketta. But when Clementine, one of the girls, accidentally kills her brag (customer), she, her sister and friends make a run for it. This story then follows these girls on the run from the law, supernatural monster called vengeants, raveners who mess with their minds and other powerful men. What a wild ride this story took me on!

I was so impressed with the world building. I’m not a big fan of westerns so I went into this book just mildly interested. But as I kept reading, I realized this world kept drawing me in deeper. Families in The Scab sell their girls for shine (money) and girls then sell their bodies. ☹️ It’s a tough world for women in Arketta and for the other dustbloods. Dustbloods, are a group of people who had their shadows torn from them because of a debt to be paid. Their children are born with no shadows, and these people are oppressed in a land where landmasters rule. Subject matter wise, it’s a tough one. I got angry about the welcome houses and how the girls are drugged to do their “job”. I was angry at the men and raveners. 😠

But landmasters and raveners are not the only evils out there. Arketta is teeming with vengeants, supernatural like monsters that prowl in the dark. We follow Aster, Clementine, Tansy, Mallow and Violet (yes all named after flowers), as they escape the welcome house. They travel to different towns on horses, navigating dirt trails, camping out at abandoned mines and even catching a ride on a train. Along the way they come across many dangers, meet new people, they plan heists and robberies to survive! All they want is real freedom! 😔 The cast of characters is diverse with people of color and with LGBT+ representation.

I loved Aster, who is the main character and takes a roll as leader of this runaway crew. She’s never been a leader and she makes mistakes along the way but she admits her wrongdoings and tries to fix things. I love how her character leaps off the page. And another thing I enjoyed was finding out the original names of the girls as their journey continues. It was empowering to see them shed their personas from the welcome house and reclaim the names they were born with!

This story is a strong debut from author Charlotte Nicole Davis. It is engaging, exciting and empowering. I look forward to the sequel!

Book Review | Fake It Till You Break It

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Fake It Till You Break It

Author: Jenna R. Nguyen

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 304

Categories: Young Adult, Romance

Mia and Jake have known each other their whole lives. They’ve endured summer vacations, Sunday brunches, even dentist visits together. Their mothers, who are best friends, are convinced that Mia and Jake would be the perfect couple, even though they can’t stand to be in the same room together.

After Mia’s mom turns away yet another cute boy, Mia and Jake decide they’ve have had enough. Together, they hatch a plan to get their moms off their backs. Permanently. All they have to do is pretend to date and then stage the worst breakup of all time—and then they’ll be free.

The only problem is, maybe Jake and Mia don’t hate each other as much as they once thought…

Sometimes I just need a light read and this was it!

Enemies to fake dating to lovers. I think the fake dating trope is so much fun especially when the two characters can’t stand each other, like Mia and Jake in Fake It Till You Break It. They are neighbors, their moms are best friend, they’ve known each other since kids and are best friends without knowing it. It doesn’t help that their moms are trying their hardest to make them fall in love.

Of course they conjure up a plan to give their moms what they want and then break up so they will stop throwing them together. What ends up happening is pretty predictable as with most fake dating tropes, there is a happy ending. But I loved seeing them eventually get there.

What I liked most about this book was Mia and Jake’s interaction with one another. I love how Mia tells Jake things straight up and she can be her messy self around him. And as much as Jake antagonizes her, he knows everything about her. They are just too cute and funny together, I was happy for their eventually happily ever after!

I read this book in a few hours. It is light-reading, adorable, and it left me smiling at the end. ☺️

Book Review | House of Salt and Sorrows

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: House of Salt and Sorrows

Author: Erin A. Craig

Format: Hardcover (owned)

Pages: 416

Categories: 12 Dancing Princesses Retelling, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Horror

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.

In a Top Ten Tuesday topic about childhood favorites, I listed the Twelve Dancing Princesses as one of mine. House of Salt and Sorrows was exactly everything I wanted in a retelling of one of my favorite childhood stories.

But let me talk about the cover first! I got the OwlCrate version and it’s lovely. I love how the inside cover is black with a octopus and masquerade mask design in gray. It’s gorgeous. This totally spoke to the island girl in me with the tidepools and the tentacles on the cover.

Quick personal story: My dad had a boat when I was young, I mean it’s Hawaii so he loved to fish, many people do. He’d be out with our neighbor fishing in the early morning and he’d come back with so many kinds of fish, limu (seaweed), crab, and octopus. He sold some to our neighbors, gave some away to relatives and freeze the rest. One of the chores my sister and I had to do was help clean…everything. I hated cleaning octopus because some of them were huge and still alive and my dad would hold it as I would watch it wrap its large tentacles around his arm. Then my dad would show me its teeth, which looks like a little black whole. As a child I was so afraid it would eat my finger! 😩 So instead he let us clean the baby octopus, and we cleaned it with….SALT. I’ve come to respect octopus and love how beautiful they are, tasty to a lot of people, but they are just awesome, smart creatures. Slimy though. The octopus is the crest for the Thaumus family in this book – which I adore!

House of Salt and Sorrows was the perfect book to get me into the fall season with Halloween around the corner. I am a wimp and when this book went into creepy and horror territory, I vowed to only read it in the day time! Yes…I did start off reading it at night until a few scenes in the book gave me the spooky tingling feeling. 😅 And one sister’s name is Lenore?! A name I love because of Edgar Allan Poe. I LOVE IT. I am trash for Poe. This whole book was a vibe that I was looking for!

Annaleigh is one of twelve sisters, but four sisters have lost their lives, leaving her, Camille, the three Graces, and the triplets. These sisters are close and have a special bond which I love. I would want them to be my sisters! They live on an island surrounded by the sea. When someone dies they return them to the Sal, to the sea. I enjoyed learning about the rituals of the Salann Islands.

I wish this book had a map because the other parts of this world sound fascinating! The world building was intriguing with its own mythology, similar to Greek but except Poseidon ruling the seas, the god of the sea in House of Salt and Sorrows is named Pontus. We learn about a few other gods and goddesses in the book, but I want more. I want to learn about all the other parts of this world that was mentioned in this book: People of the Bones in the Cardanian Mountains, People of the Stars in Versia and so much more.

Now let’s talk about the mystery, just like in Twelve Dancing Princesses, Annaleigh’s father asks that someone uncover the truth about the princesses ruined slippers. I loved the mention of it and I loved the twist! I seriously thought I was losing my mind along with Annaleigh at one point, but the reveal at the end was good!

And the horror? One scene involving a bathtub scared me, which was why I decided to read it in the day time. Yes, I’m so weak! 🤣 Horror is not my favorite genre. But I could totally see this story as a horror movie! There were other scenes in the book that gave me even more nightmarish vibes but it’s so fun. Scary fun!

Of course, because there is a little bit of everything in this book, there is romance! It’s not one that the book centers on, but I loved it because it was a little shining light in Annaleigh’s life which up to that point was just mired in death, curses, nightmares and….madness. It was sweet!

This has to be one of my top favorite books this year! I really hope we get to visit this world again, even if it’s just to follow where the surviving sisters go. I want more mystery/horror/romance stories set in this world! Basically I want to read whatever this author writes next. House of Salt and Sorrows is a fantastic debut novel that surpassed my expectations. 😍

First Lines Friday (9/06/19)

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

Friday for me couldn’t come soon enough this week! It was a short school week for my son because it was a holiday week, but we spent the last weekend at a hotel in busy Waikiki which is tourist central on our island. It was SO packed with people and my sister and her family had a room at the hotel as well so it was a family affair!

I barely slept for our two nights there but it was good to get away from our routine for a bit. I haven’t gone on a trip since my son was born, seven years ago! So I have major island fever. But I’m back in the routine and reading again. Let’s see if I can get some reviews up on this blog and some fun book tags that I’ve been seeing on my fellow bloggers’ sites! With that said…let’s get the lines!

“The say there’s a fine line between love and hate. I used to think They were idiots. Most people are. What could some faceless They know about love? Or hate for that matter. But then I dated Veronica Matthews.”

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Doesn’t this one look fun? Gonna start reading this one soon, I was saving it for when we get closer to Halloween but I already renewed it at the library. Haha, so I better get to reading it because I have 7 other library books on my shelf! Have a nice weekend everyone!