House of Salt and Sorrows Review

Summary

Annaleigh is the fourth of eleven sisters living on an island estate. Her only dream is to caretake for the lighthouse in town, but all her sisters dream of getting married and starting a family. However, there may be a curse on her family that causes their deaths instead of a happy ending and Annaleigh needs to find out who is causing it before she winds up dead.

My Thoughts

I’ve seen this book around Bookstagram, but I didn’t really know what it was about. I mean let’s be real, I was captivated by the cover so I need to own it as soon as possible. (I am a little ashamed of that fact, not going to lie!) I was asked to participate in a buddy read to read it and I went in blind, not even reading the summary. It was an intriguing mystery with hints of fantasy in an island setting. I really liked it, but I wasn’t in love.

The things I liked about it was firstly the mystery that drove the plot. The mystery drove the plot in a very fast paced direction that caused me to zoom through the book in a matter of days. First I thought the house was haunted, then I thought the eldest sister was involved, then I thought it was a case of madness, but I was wrong on all accounts. So the book is anything, but predictable. I love unpredictability when it comes to these things.

I also found all of the sisters extremely interesting! Annaleigh of course was written fantastically. She just wanted to run a lighthouse and nothing else. I felt a kinship with her over all the other sisters. She showed deep connections and care towards her sisters and would fight her father in most cases for the best of her sisters, usually ignoring her own needs. The sister element of this book really reminded me of Little Women.

Annaleigh was definitely a Jo character because yes she wanted a man, but she also wanted a lighthouse too. In other words she wanted more out of life than marriage and children. Her older sister reminded me of a evil version of Meg. I really could not stand her! She was just plain awful and I don’t know how Annaleigh could have stood her behavior with so much patience! Her other sisters were very much a combination of Amy and Beth, but more so of Amy. Not one sister was docile in the group for very long.

The romance in this book was interesting and sweet, but not my favorite. The steam level on this was a shimmer at best and I wish we had gotten to learn more about Cassius and where he came from. Fisher was definitely an homage to Laurie, but with a very good twist. Was NOT expecting that!!!

The magical element of this book was more leaning towards mythology and religion than magic. I really enjoyed learning about their different gods and traditions and it added such an interesting element to the plot. However, I thought it could have been a little better explained.

Overall, this book went a very interesting and unique direction that I was NOT expecting and I very much enjoyed it!