As this is a retelling of The 12 Dancing Princesses, this one also contains mysterious balls that last all night, wearing the girls’ shoes out soon after they have been purchased. Craig does an excellent job developing the setting from page one with the island’s rituals, and she weaves creepy details throughout the plot such as horrific drawings and ghostly visions. Where this book really delivers is in its atmosphere. I will say that I found it difficult at times to keep up with the many other characters within the book, but this didn’t detract from my enjoyment too much. While she experiences frightening visions that make her question reality, she remains brave and mature. She has a fierce love for her sisters, doing whatever it takes to protect them, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I liked Annaleigh’s character, and I enjoyed getting her unique perspective on the strange events that surround her. She decides to take matters into her own hands and investigate while her sisters sneak out every night to dance at a mysterious ball, but as strange happenings around the manor intensify, she must get to the bottom of her family’s “curse” before one of her sisters is next. Following the death of her mother, Annaleigh’s sisters are dying one by one, but despite what others may believe, Annaleigh is convinced that these deaths were no accident. In a manor by the sea, Annaleigh and her family appear to be cursed. Review: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. 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. Because who-or what-are they really dancing with? 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.

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.ĭisturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.Īnnaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother.

The house of salt and sorrows