Annaleigh is one of 12 sisters, but not all are still alive. After their mother's death, one by one, the sisters keep dying, leading the entire seaside kingdom to believe that the Thaumas family is under a curse. But did Eulalie, the most recent daughter to die, really commit suicide or was she murdered? As Annaleigh gets closer to what she thinks is the truth, her world starts to unravel. What are these strange visions she's seeing? Who is this new and handsome stranger come to town? And what is the motive behind her new stepmother's actions?
Don't worry, dancing still plays a part in this fable. When the girls realize no one will ever want to marry them because of the supposed curse, they discover a secret door used by the gods that will take them anywhere they want to go, including to balls all over the country where many men want to dance with them. They dance so much that they wear out their shoes, just like the girls in the original story.
For a debut novel, this one is pretty solid. The concept intrigued me, but there were a few parts that I had to re-read because it felt like either I had missed something or the author forgot to include a pertinent piece of information. (I can't really go into detail on this without giving stuff away.)
And with 12 daughters, a father, a stepmother, two love interests, and a host of other side characters, there were a lot of people to keep track of. I needed a flow chart or something.
That's not to say I didn't like the book. There were enough twists to keep me guessing and make me think that I was going mad, too. If you like fairytales and ghost stories, then you might want House of Salt and Sorrows to dance its way onto your to-read list.
House of Salt and Sorrows is published by Delacorte Press and is on bookstore shelves now. It is age-graded 12 and up. I received a free review copy in exchange for my honest review.
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