"The House of Salt and Sorrows" by Erin A Craig

 "A House Of Salt and Sorrows" is a haunting Gothic retelling of the fairy tale classic "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". 

This book definitely get 5 stars for its creep factor. 

Our introduction to the story begins with a funeral. 

The Duke of Highmoore, Orten Thaumas, once had twelve beautiful daughters, a loving wife, and an almost perfect life on their island estate. But tragedy struck when his beloved wife died giving birth to their 12th daughter, Verity, and since that fateful night death seems to follow the Thaumas women.

 One died of plague.

One died in the bathtub.

One died after falling from a library ladder.

And now the fourth eldest daughter, Eulalie, has died under questionable circumstances after falling from a high cliff and smashing into the rocks below. 

Was it an accident?

Did she jump?

Or was she pushed?

Annaleigh Thaumas, now the 2nd eldest daughter of the Duke of Highmoore, is determined to find out what really happened to Eulalie and why her sisters keep dying.

The towns people whisper that their family is cursed, and that anyone who gets too close to the Thaumas girls risks meeting the same fate. But Annaleigh doesn't believe in curses. 

That is, until she starts seeing the spirits of her departed sisters. And these spirits are definitely not at peace and seem to have sinister intentions towards the household occupants. 

However, only Annaleigh and Verity can see their spirits, and no one believes Annaliegh when she tries to tell them that her sisters' death were no accident. 

While trying to solve the mystery of the "Thaumas curse", Annaleigh also tries to comfort her sisters, especially her oldest sister Camille. While Camille is also grieving the deaths of her sisters, she is also lamenting the fact that every eligible bachelor on the island believes them to be cursed and it is unlikely that she will ever find love. And with the near constant deaths of her sisters, the remaining Thaumas sisters are never able to end their mourning period to attend balls and functions where they could meet potential beaus. 

So when Annaleigh hears rumors of a magic door used by the gods that can transport a person anywhere they wish in the entire world, she and her sisters begin to search for it, hoping to find a way to leave their island home and their grief behind for just a few hours so they can enjoy their lives and search for love. 

What follows are nights filled with music, dancing, and handsome partners who escort them around ballrooms throughout the entire world. For the first time in a long time, the Thaumas girls are happy. 

But death never seems to be far from Annaleigh and her sisters, and something far more sinister than they could ever imagine is waiting for them. 

This book is a great choice if you are looking for a spine-tingling supernatural read. I kept thinking to myself as I read this book that it would make a great horror movie. The descriptions of the spirits and the scenes they appear in are down right chilling. And what is creepier that a small child talking about the ghosts of her dead sisters and making drawings of those ghosts in their death states? Eerily accurate drawings of sisters who died when she was just an infant and she should have no memory of. 

I was immediately pulled in by the mystery surrounding the curse, and the cute romance included in the story provided a nice break from the sinister ghosts, the deaths, and the grief that surrounded Annaleigh. 

The only downside of this story was that is got a little confusing at the end. This is in no part the author's fault, it is simply a natural result of the plot and the reveals that are made toward the end. I had to read several parts a couple of times to keep track of what was happening and what had already happened. I can't really say more without giving too much away, but overall, it was a satisfying conclusion to the story. 

This was a great retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and the dark Gothic elements just pushed it to the next level. I will definitely be recommending this one to other readers. 

The narrator for the audiobook version of this story did an amazing job as well!