With the sequel on it’s way, I thought now would be a great time to sing my praises to Erin A. Craig and her magnificent dark fantasy fairytale retelling, House of Salt and Sorrows. House of Salt and Sorrows is a dark fantasy retelling of the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses with mild horror elements and an atmosphere thick and rich with detail, tension, and anticipation.

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed. Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there 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 her sister’s deaths were no accidents. The girls 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. House of Salt and Sorrows is a spellbinding novel filled with magic and the rustle of gossamer skirts down long, dark hallways. Be careful who you dance with…

The atmosphere throughout the book is consistent and the tone is dark and ominous, making this an incredibly intriguing, immersive read. It can be very difficult to uphold the same tone and feeling while speeding up the pace and rising the tension, but Erin A. Craig has done a wonderful job with keeping everything in place. The use of language and emotive description was delightfully grim and, at times, horrifying, making this retelling all the more sinister and delectable. I haven’t seen a fairytale retelling dipped in horror quite like this before and you can be sure that I already have House of Roots and Ruin on my library requests.

Erin A. Craig’s writing style is rich with detail and she engages the senses in such a enticing way that it makes me fall victim to the same glamours and tricks that the girls have overlooked. I felt the same way when I read Small Favors, another dark fantasy of hers that I highly recommend. She has a talent for creating authentic, palpable landscapes and environments in which readers can fall into and become lost in.