A Curse of Salt
A heartless beast A sister's sacrifice And a love so strong it will drown the raging sea ... THIS FAIRYTALE IS CURSED In a kingdom that fears the sea, Ria Lucroy longs to be brave. Bodies are washing ashore and everyone knows who's to blame. Legends of the Heartless King shroud the continent in fear; they call him a pirate, a monster, a god. When his mercenaries raid her father's merchant ship, Ria's family is faced with a horrifying demand. They will spare his life, in exchange for one of his daughters. Determined to save her sisters, Ria launches herself into the world of pirates. Face-to-face with the Heartless King, she finds he is far more than the stories told. He is a man, with a human name and blood-stained hands, bound to the seas by a centuries-old curse. As their chemistry blooms into something more, Ria finds herself caught in an ancient web of secrets. Battling creatures of the deep alongside those that reign its surface, Ria discovers how to love a heartless man and that some curses aren't so easy to break. Prepare for stormy seas and swoony romance in this addictive retelling of Beauty and the Beast ... Perfect for fans of Brigid Kemmerer's Cursebreakers series and Sarah J Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses.
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Reading and liking A Curse of Salt didn't go hand in hand at first. I think it was maybe around the 20% mark that I actually started to enjoy it? And – I know – I should've dnfed if I wasn't really enjoying it – but I decided to carry on for a bit. I was rewarded for that as I enjoyed myself the more I carried on! It'll definitely stay in my mind as a favourite and a title to recommend if someone's looking for a sea-faring journey or a retelling.
And a retelling it certainly is! As I said at the start – it's Beauty and the Beast – which probably is one of my favourite Disney movies and Belle a top Disney Princess. Street definitely knew what made the movie so good and she captured the magic of the movie and the couple very well. A good part of what makes Belle, or in this case, Ria, a good person is that she has a good heart. Ria put herself in danger to save her family – knowing very well she might not coming back because of how, well, heartless, The Heartless King is.
What I really enjoyed seeing was how Ria comes to know the Blood Rose‘s crew – seeing past the fearsome front they all put on. Going “Oh, they're super scary” at the start of their journey to “they're family now” at the end was a delight to read as I also got to know them and saw them like Ria did. It's also a found family story – something I always enjoy seeing and reading about. And it was done well in here! I could tell they cared fiercely about each other and would indeed take up arms if one of their own got hurt. Which is exactly what I like to see (re found family).
The romance in here is my favourite – enemies to lovers! I'm glad Street wrote it well because that allowed me to root for them all the more. There's nothing that I like more indeed than enemies moving to friends and then eventually lovers. It literally never gets old for me
