A Curse of Salt

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