House of Salt and Sorrows

I voluntarily read and reviewed and ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
2.5 stars

DNF @ 38%

Okay, this is a hard one. I really wanted to like this one and there were moments where I thought I was going to start liking it, but over 30% into a book over 400 pages and I'm more annoyed and enjoying it, so I'm calling it quits. I'm not entirely sure if I would have preferred this if I was reading it on a cold winter day. See, this book is on the slower side which I'm not a huge fan of, but I do have more patience for gothic books when it is cold and not hot and muggy.
Besides the pacing, I'm also not a huge fan of Annaleigh. She felt like two different characters to me. At times gungho and ready to solve a mystery and at others silent follower. While I understand how a person can be both, the times she was silent just didn't work for me and seemed done more to make tension or drama.
Perhaps I'm also at a disadvantage because I've had to put this book down a few times, so I might be misunderstanding or incorrectly remembering past parts in the book, but the building romance had me so confused... at the possibility of a love triangle I decided to put it down.

This is super unfortunate and I've heard that it gets super interesting at the 50% marker, but I just don't have time to trudge through 250+ pages to finally start liking a book.

Now, I'm not saying other people won't enjoy this. There are so many creepy moments– this is what was making me want to continue reading. The atmosphere is really well done: it is creepy, dark, and lonely. There is a mystery surrounding the deaths of Annaleigh's sisters and their curse which is really intriguing. Are the Gods real? Are the ghosts?? What is the truth about the deaths and this door that brings the sisters to an amazing ball?
There is a lot to be interested in and the writing is well done. I won't be surprised if many people find this to be an amazing book.

Unfortunately, it just isn't working out for me.