House of Salt and Sorrows

I jumped back and forth about giving this book 4 or 5 stars but I'm sticking with 5 stars. I got from this book what I was expecting from a book a read a few books back..AND I DIDN'T GET. AT ALL....and I wasn't even expecting from this one. So win for me.

I'm not well versed in the story of The Twelve Dancing Princesses but I remembered enough that I knew what it was. And I was excited for 1. a retelling and 2. a retelling that wasn't Beauty and the Beast ( I love BatB retellings..but there are SO MANY).

This book was a YA retelling, gothic horror, murder mystery with a little slow burn romance thrown in. What? That's a lot. And you know what...YOU KNOW WHAT...it was well done. For a debut novel? Shut up. WHAT ELSE YOU GOT, ERIN??

At one point, I didn't know what was real and what wasn't. What was a lie and what wasn't. Definitely had a creepy atmosphere to it. I can't say that the first half was fast paced....But I was already drawn in by the spooky vibes. I'm not going to lose sleep but I'm also not the target demographic. All in all...definitely worth the read if you ask me. And if you didn't ask me..then why are you here? O.O