Book Review: Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett

Author:  Kim Liggett

Genre: Young adult, horror

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: September 22, 2015

352 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

NOTE: I was provided with a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Putnam for letting me read this!

The first line of this book is: “The dead girl hung upside down over our kitchen table.” What an excellent start to a horror novel! The beginning of this book continues to be super creepy and strange, and it hooked me right away. You can really hear that rope creaking as the dead girl swings, first over the kitchen table then later in Ash’s room, school, and everywhere else she sees her. It gave me the creeps. I won’t say I felt that way throughout the entire book though. The middle part dragged a bit and wasn’t nearly as creepy nor satisfying as the beginning and the end were (the last 50 pages or so? WOW).

As for the romance parts of this novel, I really wanted to be all in for Ash and Dane – you’re meant to root for them, but not only was there a bit of instalove (which you guys know I’m not a fan of) explained away by the fact that they are magically attracted to each other (um. By their scent…?), their love felt a bit forced in places. I didn’t get it. However, I won’t lie: they are some swoon-tastic moments here. For real. Also, I honestly felt more about Ash’s brother Rhys and his love interest. Man, were they adorable. Plus, Rhys is probably the character that felt the most…real to me? His emotions were very honest and genuine and it was easy to feel for him. Some of the characters felt a bit flat in comparison to him.

The mythology in Blood and Salt was fascinating, but it was also a bit confusing in parts. There were a few instances when I just didn’t understand what was happening. However, overall, the magic and history about Katia and Ash’s bloodline were really interesting. I think the issue I had was mostly with the middle bits where we were getting some history about Quivira and its people.

The bottom line: Although I did have some issues with this one (mostly with the instalove and the middle part of the novel), I’ll definitely be picking up the second book in this duology. That ending left me wanting more, and I’m looking forward to reading what happens next.

Rating: 7 – pretty good

#WICKEDREADS for Halloween

I don’t know about you guys, but Halloween is hands down my favorite holiday. Not only is it during fall – my favorite season – but it’s all about candy and costumes and creepy books. So get out your flashlights, candy corn, blanket, and get ready to pack your shelves with some wicked reads. (All titles linked to Goodreads, as always)

               

BLOOD AND SALT by Kim Liggett (come back later this week for my review!) – A commune, a freaking cornfield, murder, blood, a FREAKING CORNFIELD. *shudders* Why do scary things always come from the cornfield?

THE ACCIDENT SEASON by Moira Fowley-Doyle (come back later this week for my review!) – Not necessarily as scary as the others or what you would think of as horror, but this eerie, haunting story about things that lurk in your backyard, violent accidents, and taboo will still put you in the mood for Halloween and fall.

SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS by various authors, curated by April Genevieve Tucholke (come back on Wednesday for my review!) – This collection of creepy, horrifying, strange stories by some of the best YA authors is seriously awesome. There were a few stories that literally had me looking over my shoulder and keeping the light on.

THE DEAD HOUSE by Dawn Kurtagich – You guys might have read my review of this one, but it’s perfect for fans of psychological horror, possession, and the strange things the mind can do.

               

THE WALKING DEAD, Volume 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman – I’m sure I don’t really need to explain this one too much, but if you haven’t read these comics yet, what the heck are you waiting for?

CORALINE by Neil Gaiman – Kids trapped in mirrors, strange people with button eyes who kidnap Coraline and want her to sew buttons on for her own eyes. I mean, what more do you want?

THROUGH THE WOODS by Emily Carroll – You might’ve also read my review of this one, but this is a graphic novel made up of four seriously creeptastic stories with some chilling illustrations. ‘It came from the woods. Most strange things do.’

DOLL BONES by Holly Black – This one is a little different from the others in that it’s a MG novel, but like I said in my review, I think Doll Bones was just creepy enough, but not too much to scare young children into nightmares.

Some others that I’m looking forward to checking out:

               

NIGHTFALL by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski – A world in which the sun only rises every 28 years. YEARS. Just imagine how different the world would be if it was almost always night. You would definitely have reason to be afraid of the things that go bump in the night.

MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs – my awesome Secret Sister just sent me this one and I cannot wait to read it! Just flipping through this one could creep you out – it’s full of some disturbing and strange photos.

SURVIVE THE NIGHT by Danielle Vega – An underground rave in NYC that turns deadly. Teens are being hunted in the creepy, dank tunnels of the NYC subway system. Sounds pretty thrilling and terrifying to me.

SHUTTER by Courtney Alameda – A ghost hunt that goes wrong and infects the hunters with something that will kill them unless they can exorcise their own entities. Add in the fact that the MC is a descendant of Van Helsing and you’ve got me hooked.

What are your favorite wicked reads?

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Something you guys might interested in too, which I think is super awesome, is that Penguin Teen is hosting a week long contest on Twitter this week (today until Halloween) in which you can write a spooky story in 140 or less using the #TwitterGhostStory hashtag. Your story (make sure you use the hashtag) will enter you for a chance to win a prize pack of Penguin Teens’ Wicked Reads featured titles (find out which titles on their Tumblr HERE). I’m really excited to see what people come up with for their stories.

ALSO, if you follow me on Twitter, you might’ve seen that I hosted a Wicked Reads Twitter chat a week and a half ago (Thank you again SO MUCH to Penguin Teen for letting me host!). There’s one more Twitter chat left THIS FRIDAY, October 30 hosted by @mashreads – you can chat with and ask questions of:  Danielle Vega, author of The Merciless and Survive the Night, Peter Kujawinskivg, author of Nightfall, Kim Liggett, author of Blood and Salt, April Genevieve Tucholke, author of Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, Carol Goodman, author of the Blythewood series, and Sally Green, author of the Half Bad series. SO many awesome authors!

Happy Halloween! Ten Halloween Reads

It’s Halloween! I’m sure I’m not the only book lover who has books they like to read during a certain time of year. This is a list of books that I recommend to read around Halloween. They are all different genres. Some are “classics” and some are newer. None of them are necessarily Halloween-themed, but they have creepy aspects or creatures that are associated with the holiday.

As always, all titles are linked to their corresponding Goodreads pages.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (anything by Edgar Allan Poe, really)

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (My review)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Pet Cemetery by Stephen King (there are several more I could’ve chosen)

Phantoms by Dean Koontz

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Haunted Book by Jeremy Dyson

John Dies at the End by David Wong (for a weird but not so creepy/scary read)

I haven’t read it yet, but I’m going to assume Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is a good fit for the list. This is one that I definitely want to check out.

Have you read any of these? Tell me what you’d add to the list!