This is the long-anticipated (for me, at least) sequel to House of Salt and Sorrows, and it was certainly worth waiting for!
Erin. A. Craig has an incredible gift for creating fantasy worlds full of magic and wonder for her readers to fall in love with (an underwater ballroom? Are you kidding me?), then revealing their dark secrets, one by one.
This was an incredible read from start to finish, and completely exceeded all my expectations.
"Beauty exists everywhere in the world. Love resides in all of us. That's the point. I only...I only want to deepen that. Show that there can be—that there should be—substance in it all. Of course a bride on her wedding day is beautiful, but that radiance doesn't diminish in old age, when she's too tired to keep up with whatever ridiculous fashions the shops and salons put out. I know Arina smiles upon an old couple walking down the road together, hand in hand, firm in their commitment to one another. There is love in caring for the sick, the weak, the ugly. A wilting flower holds just as much splendor as one on the cusp of opening."
Twelve years after the events of House of Salt and Sorrows, Annaleigh and Cassius are now married, living on the nearby island of Hesperus and running the beloved lighthouse, Old Maude.
Highmoor, fully recovered from the previous damage, is run by the oldest sister, Camille—now the reigning Duchess of Salann.
However, neither Annaleigh nor Camille are the stars of this story.
The youngest Thaumas sister, Verity, is the last remaining sister at Highmoor besides Camille. All their still-living sisters have started their own lives on other islands or on the mainland, and Verity is dying to do the same. However, Camille insists that Verity's place is at Highmoor, and always will be.
From a young age, Verity has been a gifted artist. She filled sketchbooks with detailed drawings of her dearly departed sisters—details that she should have been much too young to remember.
Her talents have evolved over the years, and at almost-eighteen, she is an incredible painter.
“This house has always felt full of ghosts to me—not of spirits in white sheets and chains, nothing as clichéd as all that—but of memories snatched away. Memories I’ll never be able to claim as mine.”
When a letter from Mercy Thaumas arrives, Verity is thrilled to hear from her closest sister. Attached is a second letter, bearing a seal that Verity doesn't recognize.
As it turns out, the mysterious letter is from the Duchess of Bloem, of whom Mercy is an acquaintance.
The Duchess has seen Verity's work, and wants to commission her to paint a portrait of her son, Alexander.
Verity is thrilled at this opportunity to finally leave Highmoor and see the world, but Camille forbids it. This leads to the sisters' biggest argument to date, and Camille finally reveals her reasoning. Apparently, Verity has always had the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, and is unable to discern the difference between the dead and the living. This is how she was able to draw such detailed portraits of her sisters. This is why she often gets strange looks in public. This is why Camille doesn't want her to leave the safety of Highmoor.
Naturally, Verity doesn't listen. She believes this is an elaborate scheme Camille came up with to scare her, and she refuses to be manipulated.
That night, Verity flees Highmoor and sets off on the seven-day journey to Bloem, also known as the People of the Petals.
"I don't think we, as a people, were always like this, craving the new, the flawless. We need to go back to the older ways, the simpler times."
Verity quickly falls in love with Bloem itself and with the Duchal manor, Chauntilalie.
As she and Alexander get to know each other, spending long hours together while Verity works to paint him, a romance blossoms. Verity feels more at home than she ever did on Highmoor, and she never wants to leave.
However, there are strange occurrences that get harder and harder to ignore, and she begins to wonder if Camille was right.
No longer able to trust her own eyes or mind, Verity begins to wonder if there is something sinister hiding within the walls of Chauntilalie, if it's all happening inside her head, or if her presence on Bloem is part of an elaborate scheme to unleash something horrible.
"So much of the world outside these walls was simply not built for me, for this chair, for...all of it...But with books, I can go anywhere, readily and unencumbered. I can stroll down the streets of Arcannus, solve a murder in Pelage, even see what your little islands are like."
All I can say is Craig better be planning on writing a third installment in the series, because I was not mentally prepared for that ending! It left me screaming for more, and my brain won't rest until I have answers.
It was also really neat to see a character in a wheelchair featured in a fantasy setting, especially when all of Chauntilalie has been remodeled to accommodate it.
I love the world Craig has created with this series, especially the mythology and the way nature is incorporated into the cultures.
Much like the first installment, this didn't go the direction I expected at all, and it took several dark turns that I didn't see coming.
I would strongly recommend giving this series a read, and be sure to join me on Discord so we can talk about it and so much more!
'•.¸♡ Thanks for reading! ♡¸.•'