This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

I sailed through this fabulous YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast (even as a not so young adult!). Full of romance and adventure on the high seas, just enough peril to keep you turning the pages late into the night, and an intriguing cast of magical pirates. Definitely a fun read for Pirates of the Caribbean fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful cover, but the book hardly did anything unique to be a memorable beauty and the beast retelling. I liked the idea of putting this on a ship, but everything was just giving the Disney movie with not much new or special. A shame because the cover really is lovely.

So do you want something with a retelling akin to Beauty and the Beast but with Pirates of the Carribean vibes... look no further

Rias father barely makes it back from a shipwreck, and the Heartless King requires his eldest daughter for who knows what fate. Felicie is ailing and wanting to protect her sister, Ria goes in her place.

The Heartless King is a symbol who's very name strikes fear, but what if there is more to his story... and is Ria brave enough to find out. With the help of his loyal crew, Ria may just find out what home and family can mean to different people!

Throughly enjoyed this book. Very easy to read and the story kept me wanting to read more, albeit familiar if you were a little obsessed with beauty and the best like I was, but still engrossing and feels fresh in the new setting

Three words to describe this book: fun, adventurous, pirate-y (I don’t care, it’s a word now
The characters: I wish the characters had been a little more fleshed out. I don’t feel like Ria had much personality outside of “reckless and loves books” and the Heartless King could have been a stand in for any BATB retelling hero.
The writing: Sarah Street could teach a masterclass on the sea as a metaphor. Her writing was lush and perfect for this seafaring adventure
The story itself: was it predictable? Absolutely. Did I love it anyway? Absolutely. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling that doesn’t take many risks. The pacing was rushed at the end, but overall the story is so fun! I love pirate adventures, and their romance was cute and well-balanced.

This book is a great YA retelling, perfect for fans of Fable and A Curse So Dark and Lonely. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy to review.

This was a generic YA pirate story. Nothing to complain about but nothing to write home about either. I wish it were more original.

A Curse of Salt is the debut novel by Sarah Street, an immersive YA fantasy and a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but with pirates and gods.

The protagonist of the novel is Aurelia “Ria” Lucroy, a young woman who dreams of being brave and see the world, but, instead, her place is at home, helping to take care of her ailing sister and their father. However, as the bodies of the local merchants start arriving ashore and her own father’s life is in danger, Ria decides to sacrifice herself and protect her family and her village, by offering herself as a sacrifice to the Heartless King and his crew of pirates. He is known for his ruthlessness and he is feared by everyone who travels by the sea, but Ria soon finds out that behind the Heartless King there is, in reality, a man, Sebastian, who, together with his crew, is bound to the sea by a centuries-old curse (like Davy Jones, but without tentacles!).

I had a bit of a slow start, but then I really started to enjoy A Curse of Salt. The romance is well-developed: an impossible love and the enemies-to-lovers trope worked really well between Ria and Sebastian. I liked how their relationship developed, slowly and naturally, with easy banter and witty exchanges.

The world-building is intriguing and it blends well with the narrative, while the setting is evocative and the writing is beautiful. A fantastic and complex cast of characters kept me immersed in the novel, each with its own story and secret to tell. The ending was well-thought and satisfying and it leaves open for, hopefully, a sequel that I would certainly read!

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 😅. Unless it’s not well written, of course. Luckily, I quickly realised that wasn’t the case with this book or Street’s writing. She definitely understood how one gets from enemies to lovers – the journey both characters have to take. From The Heartless King opening up and showing whom he truly is and the person he’d like to become to Ria seeing his true self.

In fact – me being able to see how Street handled and wrote enemies to lovers in this book makes me excited to see what else she has coming up – even if it isn’t this trope – because I know she’ll write it well (really hope she does and I’m not just saying this). Or if she writes another retelling – whatever it may be, I’m almost certain it’ll be a good one.

I’m happy that I found it easy to enjoy the book because Street made it easy to feel like I was on the Blood Rose, and maybe even being a pirate as well 😄. The descriptions were vivid, the action believable and the dialogue well-balanced! There were comedic moments, sweet, romantic, tense, and on and on it went.

I definitely appreciated how Street wrote the romantic dialogue – between the King and Ria. He used a nickname, she eventually learnt his name. There was banter involved and moments where we were able to glimpse his real personality under the harsh persona – before he actually showed himself to Ria. Banter that leads to romance is indeed a favourite thing of mine, and she wrote it all extremely well!

First of I would like to thank hodder childern books / hachette for this incredible book .

A heartless beast ,A sisters sacrifice ,
And a love so strong it will drown the raging sea . This fairytale is cursed.

That quote definitely sold it to me ,if you don't know by now I love a retelling This kind of stories are bedded in my soul.

The retelling is based losely around Beauty and the beast, but I could also sea bit of the little mermaid and pirates of the Caribbean in there to , I think Sarah definitely gave it the Atmosphere which I thallery enjoyed, its very much its own story and will have you captivated from the beginning..

As it's world a debut I would say Sarah has done beyond amazing with her writing and story telling she definitely will sweepy you up in to her magical world .you can tell she writing this with all her heart , she set the story so well and it's perfectly paced .

I really really enjoy all the characters with the little quirky ways . Una and Aron loved them very much but I also wanted to look them in a room so they could hash out the feelings for one enother .!!! Ria which I would say was more the main charater and Sebastian I thought they was brilliant together definitely would like to read more about them .

Over all ilthis was a spectacular read if you love a bit of enemies to lovers a pinch of magic and a whole of pirates being on the worst behaviour then this is for you .

I give is spellbinding 5 stars 🌟

A Curse of Salt
Fantasy, YA
Sarah Street
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Edited to add: I didn't realise this was a debut! Congrats to this author for creating such a great book as her debut!

This book was a little slow to start with but it soon picked up. While it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it's very much its own story.

There was a slight miscommunication trope and all of the characters were hiding things from Ria at some point, which irritates me more than it makes me curious about the secrets. I spent most of the book wishing they'd tell Ria everything they knew.

That being said, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was an emotional rollercoaster for me and it was full of longing, hope, grief, love and lust and I loved every minute of it.

The characters were great and they really worked well with each other. I wanted to bang Una's and Aron's heads together though and just make them confess their feelings to each other. I also wanted to know why Felicie was so ill all of the time, because it was never truly explained.

I hope there will be another book becuase I want to explore this world more and I need more Sebastian and Ria because their romance was just so sweet and satisfying.

*Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC. This is my own opinion and an honest review, which I am leaving voluntarily*

The world retelling usually makes me run for the hills but this retelling was excellent as it mixes a fairy tale with a well developed world.
I loved the romance and loved the characters. The author is an excellent storyteller.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I really liked this one. I can honestly say I'm not the biggest fan of Beauty and the Beast retellings, but the setting, as well as the unique way of the world is built, made me fall in love with this one. Sarah is an incredible author, with such a beautiful prose and a deep understanding of her characters that shows whenever they're on page. I want to see what's on store from her!

When someone said 'Pirates of the Caribbean meets Beauty & The Beast', I dropped everything to request this book & I don't regret it for a second - this book was great.

From the very first page I was hooked, the writing was so easy to get into & the plotline easy to understand. Beauty & the Beast retellings aren't hard to come by in the romantasy genre nowadays, they've been done A LOT, but this one was so good! You'd expect the plot to be quite predictable (the fmc is taken by the beastly mmc against her will & they end up falling in love, you know the drill) but this book took the baseline story & twisted it in a way that left me guessing. I was thoroughly invested throughout the entire 350 pages & loved every second.

I absolutely loved the found family aspect to the crew - there's nothing better than a likeable group of characters that all have their own quirks, who care for each other greatly (it's a fan favourite trope for a reason). Both the fmc & mmc as individuals & as a pairing, I loved. The backstory of the Heartless King added so much to the storyline & was so interesting to learn alongside Ria. In fact, how the character development unfolds for both Sebastian & Ria was beautiful, you can tell a good amount of time went into really mapping out these characters. By the end of the book I loved both the main & side characters so much.

But what really made the book for me were the last 100 pages, that ending was written so well! The pacing was just perfect which made the climax of the book hit 10x harder. By the time everything comes crashing down, you love the characters & you feel the pain the same way they do.

I enjoyed every single page & will be getting my hands on a physical copy as soon as the book releases - highly, highly recommend if you're looking for a great YA pirate romantasy!

YA fantasy romance at its best. I honestly miss the world that this book created, I felt so immersed in it whilst reading. It truly gripped me from the very first line. Sarah Street is incredibly talented and I can't wait to see what comes next. I think that Booktok will have a field day with this title, it has everything - pirates, romance, fairytale retelling, enemies to lovers! I went in blind so I was kept guessing and was not disappointed.

A pirate themed Beauty and the Beast retelling, A Curse of Salt sees a young woman, Ria, falling for The Heartless King - a man cursed and bound to the Ocean.

The chemistry here was brilliant and the romance really worked. The writing was lyrical but not quite to my taste and I found some parts dragged as a result. Overall I enjoyed it though!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

So I feel like I could both begin and end my review of Sarah Street’s A Curse of Salt by saying it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling but set on a pirate ship on the high seas. That alone should be enough to make you want to pick this up, assuming of course that you like both Beauty and the Beast and pirates, which I most definitely do! I absolutely loved everything about this book, it was so much fun.

A Curse of Salt is the story of The Heartless King and a young woman named Ria who has sacrificed herself to protect her sister. She board the Heartless King’s ship determined to save her family but knowing only the terrifying rumours of the King and his band of pirates. But she comes to find that he and his crew are far more than the stories that have been told of them of them. The Heartless King is in fact a man, with a human name and blood-stained hands, bound to the seas by a centuries-old curse. As their chemistry blooms into something more, Ria finds herself caught in an ancient web of secrets. 

There was so much to love about this book, it was an absolute joy to read.
We’ve got:
🥀 a determined FMC in Ria who is braver than she ever imagined she could be
🏴‍☠️ a brooding MMC in Sebastien who fits the beast roll perfectly
🥀 enemies to lovers with brilliant building chemistry between Ria and Sebastien
🏴‍☠️ the most entertaining band of pirates including the wonderful Mors, Aron and Una. All of whom I loved and who made brilliantly supportive side characters with their own arcs
🥀 pirate battles and serious high stakes on the high seas
🏴‍☠️ magic and old vengeful gods
🥀 morally grey characters that you cannot help but root for
🏴‍☠️ great action and adventure with some really tender moments

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope that we might be able to find out what’s in store in the future for Ria, Sebastien and his crew in another book.

I read this with my teen grandaughter who felt much the same as I did. The book was a good read , the writing was good and the characters and settings interesting but it would not make us want to read a follow up. Great summer reading on a deckchair.

I love it. I want a book two please! New book boyfriend, enemies to lovers, pirates, beauty and the Beast retelling. Many of my favourite things all wrapped up with a bow in this beauty! I couldn't get enough of this one, I binged it and couldn't put it down and I'm left wanting more!

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: A Curse of Salt
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Sarah Street
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: YA Fantasy Romance/Fairytale Retelling
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 25th May 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 25th April 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3/5

”Plumes of blood leached like ink into the water, a story written into the sea. I wondered where I would end up; if the salt would ever remember me.”

When I read the blurb of A Curse of Salt, I thought to myself, wow, this sounds much more like a blessing than a curse.

A Curse of Salt is an enemies-to-lovers Beauty & The Beast retelling featuring princesses and pirates on the stormy seas.

I thought that the storytelling was good and there was decent character development. I thought the story got better after the halfway mark. However, overall, this story didn’t quite make waves for me.

I guess at this stage, whenever I hear a new beauty and the beast story is coming out, I expect it to bring something new to this kind of storytelling that hasn’t been done before. Beauty & The Beast but make it pirates HAS been done before (see Beauty’s Beast by Paulina Woods) but that is absolutely fine, multiple people can have the same idea and still execute different triumphs. But there’s also gotta be some other originality to the story and I was adrift trying to find it. I mean, who wouldn’t fall in love with the gorgeous man who protects you, feeds you, clothes you, has a cute nickname for you, and most important of all, has a vast library?

So, yes, this was a fairly typical YA fantasy romance that didn’t blow me out of the water (pun intended). How fun would it have been if Sebastian had sea monsters at his beck and call? Or could control the tides? I felt like I was constantly being reminded of the power and shadows he exudes but what, really, was his power?

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a diamond in an ocean of books for me, but what do I know? I can’t swim and I suffer from seasickness anyway. What this book provides is a fun and light YA fantasy that follows the wonderful formula of a happily ever after.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

A magic, pirate-filled retelling of Beauty and the Beast, full of action, morally grey characters and all the other good stuff - would recommend! There’s a charming cast of characters, from Ria and Sebastien to Aron, Mors and Una on the crew (Golde is a little too gruff and bloodthirsty to be charming but she’s a pirate, after all!). It was good fun following this bunch across the seas and watching the dynamics change, seeing Ria find a home on the ship amongst the pirates and slowly fall in love with the Pirate King. Ria is brave and kind, not cut out for being a traditional pirate (definitely not morally grey) but a fierce protector of her found family and determined to change their violent ways. As Sebastien’s demeanour thaws and his story becomes known, I was sharing in Ria’s difficulties - pulled between the man who fought to save his people and the man who terrorised the seas. It was a delicious tale full of sword fighting, enemies to lovers and charming pirates.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.