Member Reviews

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This novel is excellent in it's character construction and plot, and it has made me want to read more from this author.

I have deducted a star as it is a bit of a slow burn and so some area felt like a slog, but it was definitely worth it in the end.

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Thanks to Hodder and Netgalley for this advance readers copy.

Rachelle Atalla does it again. A thriller that will have your heart racing as you try to figure out whodunnit. Martha and Finn's marriage is hanging by a thread. Martha, crippled by paralyzing climate anxiety, finds herself at odds with Finn, who steadfastly refuses to confront the demons of his past. In a desperate attempt to repair their relationship, they join a group of privileged tourists on a pilgrimage to The Salt Centre, a mysterious retreat nestled deep within the Bolivian salt flats. United by a shared quest for spiritual enlightenment, the group embark on a journey guided by an elusive shaman. As a series of salt ceremonies unfold, hallucinogenic episodes force each of them to confront their own versions of reality. When the final ceremony descends into a nightmare, Martha and Finn are met with an ultimatum. Forced to grapple with the moral implications of their trip they must ask themselves: are some wounds too deep to heal?

Atalla does such a good job of writing anxiety - I was curled in a little ball waiting to see what these characters did next. They were so vivid, and the setting so vivid too, it felt like I was watching a movie of what was happening in my mind. Atalla is an amazing writer, I so recommend any of her books to anyone.

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The Salt Flats by Rachel Atallah

Fin and his wife Martha are travelling in South America. Their eventual destination are the salt flats in Bolivia, an other worldly natural phenomenon where the horizon becomes endless and you’re standing in the sky. Martha and Fin are not just sight-seeing, although the urge to take photographs and capture the illusion is strong. Having been together for 11 years, lately they’ve struggled as Martha has been in the grip of an obsessive anxiety over the climate crisis. They are booked into a retreat on the salt flats, found by Martha and extortionately expensive, it promises a transcendent experience using salt to purify mind and body. So the couple find themselves crammed into a pick-up truck alongside Rick and Barb, a middle aged and out of shape American couple, and partners Hannah and Zoe. They are now in the hands of their driver who doesn’t speak a word of English and an elusive shaman called Oscar. They will spend the next few days meditating, relaxing in warm salt pools and participating in a series of salt ceremonies where hallucinogenic visions bring them face o face with their subconscious reality. Yet the final ceremony descends into chaos, Martha and Fin need to grapple with Martha’s anxiety and the moral implications of their trip. As for their marriage, could this nightmare bring them together or are some wounds too deep to heal?

I’ve been fascinated with the salt flats after seeing them on an episode of World’s Most Dangerous Roads. It was incredible to see the sky reflected in the shallow saltwater surface, giving the impression of standing in the sky. It’s an image recently repeated on Race Across the World and even on a small screen it’s an incredible landscape. The author recreates that otherworldly and alien environment so well, creating an atmosphere of dislocation from the normal world even before any hallucinogens. It struck me as an odd place for a spa or well-being centre, something I always imagine as comfortable and with lush surroundings. This landscape is hard and barren. It left me dubious about the benefits of such a place and how professional it would be. As they’re collected by a taciturn driver I half expected him to rob them and leave them in the middle of nowhere. When they break down en route it doesn’t help, giving an impression of something run on a shoestring in a very inhospitable place. The building is much less luxurious than the group imagined, considering the high price they’ve paid to be there. It’s an igloo type structure built from blocks of salt. Even the beds in the dormitory have salt bases and the group are less than impressed to be sleeping in the same room. Each of the group have personal reasons to be there and the first salt ritual brings up themes of infidelity, assault and intrusive negative thoughts about the future. By confronting these issues, Oscar tells them they can process the trauma and move on. Trust has to build very quickly between the group who are letting each other into their personal spaces, both physical and mental. They’re baring their souls to each other. It’s clear that none of them will come out of this experience unchanged. Whether that’s a negative or positive change is hard to say. When Fin wakes up with a blooded face he is completely confused about how he got there. He knows he interacted with Zoe and that Barb had an accident, but the rest is fluffy and unclear. Where is the blood from and what horrors has he blacked out from his memory.

I didn’t bond with all of the characters but I was definitely intrigued by them. I could understand why all of them needed change in their lives. It was easy to understand Martha’s concerns about the direction the world is taking. Although her preoccupations are with climate change, Brexit, Covid and wars breaking out across the world have left me with anxieties about the future, especially for the younger members of our family. It only takes a few swipes of the iPad to see how climate is changing the lives of those in low lying countries. However, that proximity to information can radicalise people as the most extreme viewpoints shout loudest online and I felt this had happened to Martha. Finn couldn’t keep living with constant anxiety about the future and needed Martha to meet him in the present every so often. The author’s depiction of their relationship felt very real, showing how people in long term relationship can change over time. Sometimes out takes a conscious choice to re-commit to that person or a bit of compromise that reminds why you committed to each other in the first place. Agreeing to the salt spa was Finn’s act of commitment, to show that he can give Martha a little of what she needs in the hope it will be enough. However, he ruins that a little with his scepticism and his shock at how spartan the spa is for the money spent. As horrors start to unfold will he blame Martha or will everything they’ve experienced bring them closer together? That’s if they both get out alive.
The monumental stupidity of allowing themselves to be taken into the middle of nowhere at the mercy of people who don’t speak their language and have taken a huge chunk of their savings, starts to sink in. As things start to unravel you won’t be able to put this fascinating debut down.

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Wow, this is another excellent book by Rachelle Atalla. Like her last book, Thirsty Animals, The Salt Flats is brilliantly written and thrives on its world building and character development. No spoilers here, but I thought the thought-provoking ending was executed perfectly.

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The Salt Flats is a taut and well-told tale about a couple heading to a mysterious retreat on the Bolivian salt flats.

It's difficult to pin down as a specific genre. Is it a book about climate change fear (guilt about climate change eats away at main character Martha)? A thriller? A literary look at a relationship? Or something in between all of the above.

It makes for a read that feels fresh and different, but tense and uncomfortable too. Finn and Martha have a lot of issues in their relationship, and within themselves, but they're hoping this trip will be the cure. It's not quite as simple as that though. There are two other couples on their way to the retreat and the other big personality there is Oscar, the leader/shaman, who is both mysterious and somewhat menacing. He encourages his students to push themselves further than they want to go, until they ultimately end up in a fight for their survival.

This is where the book tips almost towards horror - because no one knows where they are. No one is expecting them back. And there are some awful choices to be made.

Definitely a book that kept me thinking long after it ended.

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Wow! I loved both Thirsty Animals and The Pharmacist, so was eagerly awaiting what twisty reality would come next from Rachelle Atalla. I was not expecting this, but what a read! Relatable human behaviour, set against a sinister backdrop and plotted so perfectly I had to stop myself devouring this in one sitting. Mesmerising and utterly addictive.

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4.25*

I saw The Salt Flats being recommended by authors and reviewers that I follow and was immediately intrigued by the story premise of a struggling couple heading deep into the isolated Bolivian salt flats to repair their relationship at a mysterious retreat where things, inevitably, quickly turn to a nightmare.

This was a deeply human story with multi-layered and complicated characters all struggling with their own issues, seeking to overcome them by any means necessary.

I initially saw this being shelved as a thriller but in reality it is a deeply unnerving and hugely imaginative horror. It feels incredibly otherworldly with a tenuous grip on reality that leaves you wondering consistently if what you're seeing unfold in front of you is actually happening or if you, the reader, are also part of the hallucinogenic ride that the characters are going on.

I struggled a little at the start this with as I just couldn't get a grasp on what it wanted to be but once it clicked that this is as insidious a horror as you're likely to find, I was swept away with the story and the unfolding nightmare of the situation our characters found themselves in.

I love an isolated setting and this one is as isolated as you're going to find. The oppressive heat and desolate landscape are unforgiving and bleak that helps build a sense of fear and desperation for the characters.

The ending is surprising, sudden, open-ended and left me incredibly uncomfortable at what isn't said for the potential consequences of the actions of the characters. Whilst I never felt connected to them, the reality of what likely happened to them is where the true horror lies.

If you want to feel uncomfortable, intrigued, and out of reality then this is a book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a digital review copy of "The Salt Flats" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

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Another haunting novel from Rachelle Atalla exploring a horror genre this time instead of speculative. This was unnerving, filled with a creeping claustrophobic tension with an almost cult-like wellness vibe. The Bolivian salt flat setting was unique and added to the feeling of isolation and fear. The ending had me gripped and surprised - and in true Atalla style, I was left with a sense of unease and discomfort. A thought-provoking, hallucinogenic thriller!

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Finn and Martha are having marital difficulties and after hearing copious stories of the healing powers of a visit to the Bolivian salt flats and involvement with a therapy group, Martha persuades Finn this is the way forward for them. The novel is a bit of a slow burner but the tense atmosphere of impending disaster and a fight fir survival builds to a crescendo.

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Finn and Martha’s marriage is in trouble and they book into a retreat for some guidance.
There are some interesting characters and a very tense atmosphere at the Salt Flats.
A trip that turns out to be a race for survival.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Another claustrophobic thriller from Rachelle Atalla. The whole novel has this unnerving sense of foreboding drama, finely plotted and tense. I read this novel quickly perched on the end of my seat. Loved it.

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Martha and Finn’s marriage is hanging by a thread, a combination of factors that have built up over the years. They take the brave decision to head to the Bolivian Salt Flats and the Salt Centre in the hope of enlightenment and healing under the guidance of shaman Señor Oscar. Four others make their way there with them, two couples, Londoners Hannah and Zoe and Americans, Rick and Barb. Will they all leave having shed their various burdens? Will they get the truth and enlightenment they seek?

Although I find the start a bit slow, the novel sucks me in and I become fascinated by the Salt Centre, Oscar and the varyious characters in attendance.
The place itself is an awesome choice in which to set a novel of this kind. The landscape is incredible, it’s lonely, desolate, desert like and unforbidding, giving off an other worldly atmosphere that matches the incidents which become more and more surreal. It’s so well described you almost feel as if you are there, not that I especially fancy it, I’ll just look at pictures, thank you although it is truly remarkable.

This is a character driven novel and they are all well portrayed, especially Finn and Martha. Martha has loads of issues, she’s riddled with anxiety, especially her concerns about climate change which is a theme and clearly close to the author’s heart, hence the choice of Bolivia. I find it hard to get a handle on Finn, he’s a complex enigma but the experience changes him and perhaps overall it helps him. Make your own mind up about Oscar and his methods!

Slowly, but surely you start to feel the darkness of the place, and there’s a distinct increase of fear in the air. There are many challenges too and as the retreat progresses the situation changes rapidly and the will to survive in this hostile extreme environment becomes the primary focus. There’s escalating danger with accompanying suspense and tension and numerous questions that may/may not have a right answer.

This is an immersive read, it’s very well written and obviously dark and bleak but it is very compelling.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton , for the much appreciated in return for an honest review.

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Darkly compelling with a Nordic-noiresque bleak landscape illuminated by the light of hope and the will to survive. A morally complex storyline. A set of flawed characters coping as best they can in extreme circumstances. Beautifully accomplished prose. Intelligent details and suspenseful plotting. This is speculative fiction at its most transfixing. For me, this is the author's best book yet.

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I’ve read a few books by this author now, and I’ve loved them all! She’s great at writing compelling stories with a good, taut thread of climate anxiety running through them. This one takes place at a remote wellness retreat deep in barren salt flats. I can’t give too much away without ruining it, but stuff goes wrong! Think Nine Perfect Strangers but a lot more stressful and with more death… Tense, anxiety-inducing and attention grabbing, with a slightly bleak message. Just how I like ‘em! Out in August.

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