Sunday Series Review: The Blood and Salt Series
Today Kim reviews The Blood and Salt Series by Kim Liggett . She loved the first, but the second one was not really for her. She rated the series 4 stars.
Books in the Series:
Blood and Salt
Heart of Ash
Blood and Salt
Published: September 22, 2015
341 pages
Romeo and Juliet meets Children of the Corn in this one-of-a-kind romantic horror.
“When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”
These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.
Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.
As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt.
Heart of Ash
Published: February 20, 2018
278 pages
Ash may have escaped the immortal-worshipping cult that killed her mother, but the love of her life is still under its thrall. Dane has been possessed by his diabolical ancestor Coronado, a man who’s fabulously wealthy, dripping with fame, and the leader of Europe’s most dangerous immortal network. Dane begs Ash to join him at Coronado’s castle in Spain, and swears that his blood bond with Ash is stronger than Coronado’s hold over him. Ash is desperate to help Dane vanquish Coronado without having to sacrifice herself to the darkness. But when you’re all in, blood and salt, the only way to hold on to the light might just be by setting everything on fire.
Kim’s Rating of the Series: 4 Stars
Kim’s Review of the Series:
I found Blood and Salt by mistake three years ago during my scary stage! I had been looking for another book but got the title wrong and found Blood and Salt instead. Totally worth it! I really enjoyed this first book. I love the setting, the characters, and the story. Ash and Rhys are teens, but they are far more mature than the typical teen. They’ve grown up with a very unconventional mother who raised them away from the cult she was born into. I’m just weird, y’all know this about me already. Cults are fascinating!
All my friends make fun of me because I grew up in a “cult like” environment, so the character that I identified with most is Beth. She’s quirky, sheltered, optimistic, and innocent. She’s definitely more perky than I was when I left college, but I like her a lot. She adds a humorous side to the story that helps lighten a rather dark situation. And the legend of Katia and Coronado brings some historical realism.
This is the second time I’ve read this book, but the first time was long enough ago that I didn’t remember what happened. Everything fit perfectly together and made sense. It was dark and creepy and although the ending was technically a cliffhanger, it didn’t drive me nuts. A solid 5 stars!
Unfortunately, Heart of Ash did not live up to the standard Blood and Salt set. The first book was on a smaller, more intimate scale that held the tension really well. Then Heart of Ash turned it into a global conspiracy that just took away from the original story. Where Ash used to be a mature teen who had to deal with a lot of adult stuff and did it capably, she then turned into that annoying teen who flip flopped on every little thing and spent most of the book talking herself in and out of loving Dane. OMG stop!! Y’all got way bigger fish to fry here! It felt like Blood and Salt should have had just a few extra pages that could have resolved the whole saga, but Leggitt tried to draw the story out and fell flat. Katia and Coronado’s story became petty and unrealistic (fantasy realism is different than actual realism lol). I was so excited about this sequel . . . but overall I just didn’t like it. I’ll give it 3 stars.
I think I’d recommend the first book with no hesitation to anyone, teens included. Yeah, go ahead and read the second book, but really only to resolve the story. So the whole series gets 4 stars.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US:
Blood and Salt
Heart of Ash
Amazon UK:
Blood and Salt
Heart of Ash