Salt

by Hannah Moskowitz

Even though their parents disappeared during a hunt three months ago, seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, continue to roam the Mediterranean on their sailboat and hunt down monsters--but Indi yearns for a more settled life for his family, and he hopes that his parents' journal with its tantalizing hints of a treasure, will provide them all with the means of escape from their nomadic and dangerous life before it is too late.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Contemporary, Monsters, Family

148 pages, ebook

First published October 30, 2018

About the author

Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. It was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA's 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and in 2013, GONE, GONE, GONE received a Stonewall Honor. 2015's NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED was named the YA Bisexual Book of the Year. SICK KIDS IN LOVE was a Sydney Taylor Honoree, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and one of both Kirkus and Tablet Magazine's Best Books of the year. She lives in Maryland with several cats, none of whom are violent.

Reviews

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 3 1/2 stars. Hannah Moskowitz has a penchant for very small narratives in very big worlds, and it’s one I appreciate. And adore.

Okay, so what is this book? Salt is basically a very personal narrative about finding your place in the world, set in the environment of Supernatural: ocean version, feat. a really great focus on family.

Yeah. I know. Wild blurb.

I think I just really like contained narratives that focus around family groups. This one is intensely character driven and very contained, extroardinarily fast-paced - an easy binge - and overall a lot of fun. I wish I had more to say than that, but listen - if my one-sentence description was appealing to you, you’ll enjoy this. I don’t even know if that one-sentence description is appealing to me and I still thought this was a fun read.

This review was a mess and so am I. Recommended.
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[Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance · Rating 1 out of 5]

Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, have lost their parents three months ago mysteriously. As a family they were known to be sics, monster hunters of the Mediterranean Sea. Now that their parents are gone, all the kids have left is a rickety, dilapidated sailboat with malfunctioning equipment and their parents’ diary.

Indi, 17, first mate of the crew and the oldest of them all, spends many nights worrying about their future. He is the provider now. All the others use their talents for various jobs on the boat and on land. Zulu does most of the weaponry, Oscar charms locals to keep food in their stomachs and Beleza is the second in age to Indi and the captain. She used to be first mate and thinks her brother just wrestles through somehow.

The kids are roaming all of the Mediterranean. Just as they did with their parents. Currently, they were headed to Sicily, but their sailboat was giving them trouble, so they changed course and are heading to a busy port in France. All the kids are versed in multiple languages in some capacity or another. Their parents were very worldly, hence the different, unusual names.

At port, Indi is visiting bars and they stay in low rent pensions…they have to keep their money together. This is where he runs into an interestingly different girl. It does not take long until they make out.

From here the kids travel on in hopes to find a certain monster which Indi believes killed their parents, and as they arrive yet at another port, he runs into the same girl again. What was left at one port as a one night stand, is now changing everything.
Why is she seemingly following them or beating them to their travel destinations? Will they find that monster?

***

This adventure could have been so much more. So much more! If you think of scale and scope that reaches all around the Mediterranean, this could have been an amazing novel. Unfortunately, the entire story fell flat without suspense, without tension building, without cohesiveness. A great concept without follow through.

I was hoping so much to enjoy this novel more but there was no substance to it. Having visited many cities around the Mediterranean, I am simply disappointed by the lack of interestingness in the novel about these amazing places. The book failed to touch any senses of travel, adventure or foreign cultures. Although that may have not been the focus in mind, some tangible, tantalizing facts should have been there for enrichment. Basically there was no spice or flavor to it.

This book must have sprung from a grand idea, but was unable to fulfill it.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you!

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Salt by Hannah Moskowitz is a sea-faring adventuring about monsters, orphans, and betrayal.

Have you ever read a book that made you feel shortchanged? That’s how I felt reading Salt! The story concept was cool—who doesn’t love a book about monsters?—but the story lacked depth and development.

I really enjoyed the first quarter of the book. Again, the concept of orphans battling sea monsters is a neat one! The four orphans bicker, antagonize, and generally act like typical siblings, which was appreciated. What I didn’t like was how much the book jumped around, with no explanation in between. Boom, they’re here. Boom, they’re there. Boom, a monster dies. All of the events unfolded without preamble, and the big, critical events were over within a page or two. While it made for a quick paced book, it was impossible to get invested in the story, because there wasn’t much of a story.

The biggest event in the book—the one that was discussed from the very beginning of the book—was ridiculous. It was poorly executed, unrealistic, and had me seriously scratching my head. I would have liked a more complete ending to that event. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I haven’t done a lot of sailing myself, but a lot of the details around sailing and pirates felt unrealistic. Finding a specific ship in the middle of the sea without advanced technology? Not likely. Getting washed up on the perfect shore when you have no sail? Feels too good to be true. I could have overlooked these details if the story had been more robust, but unfortunately these just added to the holes in the book.

The ending was fine. I do like a happy ending.

The characters, while not well-developed, were still unique and interesting. Indi was a solid main character, Beleza was feisty and set on revenge much of the book, Oscar was an angry young teen, and Zulu was a charming little 6-year-old. I liked the characters. I just wish they had been part of a better story.

Ultimately I can’t say I recommend this book; however, the book is short, so even if you don’t like it, it’s not a huge time commitment.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[h o l l i s · Rating 1 out of 5]

Considering how off the wall Moskowitz's A HISTORY OF BLOOD AND GLITTER was, and yet how much I enjoyed that weirdness, I was really looking forward to this orphans on a boat hunting seamonsters story. Except.. this was just an uninteresting kind of weird. It felt a little Supernatural-y with the family of monster hunters, except on boats, with a pair of missing and or dead parents, and while that should have endeared it to me.. I didn't. The family dynamic between the siblings as not great, though realistic I suppose, and yet the story was too short to expand on any kind of worldbuilding. It ended up jumping around a lot and ultimately it felt more like a snapshot of something instead of a full story.. and I couldn't invest in it.

I had no issue with the writing but unfortunately I can't round up on this. I didn't hate it but at the same time there wasn't anything to recommend it, either. I'm pretty disappointed because this could have been amazing. Oh well.


** I received an ARC from Edelweiss and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **

[Scrill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review and others like it can be found on my blog, Vicariously & Voraciously

ARC received from the publisher via Netgalley for a fair review.

Indi and his siblings are sea monster hunters. It’s a family gig, but their parents have disappeared on a trip they didn’t take them on and they are scrapping by trying to find them or the monster that probably killed them.

The Story-
Oh my gosh, I wanted to like this book more. I really did. But there were so many things that sorta made me mad and then one major moment that left me bewildered. So, in the gentleness of my reviewing nature, let’s just start with the good stuff and season (see what I did there?) with the bad here and there.

First off, I would like to say, I don’t think this book is for the younger branch of YA. Definitely more on the spectrum of 15/16+ depending on maturity based on the cursing and casual sex in the book.

This book is about a guy who basically wants out of his life style but at the same time is so scared of the big world out there. He is scared of being away from his siblings. But it is told in such a unique way. It’s told through moments when he is separated from them and something so inconsequential like a cup being bitten is used to show him missing his little sister. Is it actually relevant to the plot? Absolutely not. But if you take this book with a grain of salt (haha, yeah I know) you might actually appreciate these random parts of the book. For me it was it’s only saving grace.

The part that got me so riled up early on were that things were pointed out in the book, and then changed or completely void later on. For example. Where did they get the boat they’re traveling on? At one point they say they got it with the money their parents left them, then a chapter or two later, they say they used said boat when their main boat was being worked on. Huh? Or someone would be hurt and need like stitches on their leg, they would limp around for a little bit, and then in the next chapter (maybe a day or two later) I swear they’re running around. Whattt? Or, they make a big deal of using tasers with their clothes/bodies wet and someone is shooting monsters in the water with said tasers while someone is in the freaking water?

Also the points that could drive the book forward without it droning on about them sailing around and arguing (they’re siblings, duh) are so short lived. I thought there would be more monster hunting, and there were a few scenes, but they were so short lived, that it took the excitement out of it. Don’t even get me started on the disappointment of the ending. If you’re that curious and want the spoiler, feel free to message me and I will let you know.

The World Building-
I loved this magical realism world where there are these kids just floating around fighting down these monsters that the rest of the human race, unless you’re a sic like them, isn’t aware of. They just give it a different explanation to the troubles out at sea. Image result for james and the giant peach movie shark
Except, I can’t even picture what these monsters look like. At one point I picture a sting ray with blades on it and sharp teeth which evolved it into the shark in the move James and the Giant Peach….and I don’t think that’s quite right. Because it definitely didn’t give off a steam punk-y sort of feel either.

Real world geography was lost on me. Okay, I know where some things are, but I am not the best at geography. In fact if you ask me any where which direction north is, it’s in front of me. As in, I am always facing north, that way *points*. So when these kids are sailing around and sea names are dropping and tiny Greek island’s names are dropping I am like…cool, but is it necessary? For such a short book, I thought that having information like this didn’t add anything to it.

I love seafaring books, I really do. Unfortunately, for me there were a lot of boat terms I didn’t know, and I wasn’t particularly in the mood to google a bunch so I had no idea what part of the boat was being referenced upon multiple occasions. I talked about this with Rae and we actually could infer a few obvious words, such a bow, stern, portside. But then there would be some obscure word that just talked about how the boat was moving and how much Indi didn’t like it. And I kept thinking, why is this important to the story? But then it clicks, this here is this guy’s life, and there are particular things that he just doesn’t like about it. But really, that’s like me saying I love driving my car, but I sure hate the smell of exhaust while I am sitting in traffic.

The Characters-
The 4 kids are some pretty rocking characters. My favorite part of them though was the fact that they spoke multiple languages due to their upbringing. Granted some of it is just a little bit of each, and they often spoken in a jumble of 2 or 3 languages. But it added to their character in a way that I can relate to when I am trying to speak Spanish but Japanese starts spilling out, and then I don’t know a word for either of those so I resort back to English.

The development of the characters is actually where the real story is. Moments like playing squished sardines (backwards hide and seek where one person hides, the rest try to find them and hide with them until everyone find the hiding spot – actually loved that they did this because I loved playing this game as a kid.) helped bring out the family connectedness on a small boat. Indi describes it as how he is alone on deck, but he knows where everyone is on the boat. This is where Moskowitz shines by showing the reader rather than telling the reader about the character.

[Shannon Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

3.5*

Actual salt is my least favorite part of the ocean/sea, true story. That is mostly a random fact, not having a ton to do with this book, but it does explain why I was nodding along every time Indi was salty about its effects. (Pun terrible and wholly intended.) Look, this is a quirky little story, one that I found fast-paced and quite enjoyable. Hannah Moskowitz is pretty great at quirky, and this is no exception. It's pretty short, I finished it in just a few hours, so don't expect a ton of world-building and character development, but it also never drags.

My favorite part of the book, of course, is the sibling relationship. Indi loves his siblings with everything he's got, and after their parents' disappearance, they've become a cohesive foursome. They keep the family business of sea monster hunting going, even if Indi kind of wishes he could work in a Dunkin Donuts or something. The book really focuses on their relationships and dynamic, and how a person knows when/if it's okay for them to venture out and forge their own path.

Of course, the sea monsters are dangerous, and some of the human people they meet even more so. Indi basically must decide: Does he live the life that his parents wanted, that his siblings still want him to live, or does he choose his own path? And if he does, what will that mean for their family unit, who has never been apart?

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Family, sailing, and monster hunting! This was a fun and adventurous story of a family of orphans who have been thrown into their parents footsteps to take over the sea monster hunting business in their attempt to find out how their parents died and take revenge on the monster that took their parents from them. But along the way they learn so much more about themselves and what their goal should be instead of revenge.

I really enjoyed the adventurous side of this story. The sailing to different countries and the culture and language and their uncanny ability to get by even when they knew next to nothing about some of the places they ended up. I also loved the family dynamic and the love these four siblings had for each other. The banter between the siblings was funny and sweet and made me appreciate having a close family as well. The setting was a little odd at first to understand, but once I got the hang of it, it was easy to catch on and get an image in my mind.

I did however not like how it felt so rushed. There was so much more that could have happened or been elaborated on to really hook the reader and help them connect with these characters. and the journey they were on to find their parents. But each time the action would start, it was abruptly ended and thrown right into the next scene. It felt as though each important part was cheapened because it was so rushed to get to the next part. I wish that there had been more in that regard, because of this I just didn't connect with these characters as much as I'd like to. And the ones I thought would be interesting to get to know were so bland and one dimensional and gone in the blink of an eye. I wasn't sure if it was because this was a book for younger audiences, but then there was so much adult content and language that I quickly decided against that idea. It just felt as though there could have been so much more to make this adventure something memorable and exciting rather than how choppy and bland it ended up being. I wanted more!

All in all it was good enough that I continued on to the end. but I would have liked it to be more fleshed out. I wanted to really connect with the orphans and feel the fear that they had for these monsters. We were lead up to an epic battle against an unbeatable monster that should have been nail biting and intense, but was so lackluster that I don't really even know how it happened. And then they all just fell asleep? I just don't get it. I kept thinking that it would explain, or that there would be some twist that made me say "aha" but I was left feeling like I was rushed out the door with no direction where I'm supposed to go next.. So for that reason I can't say that it was the best book I've ever read. It had the plot for an amazing story but not the fillings to make it feel real.

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was different in a good way for me. I did not expect sibling fighting monsters but I dig it! This book was fast paced for me and kept me wanting to read more. I enjoyed that it took a different path than most books. It made it memorable to me. I am also a sucker for sea monsters and anything with the ocean so this book was great. *This book was given to me for free at my request from NetGalley and I provided this voluntary review.*

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Even though their parents disappeared during a hunt three months ago, seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, continue to roam the Mediterranean on their sailboat and hunt down monsters--but Indi yearns for a more settled life for his family, and he hopes that his parents' journal with its tantalizing hints of a treasure, will provide them all with the means of escape from their nomadic and dangerous life before it is too late.

Salt is my first novel by Hannah Moskowitz and I can definitely say it will not be the last. There is so much to love here. I particularly enjoyed getting to know all four siblings - Beleza, Indi (our lead) Oscar, and Zulu - over the course of their tale. They are sea monster hunters who taken up the family business after their parents went missing. All of them have quite distinct voices and it's incredibly easy to get completely wrapped up on their lives. Their relationships with one another are believably complex and incredibly tight. While they might sometimes be at each others throats, they'll do whatever it takes to keep their family safe.

As much as I enjoyed what we got, I felt like the book didn't live up to all of its potential. Firstly, the world building is quite minimal. There's so much we just don't know about the world of monster hunters and the creatures they fight. The story could have truly benefited from fleshing out locations, scenes, backstory, fights, and descriptions because some things just go by way too fast.

Honestly, I think Salt by Hannah Moskowitz could be truly fantastic if it were a little longer and more developed. This personal novel isn't bad at all as it is, but there's so much potential that it doesn't quite manage to live up to by the time you make it to the end of the story. In fact, the close focus on family absolutely makes it. I have a feeling you'll enjoy this novel if you are a fan of the early seasons of Supernatural and can't get enough of the relationship between Sam and Dean Winchester.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow, this book was something way different than what I expected. Or, rather, I don't know what I actually expected, but I ended up loving this! It's told in vignettes, from the point of view of the second oldest in the family. The reader is dumped into a sea monster fight, and then slowly finds out what these four kids are travelling around and hunting them in the first place. In other words, this book starts out with a whole lot of fanfare and not much explanation. It does a really good job of going back and filling things in though.

I think what I really loved was the familial relationships in this story. Moskowitz shows a family who bickers, and sometimes all out fights, but at the end of the day still have deep love for one another. She shows the good times, with giggles and games. She also shows the parts where love is there, but it's shadowed by guilt and anger. It was so refreshing to see a real feeling family unfold, even if they were sea monster hunters at the same time.

So yeah, this was heartfelt and a lot of fun!

[Elley Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 stars

I wanted more monster hunting and ocean life, and instead Salt is very focused on the family dynamic between Indi and his relationship with his older sister and two younger siblings as they try to survive to go find their parents (or the monster that killed them). For being a book that was more character driven than plot/event driven, I didn't really feel much of a connection with the characters, which may have had something to do with the feeling that this book seems like it's told in a series of snapshots rather than as one cohesive story. At first I thought the chapters were separate short stories about the same family, and then I realized they were the same plot and they just didn't have much (or sometimes any) flow between chapters. The reading experience was very jarring, and the expanses of black pages speckled with salt or stars created even more distance. Perhaps this was a stylistic choice to make the reader feel the distance Indi feels from his family and from the rest of the world, how cut off he feels from everyone and everything... But the reader needs to connect to the book in order to care about it (at least, this reader does) and I just couldn't connect with this book. There's nothing outright bad or wrong about it, and in a lot of ways it's a really great book. Indi and Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu are really interesting characters (or have the potential to be interesting characters, anyway) and I was really excited about this book, but unfortunately it just fell short of what I feel like it could have been.

Really, Elise (TheBookishActress) said it best in her review when she called it "Supernatural: ocean edition", except I also feel the need to add Supernatural: ocean edition (the junior leagues).

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out more reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

Even though their parents disappeared during a hunt 3 months ago, 17-year-old Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, continue to roam the Mediterranean on their sailboat and hunt down monsters–but Indi yearns for a more settled life for his family, and he hopes that his parents’ journal with its tantalizing hints of a treasure, will provide them all with the means of escape from their nomadic and dangerous life before it is too late.


My thoughts!.

MONSTERS! YES! Perfect for this time of year and pretty unique in that it all happens on the water with a pirate flare to it all. There are a lot of things going for this book, and monsters was the #1 thing. I did enjoy them when they were present in the story... but its a pretty short book. I mean seriously short. Yet the story tries to read like a full length book, except it has the plot of a short story. If not for the mess with Hura there would be no middle to this book at all.

And the problem is I really hated Hura and the entire part with her. I just don't believe in her relationship with Indi. And I really don't believe in his relationship with sex. I get it that he's 17 NOW and having sex but being an experienced one nighter? Not a chance. Not with how his parents supposedly raised him nor how he protects and limits him 14 year old brother. Let alone the fact they spent a ton of time on the water.

This book is ultimately about a family in mourning and that part of the book and how Indi is struggling works so well but in the end the monsters were contrived, the ending stupid (with Hura) and too easy (the parents end) at the same time, two crimes against stories everywhere.

Here's the thing I really loved the family dynamics. You can tell that the author spent a ton of time imagining a family and how siblings of different ages would interact. Besides the horrible Hura and the sex part I REALLY bought Indi and was in for him to succeed with his family. I wanted so badly for him to find peace with Bel, his sister and Oscar and Zulu whom he clearly worried over a ton. I wanted them to work out what kind of monster hunting they would do and how they would balance that with having a real home life. They fight for that end as a family.


Cover & Title grade -> B-

In a way I really love the cover... All black with the focus on the ship... YES! What I didn't realize until I saw the full cover art is that the stars and the black sky make up the form of a monster in an outline. You can't really see it on the cover unless you've seen the full art and then you can't unsee the outline but its still not distinct. It's so great on the full art that its so disappointing it doesn't work in the book shape. I still think its a great idea! Not a fan of the title because I can't recall any reference to why it may be called Salt...?!


As a Writer...

I really admired how the relationship between Indi and his older sister Bel was framed out. They talked about the day to day, they fought about what to do about their parents and the future. And yet they didn't talk about what they think happened or defend why they wanted to do what they suggested for the future.

This is TOTALLY how family is. We assume the other knows. We believe that they understand us so well that they know where our mind is at. Bel assumed Indi knew what drove her no matter what happened to them. It wasn't until way later that he finally realized! That moment felt so real to me, so spot on to the truth of how siblings are. It happens ALL THE TIME to my brothers and I.

I'm not the biggest fan of Salt, it had its flaws after all, BUT there is a core to the story that works. What do we do when our parents, who we idolize, disappear? How do we rein in the fears that plague us? We keep the family we do have close to us and continue the best we can. Indi's family did this and fought some monsters along the way to the truth!

I'd love to see a companion story set in the same world of water bound monsters. I wouldn't even mind Hura coming back and getting her comeuppance with some pirate dude or dudess.


⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐ Authenticity
⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐⭐ Writing Style
⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐ Plot & Pacing
⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ World Building

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.

______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my special perspective at the bottom of my reviews under the typewriter...

Please like this review if you enjoyed it! *bow* *bow* It helps me out a ton!!

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salt by Hannah Moskowitz

3.25 stars

“It’s different when a hunt’s starting. We’re not the kids who were just bickering at each other; we’re not brothers and sisters or orphans or people. We’re weapons.”

Indi and his siblings—Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu—have been hunting down monsters of the sea on their own since their parents went missing. As they sail around the Mediterranean and hunt down the monsters waiting for human prey, they are also looking for the parents and the possible monster that is responsible for their absence. Indi doesn’t want to hunt monsters. He longs for stability and for something more. It’s causing tensions to rise between he and his older sister, Beleza. Will Indi be able to escape the dangers of the sea before its too late? I love the concept of Salt. We follow orphaned sea-monster hunters. It’s like Supernatural in the Mediterranean and I was totally here for it. The concept is a lot of fun, but the execution is… forgettable. The writing isn’t spectacular and lacks greatly in world-building. You are just thrown into these grand monster battles with little to no context and I didn’t really feel immersed in the story. I didn’t really care why these kids were risking their lives to save humans who didn’t know any better because I wasn’t fearful enough of the monsters they were chasing. I didn’t believe they posed much of a threat because Moskowitz didn’t paint a world that need monster hunters to protect the seas. Moskowitz is a writer of simplicity which works well for a lot of stories, but not this one. I craved more complexity in character development and in world building.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 3.25

“Salt is in our blood.”

The main character is Indi. He’s an interesting character. He isn’t a captivating presence on the page and he is definitely one of those people who fades into the background, which is why I think it’s interesting that we follow his narrative. He is always quick to do the courageous thing in battle, but complain about it or fuss at Oscar for doing the same. He’s far too contradictory for me. I wasn’t necessarily bored by him, but I found it hard to root for him.

Swoon Worthy Scale: 2.25

The real star of this show is Indi’s older sister, Beleza. She’s a character I would have loved to follow. Her narrative would’ve been complex and dripping with a dichotomy of complexity—guilt, self-sacrifice, love for her family, obsession, and a thirst to save others. She was hands down the most interesting character Moskowitz has written in this novel. It’s a tragedy that it wasn’t from her POV.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4

“My big sister is monster venom.”

I loved the family dynamic. I love following hunters who chase monsters as a family because it always makes the stakes higher. The stakes were high here because two of the hunters were young children, one being elementary school age. I really liked Oscar’s character and I thought it was a pity that because Indi dismissed him, he basically got little development besides having the delinquency of a potential pirate. I loved Zulu. She was absolutely adorable and a totally baddie. She is barely even able to read and she’s out there shooting arrows from a crossbow into a mile-long beast. That’s awesome. I wasn’t a fan of Indi’s love interest (?) who is more of a friend with benefit then roommate then lover who also has a boyfriend at the same time. I just wasn’t feeling her character, but it was cool that we met a lady pirate.

Character Scale: 3.5

I think Salt has the potential to excite a lot of Supernatural fans. It isn’t a bad novel and the concept is a treat and I believe is worth reading alone. This is a short novel and it is definitely not a waste of time. Overall, I think this novel has its fault, but it is endearing and has a fantastic family dynamic.

Plotastic Scale: 3.5

Cover Thoughts: This cover is gorgeous. The sail boat, the stars, the darkness of both the water and the sky. It’s mesmerizing.

Thank you, Netgalley and Chronicle Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Rachel]

I received a copy of the book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

4 stars! Overall, this was a fun and quick read! The story revolves around four orphans and their journey in a sailboat to find their parents. Oh, and SEA MONSTERS! I loved the characters and their relationship with each other, however the world building left a little to be desired for me. It’s definitely a quirky little book but I really enjoyed Hannah Moskowitz’s writing style!

[Andria Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was nothing wrong with this, exactly, I just didn't click with it. RTC.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not to be that girl but this book is the nautical version of the classic ‘Supernatural’ tagline where mom and dad go out on a hunting trip and have yet to return.

“Salt” tells the story of Indie and his siblings who take to the high seas hunting monsters and chasing after their parents who are most likely dead after a job gone wrong. When the pressure of parenting and the push and pull between wanting to be there for your family and make a life of your own gets the better of him, Indie takes off and finds his footing on land and discovers that maybe it’s not all its cracked up to be.

The strength of this book is the writing of the relationship dynamics between the siblings who vary in age and for two of them have had to grow up and assume responsibility for the younger ones in their parents absence. As someone who is an older sister I understood a lot of what Indie struggled with by wanting an actual life but caught between his wants and the needs of his family while dealing with the very real threat of death by the hands of sea monsters.

Apart from those family moments the book didn’t really go anywhere for me we never really learn too much about the creatures they are hunting or the expansion of the network they use to gather information and find work other than the few moments that are needed to move the plot a bit further, and the overall mystery with their parents and the hunt for the creature that is thought to have claimed their lives is rather anticlimactic as we spend the whole book leading up to this moment of revenge just for it to work itself out rather quickly and the fallout of that accomplishment being taken care of just as fast.

If you’re looking for a thrilling adventure book with monsters lurking in the depths of the sea this isn’t the book for you but if you’re in the mood for something a little more grounded in that of how far someone is willing to go for their family than this will be perfect.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

[Abi (The Knights Who Say Book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

So the first thing you need to know is that this book almost perfectly encapsulates Hannah Moskwitz's writing (according to the three others that I've read). The characters are so real and messy — that's the way I always describe her characters. They're just a mess, in the best way. They don't always make sense, even to themselves; they have deep desires they don't know how to fix and bitter humor about their situation. They're paradoxes. And though there's romance, the richest relationships aren't romantic at all.

This book is about family. Yeah, there's sea monsters too, but that's just a cool framework for Hannah Moskowitz to hang this story of sibling love and frustration and fear on. Indi and his siblings are confined to the small space of their boat in the middle of the vast ocean, intensely codependent yet unable to communicate what they need. Their parents are missing, Indi wants out, and his older sister just won't give up this futile revenge quest.

I love how Indi's mixed up emotions rule the book. He's so angry and scared and frustrated and lost, and he loves his siblings so much. And Zulu, by the way, is adorable, and Indi trying his hardest to make everything good for her is so much.

I do wish there had been more about the sea monsters, since that was the idea that excited me about the book, but like I said, the sea monsters aren't the point anyway. That's a little disappointing, but it's fine. The one place I think it really hurt was in the big final sea monster battle. It was lacking some drama. Like, there was some intensity, but the way it ended? It needed something. Some more buildup, or an explanation of why it worked. (I know I'm being vague. Spoiler-free.)

But the real ending of the book... ugh, that was good. I hope they get to be happy forever.

[Kevin Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pirates, Monsters, and FAMILY!

I used to think Hannah Moskowitz wrote the very best brother relationships out there. Turns out I stand corrected. Hannah Moskowitz writes the very best SIBLING relationships out there! Salt was a delight that delivered in high seas adventure, pirates and sea monsters! But maybe more importantly, it delivered family relationships and dynamics in spades! I was anxious for the entire last 15% of this book, hoping for everything it eventually delivered...another flawless Hannah book!

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-done, interesting world concept and likable and sympathetic first person narrator. The ending was satisfying if not totally amazing. Hura was a very unusual character in YA, I feel, due to her complete lack of either comeuppance or redemption.

[Crowinator · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

[USOM · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: I received this free book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

The hook for Salt instantly got me. I am a sucker for monster hunters who surf the oceans. And I am the biggest sucker for stories with siblings. And that's all you really need to know about me. But you also need to know that I thoroughly enjoyed Salt. If you ever yelled at your sibling because they were doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, or ever dreamed about glory, or even just love your family even when they bug you, this book is for you.

full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...

[The Captain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this young adult fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

Upon reading the synopsis, I thought this novel would float me boat. It is about fighting sea monsters in the Mediterranean!  But I just could not finish it and had to abandon ship at 42%.  Why ye ask?  Well for a myriad of reasons:

Sea Monsters - Well this be the entire reason I wanted to read this book.  I love me some fierce fighting of nasty beasties.  The first battle with monsters came at the 2% mark and I was excited that it jumped right into the thick of things.  The monster sounded awesome.  But this was only  in concept.  The battle was lackluster and was over pretty quickly in about 2 1/2 pages (the 3% mark).  It was light on details.  But it was the first one so I cut it some slack.  The second monster battle begins at 33%.  The decision about how to get the monsters attention was silly and ye tell me how a teenager is able to out-swim that swarm?  Better than the first but still missing real tension.  I was very bored by these monsters!  

The Siblings - This tale follows four siblings as the hunt for the monsters that killed their parents.  I actually did like all of the siblings and thought they were fun folk.  The problem was that what they did was unrealistic.  Ye put a 6  year-old in charge of butchering a sea monster over half the size of the 15 meter schooner?  And also putting the 6 year-old in charge of the weapons?  Ummm no.   And the 19 year-old and 16 year-old leave the 12 and 6 year-old to fend for themselves in a port where they don't speak the language well?  Ummm no.  All so they can get laid.  Ugh.

The Parents - So the parents hunted sea monsters for a living.  Cool.  They go off on a massive hunt and leave the children behind for safety.  Cool.  They have no backup plan for what happens if they don't come back?  Very not cool.  All the kids have is a small amount of money and a journal with cryptic clues about a mysterious treasure and snippets of where their parents might have gone.  Also the kids have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA about how to live on land.  That's just stupid.  The parents should have at least had an onshore base or some other sea hunter friends that could help them out if something happened to then.  Unrealistic.

The World-Building - The ship knowledge felt off.  The port of Marseille was so lackluster that it could have been anywhere.  The shadowy society of monster builders wasn't explained in any detail.  I wanted grand adventures and scary sea serpents and to feel that this version of the Mediterranean was real.  The book just felt flat.

Fun concepts here.  I wish this one would have focused on the sea monster battles and how the monster fighting community works!  I wanted an awesome treasure hunt.  I didn't get them.  With so many books on the horizon, I just gave up.  I want me reading to make time seem to disappear, not to accentuate every second passing.  I am sad, but I couldn't fight the tide.

If ye be interested in a better sea monster story, try into the drowning deep about killer mermaids.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Chronicle Books!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...

[Kenya Starflight · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. Judging by the description, it looked like a cross between "Supernatural" and "Pacific Rim," with a family of kick-butt siblings fighting sea monsters throughout the Mediterranean. Sadly, the best thing I can say about this book is that it's short, so I only lost a day's worth of reading time. There was so much potential in this story, but it was squandered with a random-events plot, unlikable flat characters, and a complete lack of logic in its monster-fighting scenes.

Four siblings -- older brother and sister Indi and Beleza, and younger siblings Oscar and Zulu -- lost their monster-fighting parents years ago, and so they spend their time traveling the Mediterranean in a rickety sailboat, fighting creatures of the deep and trying to keep each other alive. Beleza is focused on revenge, but Indi hopes for something more than simply fighting monsters all his life... and hopes that the secret treasure hinted at in his parents' journal will help him secure a stable future for his family. Can he help his family escape their treacherous life... or will Beleza's lust for revenge, a seductive pirate, and the bloodthirsty monsters drive them apart?

The writing style of this book is surprisingly sparse on description, which is a shame -- we're left with little idea of what the various monsters look like beyond "lots of teeth" and "tentacles," and the various cities and countries the siblings visit in their travels go almost entirely undescribed. There could have been a lot of richly detailed and exciting locales in this book, but apart from one city being described as destroyed by monsters, every single port and city they visit may as well be the same. And the monster-fighting scenes, which should be exciting, feel pretty flat and boring -- even the climactic encounter feels rushed and boring.

The plot also doesn't feel very coherent, leaping from event to event without bothering to tie events together very much. There are monster battles, family fights, stops to resupply and look for information, but little to bridge these events into a cohesive whole. And there are moments I had to stop and go "okay, this makes no sense even for a book about fighting sea monsters." Firing a taser in an ocean environment, for example, sounds like a complete recipe for disaster...

There isn't much character development to be had either -- the characters don't grow or develop at all over the course of the book, and are either pretty flat or just unlikable. I get that families bicker and fight, especially siblings, but the siblings in this book don't seem to like each other at ALL. And I'm not sure how well their practice of talking to each other in multiple languages would work in real life... but I could be wrong there.

All in all, "Salt" feels more like wasted potential than an enjoyable read. A book about a group of siblings fighting sea monsters should have been exciting and fun, but even as short a read as it was it was a chore to get through.

[Nannette Demmler · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by Chronicle Books via NetGalley for an honest review.  

This is the first book by this author that I have read and I don't think it will be the last.  The one thing I really liked was that she got what life is really like living on a boat for weeks and days at a time.  Many authors do sort of gloss over the less glamorous aspects of ship board life,  but wait, there is nothing really glamorous about it.  You are wet and salty and on top of your shipmates all of the time!  And if you get mad at some one there really isn't anywhere you can go to get away from them, especially when you are away from shore.  There is no privacy really, especially on the size of boat in this story.  Her honest descriptions alone earns this book five stars.  

The author's straightforward prose might be off putting to some, but I loved it.  Indi's voice sounded more authentic by not being overly flowery or descriptive.  He sounded like and really felt like a sixteen year old boy.   You could instantly tell that he loved his siblings, but he did not feel that monster hunting was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.  He was conflicted because he wanted to protect his siblings but he wanted his own life too. 

Beleza was driven to find and destroy the monster that killed their parents.  She was intense and didn't want to understand where Indi was coming from.  She was very protective of her siblings, but she was also strict and maybe a tad abusive towards them, pushing them to do something that maybe they didn't want to.  Oscar and Zulu were both very sweet, although Oscar could be a pill to his younger sister.  They were fierce fighters even at their young age, but still innocent enough to want to play hide and seek with their siblings.  

This was a very introspective and character driven plot, but there was still enough action and monster killing to keep you interested.  The climax felt a little rushed and the aftermath a bit puzzling.  One of the best parts is there is no real romance in this book.  There is sex, Indi meets a girl that he hooks up with through out the book, but there is no romance involved, in fact Hura uses Indi to further her own agenda.  It was kind of refreshing to have characters dealing with casual sex and it's aftermath.  

This book is a bit quirky and will not appeal to everyone.  If you are looking for a book that is all action and monster killing you won't find that here.  What you will find is an honest portrayal of a teenager who is trying to find his place in the world while fighting his inner demons and sea monsters.  
https://elnadesbookchat.com/

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She knows I have a family and she knows about monsters. Well, she knows everything, then. That’s about all there is to me.”

I read Teeth back in 2016 on vacation. All I knew was it had a merboy, it was dark fantasy, and read like your typical YA contemporary. I was automatically intrigued. I figured it wouldn’t be happy, but hey, how bad could it be?

I still remember crying in one of my grandmother’s pool side lawn chairs while the whole family watched from inside the house with concern.

However, it was also one of the most unique and engaging novels I had read it a long time. Salt lives up to that hype.

I know that this is cliche but seriously, this novel was Supernatural at Sea. Complete with their rickety boat the Salgada filling in for the Impala, our main man, Indi, was reincarnate Sam Winchester. He even had an older sister whose family loyalty and stubborn stance on “hunting monsters” was a carbon copy of Dean Winchester’s own personal agenda. The similarities were uncanny.

This was an über short read (under three hundred pages) but a lot happens in that time. Indi, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu’s parents get missing while on a hunt (I mean, did Hannah watch Supernatural in her sleep or something??) and the kids go out to find them. They even hunt down the monster they think killed their parents, The Yellowed Eyed Demon- I mean, El Diamente.

Overall, a lightning fast fantasy filled with lovable and disturbed kids searching for their parents in a monster infested sea. Perfect for fans of Supernatural and fantasy in general, especially if you appreciate originality.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a novel so reliant on its characters, it sure does very little to paint a picture of them or develop them. This definitely should've been longer.

[Tegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve only read one Hannah Moskowitz book before (Teeth – I love it with my entire heart) but I’m starting to recognise what I think could be the key features of her writing: messy characters and bitter humour, with a side of siblings and sea monsters. I love monster books above all else, especially as I’m going through a lighthousecore phase, and sibling books are a close second.

So, the summary: siblings Indi, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, are roaming the Mediterranean on their boat, killing sea monsters, and trying to hunt down the one that is rumoured to have killed their missing parents. Indi yearns for a calmer life and hopes that the treasure hinted at in their parents’ journal will provide his family with a means of escape from their dangerous life before it’s too late.

Most of the story focuses on the development of the characters, and the sibling relationship is my favourite part. Moskowitz shows a messy family where the eldest siblings are forced to act as parents, with constant fighting and bickering but still showing the good times and the deep love they have for each other. It’s a beautiful – and refreshing – family dynamic: an unconventional family with an unconventional life. Sibling relationships have a special place in my heart. And all of the siblings feel like real, developed, distinct people! A quick breakdown of them:
• Beleza is driven to find and kill the monster that supposedly killed their parents. She’s the leader: intense and protective, a hard fighter, willing to do just about anything to find that monster. She’s also the only sibling who lived a ‘normal’ life at one point, not on a boat, not hunting monsters.
• Indi is the caretaker, the doctor of the ship, patching everyone up after fights. He’s the one who is raising the younger siblings and constantly worries about what their lives will become if Beleza keeps pushing them too hard. He hates the lifestyle of killing monsters but is too co-dependent on his siblings to step away from it.
• Oscar is great at stealing pretty much anything he wants or thinks the family will need. He doesn’t have the best attitude, but most of it comes across as a tough façade. But he is also adorable.
• Zulu is a very rare instance of a younger child character in YA (I think she’s six) who is written as their age, not presented as someone even younger. She’s been trained from birth to fight alongside her siblings and butchers the monsters after they’ve been killed. She’s hyper and adorable and annoying, the perfect younger sibling.

One of the big themes in this book is about family, specifically the concept of home and identity within a family. For the siblings, they live on the ocean – and some of them were even born on the boat – so they don’t have a typical home. Their home is also their business. It’s Indi who spends most of his time wondering if there’s a home or a country where he truly belongs, figuring out if he and his siblings belong to the same groups as their parents or not. In reality, they belong to no place, only to each other.

I adore the setting of the book, the boat in particular. I’ve been on a sea monster / pirate / lighthousecore binge recently, and this is the first book that truly encapsulates the less glamorous parts of living on a ship. This ship is especially rickety and dilapidated and half of the equipment doesn’t work. There’s no privacy and nowhere to escape when you’re mad at someone. You’re wet and salty and there’s very little to do when you’re injured and away from shore for weeks or months at a time. I love the focus on these less than perfect details, and it added a lot of realism to the story and the setting for me, especially as a lot of the plot takes place on this ship.

The one thing that was missing from this book for me was more depth and development. It opens in the middle of a sea monster fight and the world expands and the backstory is revealed as the kids travel around, but the book is so short that there’s little time to go into the detail that I personally want. There’s few descriptions of the sea monsters and the world itself so reading this book did make me rely heavily on my imagination. There’s also sometimes a chapter worth of build-up to specific scenes, and then we never actually get to see the scene as it’s skipped over and only mentioned as a recap. This should technically make me give a lower star rating, but this was overshadowed by how much I loved the characters and the concept. I am easily pleased.

In summary, I loved so many parts of this book and the characters stole my heart. It’s a very fast paced and personal narrative about finding your place in the world when you’ve never really belonged in it.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)

[Sarah Perchikoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what I expected when I started Salt. I knew of Hannah Moskowitz from Twitter, so I was excited to read a book by her, and the synopsis sounded interesting. Sibling fighting monsters? Yes, please. The story is definitely different than what I'm normally drawn to, but as I'm trying to read more fantasy, I figured I'd give it a try. Spoiler alert: it did not disappoint! But before I give away everything in the intro, let's get to the review!

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Even though their parents disappeared during a hunt three months ago, seventeen-year-old Indi and his siblings, Beleza, Oscar, and Zulu, continue to roam the Mediterranean on their sailboat and hunt down monsters--but Indi yearns for a more settled life for his family, and he hopes that his parents' journal with its tantalizing hints of a treasure, will provide them all with the means of escape from their nomadic and dangerous life before it is too late.

Indi is the main character of the book. He is a 17-year-old boy and a monster hunter. Yes, that's right. Monsters are real in this world. He lives on a boat with his older sister, Beleza, and two younger siblings, Oscar and Zulu. They are searching for their parents, the ones who brought them into this lifestyle (if that's what you want to call it lol). Their parents went on a big hunt without them, and it soon becomes pretty clear, they didn't make it out alive. So it is now the siblings' mission to find the monster that killed their parents and repay the favor.

While I usually talk about each character before I get into my feels, it's hard to talk about one sibling without talking about how they relate to the others. So let's talk feels for a minute! I absolutely loved this book. My initial feeling that this book wasn't something I would enjoy went right out the window pretty much after the first chapter. I loved each character for their own unique traits and loved the journey they took together.

Beleza is the badass leader of the clan. She is the only one who has ever lived a "normal" life, not on a boat, not hunting monsters. But she is the one who is fighting the hardest (maybe too hard) to find the monster that killed their parents. She seems to be willing to do just about anything.

Indi is the caretaker. He takes care of the kids, tries to get Beleza to see sense when he thinks she's pushing them all too hard, and worries about what their lives will become if they keep living the way they do. He is very much the mother of the group.

Oscar is the thief. He's around 12, so he's doesn't have the best attitude, but he's great at stealing food, items, and pretty much anything he wants or thinks they need. He may put on a bit of a tough facade, but he cares about his siblings as much as the rest of them.

Zulu!! Omg, Zulu is the cutest character to ever exist. She's the youngest (six years old) and the one that butchers the monsters after they kill them. And her age does not mean she doesn't fight or use weapons. Everyone in the family has to do their part. She's been trained from birth to fight and I love her so damn much. There is a point in the story where she is possibly lost and I almost had a freaking heart attack. I love me some Zulu!

This book is such a breath of fresh air for me. Like I said, I don't read too much fantasy, but this book is just so good that I'll definitely be looking into other fantasy books soon. The boat, the siblings' relationships, Indi's struggle to figure out where he belongs, and the ending are so well-written and give just enough "realness" to the story. I connected to this family completely (and you know what that means...there was crying) and was on the edge of my seat anytime I thought there was a possibility one of them could get hurt. The description is also incredible. I can still picture their sad little boat in my head. Everything is described so well.

Rating time! I am giving Salt by Hannah Moskowitz 4 out of 5 stars. Y'all really need to read this book when it comes out.

Salt by Hannah Moskowitz will be released October 30, 2018 (make it a Halloween gift to yourself!)

Thank you, NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

What would you do, if your family was a group of seafaring monster hunters, and one day your parents leave and never end up coming back?

Indi and his siblings (Beleza, who likes to think that she’s in charge; Oscar, who wants to be a doctor; Zulu, who’s the youngest and should probably really be in school) grew up on the ocean. They belong to no place, only to each other. When the worst happens and their parents don’t return from a hunt, Indi and Beleza need to keep track of the kids. They need to keep themselves alive. And, maybe, they need to get some revenge.

Salt is a story about family. An unconventional one, because they have an unconventional life, but siblings are mostly the same toward each other whether they grow up thousands of miles from the sea, or right on top of it. Indi and his brother and sisters are part of that rare group of people who know that monsters exist. Because of this, their parents dedicated their lives—and their children’s lives—to keeping all of those ignorant people on their safe. It’s their job to learn about where a monster is, and then destroy it before it figures out how to eat them.

I really liked this book because it was so different. Indi’s voice is a unique one, trying to be tough in the face of his parents’ disappearance, all too young when he realizes how much has been left on his shoulders. He doesn’t even want to hunt monsters; what he wants more than anything is a normal life, and you can feel the anger seeping into his thoughts and actions as he’s forced to follow in his parents’ footsteps. It’s incredible relatable, even in this incredibly unique situation.

One thing that completely pulled me out of the story, though, was how jarringly the plot would move ahead. In one moment, we would linger over a quiet scene that’s great for characterization but does nothing overall for the plot of the book. Then something big, that the words have been building up to for a long time, will be breezed over in a few sentences, or referred to off-handedly because we don’t get to see that scene at all. I think it’s possible not to make the monster-hunting the center of the story without completely discounting it. The story’s content shouldn’t have been an afterthought to characterization. Even then, characters would sometimes make absurd choices that seemed only tailored to move the plot forward . . . the plot which the book had already deemed unimportant.

Overall, though, I really did like this book. I liked reading about Indi and his family; I liked never knowing what was going to happen next in their rough-and-tumble lifestyle. Salt is something new, something refreshing (even when there’s no freshwater to be found, cue the laughter). Hannah Moskowitz’s books are always unique and fun to read.