Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

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A sweeping historical romance about a witch who foresees her own murder--and the one boy who can help change her future.

Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants only to take her rightful place as the witch of Prince Island, making the charms that keep the island's whalers safe at sea, but her mother has forced her into a magic-free world of proper manners and respectability. When Avery dreams she's to be murdered, she knows time is running out to unlock her magic and save herself.

Avery finds an unexpected ally in a tattooed harpoon boy named Tane--a sailor with magic of his own, who moves Avery in ways she never expected. Becoming a witch might stop her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers her magic requires a sacrifice she never prepared for.


If you’re looking to be transported to a different time, Salt & Storm should be your top pick. It was amazing to be taken to a place that is so far removed from the world as I know it. A world that is on the cusp of modernization but still clings to the superstitions of its ancestors.

Avery is a very interesting girl who has spent her young life preparing to take over her family’s legacy. They’re witches whose magic is highly sought after. It's their magic that keeps Prince Island prosperous. The people of the island know who to turn to create fortune in their lives or to ensure safe passage through the waters surrounding the island. She has watched her beloved grandmother weave all kinds of spells to help them. Then her mother shows up one day to remove her from this environment and threatens the grandmother that should she come for Avery, they will leave the island for good.

The next few years for Avery are like a prison that she’s determined to escape. She wants to return to her grandmother and become the next witch. Her mother is adamantly against it. Matters get worse when Avery has a series of dreams that foreshadow her own death.  She desperately needs guidance and to find a way to change her fate, if that’s even possible.

The world of Prince Island, a whaling town, is quite fascinating.  It’s a mix of old world mystery and a burgeoning hunger for new world money. Gossip and fear of the unknown run rampant. Despite the inevitable change that is slowly making its way toward them, the island people cling tightly to their traditions. 

Salt & Storm is very gripping, getting more so as Avery’s plight becomes more treacherous. Her friendship with Tane brings her the companionship that she’s never had before and he introduces her to a world outside of Prince Island.  Even so, Prince Island is her home. Her fate and the island’s future are so heavily entwined that nothing can tear her away from what she has known and wanted all her life, not even the threat of imminent danger. 

~ Bel


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