Salt & Storm
   by: Kendall Kulper

Publication Date: Sept. 23, 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Genre: Fantasy/Historical Romance
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC received from BEA
Page Count: 416 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 5/5 stars

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.

 

I don't know if it's because I don't read many books in this particular genre or what, but I absolutely loved Salt & Storm. It is beautifully written for one, and I loved diving into a society where the whaling industry was a way of life and the Roe witch was both feared and revered, yet necessary to the town's population. Add in a romance between a young girl who is trying to claim her birthright and a tattooed sailor who has his own strange magic and a story of his own and you've got one heck of a story!

I am still reeling from this book. It is definitely bittersweet and while things may not have played out like I would have wanted, I feel it had to be the way it was. So many events set other events into motion and seeing it all unfold before you was exhilarating and intense, especially knowing fate had a hand in them.

All Avery wants is to be the next Roe witch. After dreaming of her own murder, she must make haste in figuring out how to unlock her own magic before it's game over. However, there are things that Avery has not been told about what it truly means to be a Roe witch. Things that could change everything for her.... She is caught in an impossible situation and I knew that either outcome would break my heart.

Avery is determined and resilient though. I can't even fathom the helplessness she feels after dreaming of her own death. She is the only one who can stop it, but first she has to find a way to see her grandmother in hopes of learning how to unlock her magic. She meets Tane, a tattooed sailor who seeks her out to read his dreams, after being told that she can help him. After discovering Tane has some magic of his own, Avery is desperate for his help, even though her grandmother has warned her of strange magic. She never expects to fall for this beautiful boy and that love would play a role in her journey to becoming who she was born to be.

This is a beautiful story of self-discovery, love and loss, forgiveness and acceptance. I felt like I was transported back into the 19th century myself and could feel Avery's desperation to be who she always thought she would, as well as her struggle to cope with the future she has forseen, but not willing to accept.