The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

I am not sure what I expected when I first read the summary of this book, Romeo and Juliet? Children of the Corn? It was an interesting but different mix. A mix that worked out really well. Salt and Blood is one of the creepiest books I have read so far this year. From the first line of the book I was entrapped in the world that Kim built for us.

Almost everyday since Ash was a young girl she has seen a dead girl, hanging from corn husk rope. Something that no one else sees. As time when on the dead girl began to look like Ash. Ash and her twin brother Rhys always lived a normal life, even if their mother did have weird tendencies because she grew up in a cult in a place called Quivira. But one day when Ash comes home from school and her mother is missing she knows right where to look. Packing a few belongings, and the things her mother seemed to leave behind for Ash to find. Ash and Rhys hit the road in search of Quivira. When arriving they are met by corn fields, and abandoned cars. Once in Quivira things are only about to get weirder. Who was the strange boy Ash met in the corn? Why are people suddenly dying? And where is their mother?

I love the banter between all the characters, even though the book is dark the constant banter between everyone gave it a lighter and funnier feel. Ash and Rhys who are twins have some of the best dialogue together. I enjoyed the fact that Ash is very protective of Rhys despite everything that is going on, and it is seen more in some books that the guy is more protective of the girl, then vise versa. Besides Ash and Rhys, there is Beth. Who meets the siblings when they first step out from the corn. She is a little out there, mostly due to an incident of hitting her head. She is the little blooming ray of sunshine in this horror book. (Besides the romance) Beth reminds me of a puppy. She wants everyone to be happy.

Insta-love is typically a turn off for me in books. But due to the plot and the history of Quivira, and they Ash's overall personality it fit in with the book well. And Dane. You guys. As Kim described him to me in a tweet he is: "tortured." But he is also a mixed (Families play a huge role in Quivira's culture) which means any romance between him and Ash is basically forbidden. But there is always ways around that isn't there? Kim basically destroyed me in the last fifty pages of this book, and I am excited where she will take this in with the second book.

The world building was really well done. I pictured Quivira as in almost like a settlement back in the 1700s. (Which I may be wrong but that is how Ash described it to us) But also the flashbacks, and how they were told through Ash's "Gift" added to the creep factor of Blood and Salt. Overall I really loved Blood and Salt, I can't wait to see what Kim has planned for us in book 2!