Reviews - The Blue Salt Road

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162 reviews for:

The Blue Salt Road

Joanne M. Harris

3.77 AVERAGE

dwarfcan's review against another edition

4.0

4 stars, frankly I didn't think there were enough graphic whaling scenes

rosekk's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the way the story handled the selkie myth, and the relationships between characters & magic were interesting to follow.

wishbea's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was disappointed by this, we are told in the prologue the majority of how the story will go and then the rest of the book is giving us the detail of how it happens. Unfortunately I found myself getting bored and the plot beats were mostly predictable. The ending twist was interesting, as is usually the case with this author, however I have very mixed feelings about sexist beliefs being used to excuse the slavery and I ended up despising every female character in this story apart from the selkie girl because of this. An extremely tragic ending for the selkie.

The illustrations are amazing as always and at least it was a quick read.

A Pocketful of Crows remains my favourite Joanne Harris book.

Content Warnings

perfictionistnicole's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

If you enjoy fairytales and selkies lore I think you will enjoy this book. It's a easy read for someone looking for an fantastical aquatic adventure.

mandysreadinglist's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳. “𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥; 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯." —𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥

This was another beautifully told story by @joannechocolat and illustrated by @bonniehelenhawkinsartist

The Blue Salt Road is a stunning tale of love, loss, treachery, revenge, and the call of the ocean. Set upon the high seas, this epic tells the legend of the selkie, and of the trickery and cruelty of human Folk.

Dark, magical, and deep as the open sea, it is a story I will carry with me 💙

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

nancy_k5's review against another edition

5.0

Selkie folklore is usually about the Selkie females being captives of the human males, but this one is reversed. This story is thought provoking and makes you think about all sides of the story and the hard choices each character feels they have to make. It’s easy to judge others choices but the author does a great job making you see their choices from their point of view and making it harder to judge.
This is the first book I’ve read by Joanne M. Harris and I’m planning to eat up all her other books!

thequiltyreader's review

4.0

adventurous challenging dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The book was OK. Its a retelling of a traditional selkie story. It was a quick read given the length but it felt a bit drawn out at points and I found it predicable. But I enjoyed the writing otherwise. What made me rbk this as high as a 4 though was the gorgeous illustrations throughout the story. Be warned though this is a tough read if you are an animal lover.

Content Warnings