Reviews with content warning for Medical content - A Sweet Sting of Salt

story myself, so I was really intrigued to learn about this book when it came out. I liked Sutherland's approach to a historical novel. It wasn't bogged down in overly precious "old-timey" language, but drew you very directly into the world instead. The book had really good pacing too. I was a little intimidated to start such a long book, but it didn't feel long when I was reading it. I liked that the story was told entirely from Jean's perspective. She was a great character to spend time with, and I really felt for her.

The part that made me cry was when she and Jo were reunited and things became so settled and peaceful between them. I could really feel how that had been weighing on her so much, wondering if she had ruined Jo's life, and I felt relief with her when Jo turned out all right, and also when Jo said that her life wasn't Jean's sole responsibility.

I adored Muirin! I'm a Gaelic speaker and was impressed that Sutherland got the genitive right on ròin. I would have liked to see more Gaelic in the book, but at least its presence was always there and not something that was treated as an afterthought. I also appreciated the inclusion of the Native characters. I'm not sure why Sutherland only named the Mikmaq in the acknowledgements and just used "Native" throughout the book, but I appreciated this as a more realistic spectrum of the types of people in 19th century Nova Scotia than some books would try to portray.

Of course, I absolutely loved the romance between Jean and Muirin. My heart ached for both of them, and I really felt the sense of frustration Jean had with having so few options for helping a woman in a bad situation in this place and time. The writing style of the book is not overly flowery, but I really appreciated the way Sutherland wrote her characters, making them feel very much like real people, and there were also some beautiful passages about the natural world of their surroundings. Sutherland was also very effective at creating a sense of dread with the escalating actions of the antagonist.

My only real plot qualm came late in the book:

It was a misstep to have Laurie's lover also be a selkie. It was way too much of a coincidence and made the world feel small. Really, the two queer people who are adopted family to each other both find selkie lovers?

Other than that though, I really enjoyed the plot of this book and thought it made sense how things progressed.

What a wonderful book! I highly recommend it. It totally absorbed me while I was reading it. I'm looking forward to seeing what else this author has in store!

Content Warnings

sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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belleanndthebook's review

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lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

Overall, this was a very cozy, cottage-core, small town, seaside, tense, slow-burn fantasy romance. It is also a retelling of The Selkie Wife, but since I hadn’t actually known that story before going into this one, I won’t actually be able to comment on those aspects.

I had a really fun time reading this story. The main character, Jean, is a midwife who makes some very well-intentioned and increasingly questionable decisions following an absurd birth. Normally, the types of decisions made would infuriate me; however, I found that since the side-characters acknowledged how dumb a lot of the decisions were, so they added a lighthearted and silly mood to the overall plot. Otherwise, the plot was filled with tension, oscillating between the romantic and the suspenseful.

This book was more vibes than anything else, and honestly, I had a delightful time with those vibes!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending me the arc!

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