DNF Review: Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

Publisher: Little Brown Books
Publication Date: September 23rd, 2014
Pages: 416
Series: Salt & Storm #1
Source: Publisher **I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review**
Rating: DNF @ 39%
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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.

I was actually pretty excited for Salt & Storm. The synopsis promises romance and magic set in around the Victorian era. I was totally sold. Those are some of my magic words. Unfortunately from where I was able to push myself to read to Salt & Storm sure wasn't delivering.

Avery is a witch. She's part of a long line of Roe women who have watched over Prince Island. They primarily make charms that keep the sailors safe at sea. Avery wants to take up her rightful place as witch of the island but her mother has a different opinion. Her mother wants nothing to do with magic or Avery's grandmother, so she takes Avery to live in town. She than marries the minister and Avery is forced into a life of imprisonment. She's allowed out of the house at certain times but whenever she thinks of returning to her grandmother it's like an invisible line is holding her to her mother's house. Than Avery meets the mysterious Tane. A sailor from the south Pacific. Tane has specifically come to Prince Island for Avery. He's heard about her powers interpreting dreams, so he wants her help. In return he promises to help Avery remove herself from under her mothers power so she can return to her grandmother in the hopes that she can stop her own murder.

My biggest problem was the lack of anything. It took me three days of pushing myself to just read a chapter at a time. I finally got to 39% and just couldn't push myself to finish the book. I was beyond bored. Salt & Storm has a very very slow plot. I'm all for world building and character development but there's got to be some kick in there too. My attention span needs to be fed or I'm going to find myself glazing over pages. Where I was able to read to before finally giving up Tane had just worked his magic to get Avery away from her mother. You'd think that would be the turning point in the book, Avery is finally going to tell her mother to go to hell and we're going to meet her grandmother. But I just didn't care enough to find out if that's true. The plot may very well pick up from there but with the disappointing lack of magic throughout the first 164 pages I'm thinking not. I know a lot of books synopsis' can be misleading, but when I see the word witch I'm setting my expectations high. I want to see magic. Lots of it.

I also could not deal with anymore from, Avery. She is a petty little brat. I can understand wanting to get away from her hypocritical, controlling mother. But using her friend when it's obviously a situation he'll not come through unscathed is terrible. And than when he loses the life he's built up and is forced to become a sailor- something he never wanted to be- there's barely a sorry spoken from Avery. She's more worried about herself and what the hell she's going to do now. She's also super fast to judge and lose her temper. I can just imagine her whiny voice when she's being patronizing to Tane and really just about anyone she comes into contact with and if that didn't make me want to punch her in the throat...
I barely got to know Tane, but he seemed like a cool guy. It's just unfortunate that Avery had to ruin the book from me getting to know more of him. I just can't really imagine this epic romance between them. The poor guy is going to have to put up with a lot.

 It sucks that I had to DNF Salt & Storm. But I've learned that there's no point in making myself read something I'm not enjoying. There is so so so many books on my TBR that want my attention, too. Salt & Storm just wasn't the book for me. Doesn't mean it won't work for someone else. In fact the reviews on it are pretty good. And just because I DNF now doesn't mean I won't ever come back to it. Just at this point and time I am closing the book with a bookmark still in.

Happy reading!

Brittany