Salt: (Middle Grade Novel, Kids Adventure Story, Kids Book about Family)

2.5 rating-Honestly, the best thing about this book and the reason I finished it was due to the sibling dynamics. However, It felt unfinished and rushed. Loved the sea monster concept, looking for parents, but what drove this was MC Indi’s promiscuous escapades. (Fade to black scenes;nothing graphic) but as much as he loved his family, the person who stole, lied and cheated him AND his siblings get a pass? No anger. No retaliation. I mean, they ARE called “Sicarios”. That’s like writing about the CIA or Navy Seals and then depicting them as mall cops. It didn’t add up. It wasn’t a bad read, but it wasn’t great either.

This book was all about the family dynamics, showing how complicated sibling relationships can be especially in this particular kind of situation. I think some of the people complaining about how simple or short the book is forget or don't realize this book is geared towards /twelve/ and up. It's a fast past adventure that kids on the older side of middle grade and younger side of YA will enjoy, but definitely not a waste of time for any reader who knows going into it that it's written not for adults but for the younger side of YA.

Not terrible. I like it but it’s a thin book. By that I mean, it could and should have so much more development. It needs more descriptions, more imagery. There are what should be dramatic moments and big reveals that are not developed.It’s a beautiful story of siblings surviving on their own. It just needs more.

This is a fabulously written book. It’s a thrilling and emotional story, but also a sophisticated look at family, especially sibling relationships. It’s worldly and nuanced with well-rounded characters, including great female characters. Deserves to be a classic!

This wasn't my favorite book ever but it certainly wasn't bad either. I probably would have given it four stars if there wasn't as much swearing. The main character also smoked a cigarette and had a sexual relationship with somebody on more than on occasion. Other than that it was decent. The author really crammed quite the adventure into such a short book. It only took me around three hours to read it and I don't consider myself to be a fast reader. There was also plenty of action, most of which came from when the four siblings were fighting monsters. Zulu was the youngest at six and definitely was my favorite. Oscar was twelve and probably my least favorite. He was cruel and mean at times. There wasn't a lot of character development with him, unlike with our main character Indi. Indi, short for India, came to respect and approve of the choices made by his older sister Beleza. She was tough but truly did care for her siblings. Hura was the love interest in this story and the one Indi slept with. I figured her out pretty quick although he never seemed to. I understand that his poor decision making was needed to help the story progress but realistically I doubt anyone would have made those same bad choices. The bond between the four orphaned siblings really was something and led to their eventual forgiveness of Indi. I wound recommend this book because of that.I did receive a free copy of this book from Netgalley but it did not effect my review.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.In this story we get to know 4 siblings who have recently become orphaned and took over the family business: hunting down sea monsters, living the ocean life, barely scraping by. They have their parents journal with notes about the various monsters and a map to a potential treasure, as well as their rickety ship and an arsenal of weapons. We follow the siblings on their journey to avenge their parents. Along the way, they encounter clues, monsters, and a female pirate. Will they come face to face with the monster that allegedly killed their parents? Will they find the treasure on the way?I have to say this book wasn't for me. I was intrigued by the genre and story synopsis as fantastical sea adventures are generally my thing. Unfortunately, the story felt like a hodgepodge of magical text messages sent by an angsty teen. Maybe the teenager-like language was done on purpose but somehow didn't fit the atmosphere of the plotline at all. I was confused at times whether or not the narrator (teenaged Indi) was actually sitting in his older sister's pocket or if it was just a figure of speech. Events along the journey happened abruptly and were hard to follow. The crescendo of encountering the mythical sea creature called El Diamante fell flat and the battle was way too short for me to care about its outcome. And the ending seemed like an odd afterthought.All in all, I struggled reading this book and am not certain I understood its message. To me, the only positive note was the female pirate who made no excuses for herself and her lifestyle. She was a very positive (despite being a thieving pirate) role model in the book.

I used to think Hannah Moskowitz wrote the very best brother relationships out there. Turns out I stand corrected. Hannah Moskowitz writes the very best SIBLING relationships out there! Salt was a delight that delivered in high seas adventure, pirates and sea monsters! But maybe more importantly, it delivered family relationships and dynamics in spades! I was anxious for the entire last 15% of this book, hoping for everything it eventually delivered...another flawless Hannah book!