Kendall Kulper is the author of SALT & STORM, a Young Adult historical fantasy to be published by Little, Brown in September 2014. She grew up in the wilds of New Jersey and currently lives in Chicago (where she dreams of someday returning to the land of thin-crust pizza) with her economist husband, Dave, and Abby, her chronically-anxious Australian Shepherd.
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I found out about Salt & Storm while at BEA and when someone made mention of a swoony, tattooed, harpoon boy I was onboard. I braved the crowds of the Bookcon event to get a copy of this book and I have to say, I really did enjoy this debut by Kendall Kulper. I have to admit there were some parts of the story that seemed a bit repetitive but other than that little, tiny piece, the overall story and writing flowed well. Kulper blends in historical fact along with some fiction, some solid characters, and witchcraft.
Avery Roe was born and has grown up on Prince Island and it is her family’s responsibility to keep the whale men and their ships safe. As the Roe Witch, Avery’s grandmother is the one the men come to for charms and spells. It is also them the people blame when things go horribly wrong. When Avery was young, her mother left her in the care of her grandmother and all she ever wanted was to grow up to become the Roe Witch for the island.
When Avery was 12, things changed drastically. Avery’s mother came back and she took her away from her grandmother. She also forbade them from seeing each other by threatening to take Avery off the island forever. It also didn’t help that she was a witch and put a curse on Avery that didn’t allow her to even think about going to her grandmother without causing her to blackout. At 16, Avery is desperate to find a way back to her grandmother. Not only to find out how to release her witchcraft, but also because she has had a dream that has foretold her own death/murder. Avery is sure that if she can become the witch, she will be safe because “the Roe witch can’t be murdered.”
I have to say that I thought Kulper did a number of things well here. First, I loved the description of the island. Her writing transported me to this island and it was so descriptive that I could imagine what the docks looked like and the cottage Avery’s grandmother lived in…even the town as Avery walked the comma counterclockwise.
Second, Avery’s relationship with her mother was done well. I could feel the anger that Avery had for her mother for taking her away from everything she knew as well as what she wanted out of life. It was clear her mother had a reason but because we don’t really understand what it is until later in the story, I felt Avery’s anger right alongside her.
At the same time, Avery meets Tane at the docks. He is definitely not from Prince Island and immediately earns Avery’s distrust due to the test he gives her. See, Avery can’t access her magic but she can read dreams and he has made an effort to find Avery so that she can read his. Although he is a harpoon boy on one of the ships, he is also on a mission to get revenge upon the men who murdered the people of his island and especially his family. To do this, he needs Avery to read his dreams to interpret what he needs to do.
Once Avery gets over the anger she has at Tane for what he did at their first meeting, she realizes that he is the answer to getting back to her grandmother. Tane’s people had magic too and they strike a deal. Tane offers to try to do something about the curse if she will interpret the dreams he has documented for the last year (or so) and this is really the beginning of their relationship. As she interprets his dreams and he eventually helps her with his magic, they find themselves drawn to each other. There were a few moments that were pretty swoony…no question.
As the story moves forward, a number of things are revealed – all of which I can’t go into a ton of detail on because I don’t want to ruin anything. We get to find out how a witch accesses her magic. We also find out what really happened to Tane and how much of an impact it had on him (as well as how much his relationship with Avery has changed who he is now). We also get to learn more about Avery’s mother and grandmother as well as the curse that the Roe witches have on them.
As I mentioned earlier, when things go bad, the Roe witch is blamed and eventually…things go bad. Avery is faced with a decision and although she believes she has chosen correctly, she can’t change the future (according to her vision) and when things take a turn, that is when things start to be revealed.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought Kulper did a wonderful job. The characters are developed well and the story pulled me in. I didn’t want to put this one down until I found out all the things and then when I finished it, I wanted more. If you like historical fiction that includes witches and magic, definitely check this one out when you can.
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