Salt by Danielle Ellison

The Basics:
Salt by Danielle Ellison
Entangled: Teen
YA, Romance, Paranormal
Published Jan 7, 2014
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

Penelope is a witch, part of a secret society protecting humans from demon attacks. But when she was a child, a demon killed her parents—and stole her magic. Since then, she’s been pretending to be something she’s not, using her sister’s magic to hide her own loss, to prevent being sent away.

When she’s finally given the chance to join the elite demon-hunting force, Penelope thinks that will finally change. With her sister’s help, she can squeeze through the tests and get access to the information she needs to find "her" demon. To take back what was stolen.

Then she meets Carter. He’s cute, smart, and she can borrow his magic, too. He knows her secret—but he also has one of his own. 

Suddenly, Penelope’s impossible quest becomes far more complicated. Because Carter’s not telling her everything, and it’s starting to seem like the demons have their own agenda…and they’re far too interested in her.

Why I picked up this book:

Witches and demons sounded like something I would enjoy.

My thoughts:

I was not wrong, I did enjoy this.

So Penelope's life is a complicated mess of lies - she's a witch who can't actually be a witch without a family member nearby until she meets Carter - a guy whose sitting on a bunch of his own secrets. Secret agendas abound as these two navigate the witchy world that Nons - that'd be me and you (I presume, unless you're part of the paranormal community) - know nothing about but rely on to stay safe from demons.

Yes, this book has a few cliches, but I felt like the sum of the book overcame them. I'm getting a wee bit tired of the mysterious guy who periodically pops up to save the day, and who may or may not be harbouring some serious lust/love for our dear heroine. At least the author is bold enough to evade the unnecessary love triangle - Penelope's best friend is a guy, but Ric is gay. Penelope's waffling over whether to tell Ric about who/what she really is was an interesting dilemma alongside his openness. I liked that Ric's sexuality was a non-issue, but then Penelope's witch status was a deep, dark secret.

Carter was an appropriately dreamy young man - he's got some snark, he's fully supportive, he's hot, he's powerful. He's got secrets. We know this type by now, inside and out. Carter doesn't disappoint any expectations, though he doesn't really break outside of the box at all either.

There's a lot of action in this book and Penelope more than holds her own. She's one tough lady, which is as it should be given that she's been working towards being an Enforcer since she realized it would help her towards the goal of finding 'her' demon. There's no flailing about for her - she's got moves and she uses them to repeatedly beat down the bad guys. 

Overall, I liked the flow of Salt. The pace was quick but not so hectic that I didn't have a chance to reflect on everything I was learning about the world and Penelope's unique position within it. There's a lot of good worldbuilding here.

Bottom line:

I liked Ellison's spin on the paranormal YA romance - witches and demons duking it out while humans remain clueless. There's some material left open that screams sequel: I will be watching for it.  This wasn't the most original entry in the genre, but it was a fair amount of fun, and that counts for a *lot* with me.  

I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the genre (and I'll suggest it to my family members who read this type of thing).

4 stars
For fans of YA, paranormal, witches and/or demons, young love