Reviews tagging 'Death'

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield

31 reviews

carlycormier_'s review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

”The ocean empties, a thousand dead and dying invertebrates, jungled tentacles and fine, fragile membranes blanketing the shore two miles in each direction. They are translucent, almost spectral, as though the sea has exorcised its ghosts. Drowned in air, they break apart and bleed their interiors. A saturation, leeching down into the earth."


I don't believe I have ever read a short story collection before... salt slow was quite the first choice! I would pick it up every now and then to read a story or two when I wanted a break from whatever else I was doing/reading. Armfield's prose is quite unique and unlike most of what I’ve read before. These stories all feel quite normal as if they are happening within our own world, but then there is one small aspect that sets off the balance of nature, making you feel uneasy at times.

Intelligent and gripping, yet off-putting and slightly horrifying.

My favorites were: The Great Awake, Granite, and Smack. I would highly recommend this to those who are looking for something to shake up their genre choices or are interested in a fresh voice (or those who simply want to drool over beautiful cover art). Can't wait to read more from Armfield!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Blood, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Animal death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Gore, Murder, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Bullying, Violence, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

megj23's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Pregnancy, and Body horror

zany25's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

As a short story collection there were definitely ones I enjoyed more and ones I enjoyed less and the reaction from anyone will likely be similar. A mixed bag, but I don’t regret reading it. The Great Awake, Granite, Formerly Feral, Cassandra After, and the namesake story Salt Slow were definite standouts to me. I like the muted realistic way love is portrayed in many of these stories, it feels very unidealistic and grounded at times but still interesting. 

Definitely not a collection that’s going to scare you, but it may make you shiver slightly once or twice. Dreamlike and occasionally meandering I think it shows the good and bad of Julia Armfield very well. I personally look forward to more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Body shaming

Potential implications of “end of the world” or radical societal change/upheaval type scenarios in some of the stories, but is not graphic. Climate change and isolation come up as themes.

queerfelicity's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Minor: Homophobia

bethsreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I really like Armfield’s writing style. I particularly like how the gothic elements of the stories are ever present in the background, creeping closer as each story progresses. They are unsettling and creative and pull you in. My main critique of them is that quite a few of the main characters felt a bit interchangeable. As they are short stories, the characters wont have as much depth as they do in a novel and Armfield does a great job of building these characters in a short number of pages; I was just left feeling like some of the outlooks and personalities of the main characters blurred together a little. It is a good collection though and I would recommend to people who liked The Dangers of Smoking in Bed.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, and Body horror

Moderate: Death

Minor: Lesbophobia

lady_bountiful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Blood, Death, and Pregnancy

aisabel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Stalking, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

jokehelldo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

There were some stories I didn't fully liked, but Mantis, Cassandra After and Salt Slow have my whole heart

This was so beautiful, and even though we don't get explained almost nothing, you have a feeling you are living the stories with your whole soul.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: Lesbophobia and Misogyny

myk_yeah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Magnificent. Reminds me a lot of “What is Not Yours is Not Yours” by Helen Oyeyemi. 
A collection of dark short stories and great sapphic representation. Beautiful writing, human themed with a creepy touch. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Abortion, Child death, and Death

Minor: Violence and Body horror