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keen's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement and Pregnancy
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
4.0
A couple times, Khaw's books have floated across my radar. I always feel like I'd like them, based on cover vibes, but then I'd read the blurbs and they all feel too horror-y and I get scared off. (I'm a huge scaredy-cat. Ask me about how many nights I couldn’t sleep after watching The Descent in high school...) Apparently, I was finally feeling big and brave, and decided to give this one a go.
In an apocalyptic(ish) world, a siren-like creature leaves the land she'd been bound to for years, after her daughters devoured the kingdom. As she sets out on a journey, leaving that destroyed place behind her forever, she meets a mysterious plague doctor. Their travels bring them to a dark, wintry forest village populated by children controlled by three Frankenstein-like "surgeons" who have set themselves up as gods. Together, they must use the darker parts of themselves to survive the encounter(s) there.
This is like, take horror and make it poetry. Or take poetry and make it horror. It has all the hallmarks of body horror - gore and bones and medical content (Frankenstein-style, as I mentioned in the blurb) and viscera and blood and cannibalism (eating others flesh at the very least). But it's communicated with writing that is lulling, mesmerizing. It's the lyrical academic exactness in the word choices, precise sentences and descriptions, everything purposeful, with esoteric levels of vocabulary, that creates a language-style reminiscent of This Is How You Lose the Time War. Phenomenal.
Under that phenomenal writing, the story itself is so horrible you can’t relax. But you also cannot look away. I'm not always into the pieced-together-sinister-science/medicine type of horror, but I did enjoy the conglomeration of the darker sides of all mermaid/selkie/siren mythology. And the creativity of bringing that together with plague doctor imagery and ambiance ended up working for me. And there was a dark, but creepily endearing, love story woven in that I wasn't sure about to start, but ended up finding quite compelling, in an unearthly sort of way.
There was a plot, but I thought that was the weakest part. This was mostly writing and vibes. And what a vibe! It was similar to Pan's Labyrinth (which I was super into, in high school), and sort of like the Jack and Jill storyline of McGuire's Wayward Children series (though considerably less whimsical, more disturbing and ominous).
That bonus story at the end, a gruesome re-vision and reclaiming of The Little Mermaid, looking at the sorrow within the fairy tale that is well-known, examining what, as with all fairy tales, is always conveniently left out. I was here for that.
One of the blurbs for this novella says reading Khaw is like “watching a nightmare ballet.” And I honestly can’t think of a better description. It’s gorgeous and terrifying. It's grotesque. In the best way. If that's what you're looking for, then give this short read a go.
“Myths are full of lies. This is not one of them. […] Names have so much power.”
“It is always interesting to see how often women are described as ravenous when it is the men who, without exception, tale without thought of compensation.
“Meat may be mulch, when left for long enough.”
“No myth can remain terrifying when you;ve seen it broken and beaten, rendered as toothless as an old crone.”
“But palatability is prized over accuracy. It is easier to market a nymph than a viperfish.”
“Man mistakes his own experiences as the canvas on which all truths are drawn. He is rarely correct in this respect.”
“That I want to die here, mired in the goal. That I want to race them to Death's carriage, exceeding their pace but only just, never going so far as to be unable to turn and corset their fingers in mine. That eternity is a worthless bauble without their conversation. That I would follow them into the demise of the universe where every heaven and hell is shuttered, and there is nothing of us but motings of wan light, and there is no bodily apparatus with which to express affection, no recourse save to glow weakly in worship until at last, such things are swallowed too by the dark. That I would love them even then. As long as a moiety of conscious thought persists, I will love them. I will love them to the death of days.” (damn what a sentiment!)
“How men fear things that can’t be quieted.”
“We are made of stardust. Or maybe, of primordial elements such as the ocean and the dark and the killing flame and love. Perhaps, my kind are conduits, our shape defined not by parentage but the things to which we'd yoked our beliefs. Perhaps, we are as any myths are: protean, impossible, exactly what we need to be.”
“Wordless, they unfold their arms, stretching them out to me. There is no hesitation. I plunge into their arms. And it is enough, it is more than enough.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cannibalism and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Domestic abuse and Pregnancy
brynnfai's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I liked the ended ending a lot and it was a very fresh book with beautiful prose though addmitedly a bit hard to follow at times. I had to read it out loud to fully understand what I was reading a lot of the time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Animal death
wordsareworlds's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My favorite read of the year. Such a compelling weaving together of different fairy tales, all at their most disturbing and horrifying, while bringing out the cores of humanity and love within them. Khan's writing style and the length were perfect for this story, and it has taken its rightful place as one of my favorite horror novellas, and absolute favorite horror romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Slavery, and Pregnancy
handheldgirl's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
roxiehrt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.0
Im still trying to process this book, but it’s a solidly written book. You do get dropped into the world with basically no exposition so know that you’re going to have to figure out the rules of the world as you go along. The flowery language does make it a laborious read and you’ll need to give it your full attention, but it’s worth the read if you’re into a gothic horror fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Gore, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, and Medical content
trollmila's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
While plot happens, for the most part it is a very aesthetic world created. There's a lot of gore and it relies more on emotion and description which you may or may not like! I liked it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Death, Medical content, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Child death
faroukk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Really loved this book from Cassandra Khaw. Has what I would describe as "Bloodborne Vibes" and successfully executes on it. That horrific, tense, and cold atmosphere featuring characters with a dark and monstrous underbelly to their psychology was very satisfying to read in this short 100 page novel.
The main criticism I've seen of this book, and it is important to note, is that Khaw's prose is overly wordy to the point that it actually gets in the way of the story/understanding what's going on. To give you an idea of how "overly complicated" the vocabulary is: I had to google words I'd never seen before/didn't know the definitions to offhand at least 1-3 times per page as I was reading it (and I would say I have a pretty extensive vocabulary). I was willing to do the work of researching definitions while reading due to the shortness of the book, but I most likely would not have had the stamina to do so if the book were longer.
With that being said, I don't agree with the argument that the "thesaurus fluff" didn't add anything to the story. Khaw clearly has intention behind every single word that they write. The extremely flowery and vibrant prose is often used to beautifully describe some of the most horrific gore you could read. I find this intense contrast, to portray such monstrous and grotesque things so beautifully, to be incredibly evocative and found that it added to the unique atmosphere the book is trying to evoke. Additionally, once you actually google the words, it becomes clear that Khaw did not just randomly decide to use big words. The author has a clear understanding of what these words mean, and constructs sentences expertly to convey incredibly powerful imagery.
I'm also admittedly biased because I also actually really like books that use big words, and I love the opportunity to expand my vocabulary. I believe that reading is just as much about expanding your language/cognition as it is about understanding the thesis/story of the writing. With that belief in mind, I was willing to go on admittedly a very arduous journey of constantly pulling out my phone as I was reading to understand what the hell was going on.
Ultimately, if you're willing to stomach the gore and the purple prose, you will love this book. The tone and atmosphere is incredible, the monstrous psychology of desire within the characters is fascinating, and you'll come out of it having learned a bunch of new words! Like I said I'm biased so if the wordiness is not your thing then take my opinion with a grain of salt, but this was right up my alley and I came out of it inspired to write more myself.
The main criticism I've seen of this book, and it is important to note, is that Khaw's prose is overly wordy to the point that it actually gets in the way of the story/understanding what's going on. To give you an idea of how "overly complicated" the vocabulary is: I had to google words I'd never seen before/didn't know the definitions to offhand at least 1-3 times per page as I was reading it (and I would say I have a pretty extensive vocabulary). I was willing to do the work of researching definitions while reading due to the shortness of the book, but I most likely would not have had the stamina to do so if the book were longer.
With that being said, I don't agree with the argument that the "thesaurus fluff" didn't add anything to the story. Khaw clearly has intention behind every single word that they write. The extremely flowery and vibrant prose is often used to beautifully describe some of the most horrific gore you could read. I find this intense contrast, to portray such monstrous and grotesque things so beautifully, to be incredibly evocative and found that it added to the unique atmosphere the book is trying to evoke. Additionally, once you actually google the words, it becomes clear that Khaw did not just randomly decide to use big words. The author has a clear understanding of what these words mean, and constructs sentences expertly to convey incredibly powerful imagery.
I'm also admittedly biased because I also actually really like books that use big words, and I love the opportunity to expand my vocabulary. I believe that reading is just as much about expanding your language/cognition as it is about understanding the thesis/story of the writing. With that belief in mind, I was willing to go on admittedly a very arduous journey of constantly pulling out my phone as I was reading to understand what the hell was going on.
Ultimately, if you're willing to stomach the gore and the purple prose, you will love this book. The tone and atmosphere is incredible, the monstrous psychology of desire within the characters is fascinating, and you'll come out of it having learned a bunch of new words! Like I said I'm biased so if the wordiness is not your thing then take my opinion with a grain of salt, but this was right up my alley and I came out of it inspired to write more myself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
liz_liz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Child death
Moderate: Medical content, Body horror, and Gore
Minor: Animal death
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This was so unique from all my other reads lately, and so much was packed in a lil dark fairy tale novella, woweeee! This follows a serial killer mermaid (but like, idk give her a break okay) and a nonbinary plague doctor in an apocalyptic wasteland.
The prose was lyrical, lush, dreamy, eerie, visceral. I don't really know how to write a review that does this novella justice, but I had a great time. The commentary on what it means to be human, connection, love, and more in a society where those sentiments, concepts, or practices are almost extinct?
I had to look up a lot of words because again, the prose is incredibly flowery and I'm just a mere peasant, but oh wow, the vibes were immaculate!!!!
This was so unique from all my other reads lately, and so much was packed in a lil dark fairy tale novella, woweeee! This follows a serial killer mermaid (but like, idk give her a break okay) and a nonbinary plague doctor in an apocalyptic wasteland.
The prose was lyrical, lush, dreamy, eerie, visceral. I don't really know how to write a review that does this novella justice, but I had a great time. The commentary on what it means to be human, connection, love, and more in a society where those sentiments, concepts, or practices are almost extinct?
I had to look up a lot of words because again, the prose is incredibly flowery and I'm just a mere peasant, but oh wow, the vibes were immaculate!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Confinement