Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

178 reviews

anderska1011's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Cannibalism, Gore, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Domestic abuse

casandwa's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, and Body horror

gothic_moss's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I really loved this story. It's characters were strangely endearing, and the fairy-tale esc horror was quite simply, delicious. A lot of people critique this book's prose, and admittedly, it is not for everyone. If you do not enjoy graphic, often lengthy descriptions, this book may annoy you. I however, am an absolute fiend for over-explanation, and for 'flowery' prose. This writing style especially shone in Chapter 4, which broke my heart.

I would recommend reading this book if you:
-can tolerate gore/graphic descriptions of it
-liked the dark Grimm stories better than their retellings
-love casual Non-binary rep, especially as a mysterious plague doctor
-found the black plague intriguing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

jemmers's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

Gothic, deeply romantic, queer retelling of the classic mermaid myth. Quick read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence

andibrimi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

i don’t know what the fuck she’s saying, but girl i am living!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, and Medical trauma

bonzaklibo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, and Torture

valodniece's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Daaaaaamn. I'm not sure if Khaw intended this to be a criticism of the Russian state throughout all of its incarnations (imperial, communist, modern), but it certainly is. Set in the taiga, worshiping those who hurt you and cannibalize you and the belief that they will still somehow lift you up but never do... on the surface, sure, it is a dark and cannibalistic Little Mermaid retelling, told through the looking glass inspired by Lord of the Flies, but it really reads as more than that. Excellent work by Cassandra Khaw, and I will definitely be reading more of their work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Bullying, Kidnapping, and Domestic abuse

slytherinlyss's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

At times it was difficult to distinguish which character was speaking; their personalities were just a bit too similar for their love story to truly blossom. Their motivations and traumas were nearly identical, as well. Overall, a short, enjoyable tale of two ruthless beings in an evil world. Realistic, yet incredibly magical. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Animal death, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Domestic abuse

emk5's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

A really quick read, very bloody, strong

happy

ending. This is queer as in (redacted) 

This author does use a lot of really specific vocabulary, which was mildly distracting at first (in the initial 50 pages, about a third of the book, I looked up: parturition, bauta, koan, gelding, abattoir, bier, limns, unctuous, bathyal, repast). Honestly most you could use context clues or ignore, but I had literally never seen some of these before so obviously I wanted to look them up. 

I would love to read a sequel! I will be checking out other things Khaw has written! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, and Gore

gaeliloveweiss's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Torture, Child death, Physical abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, and Grief