Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

94 reviews

laurareads87's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

"Mermaid. A word that demonstrates the ineptitude of human language, and the species' predisposition for ingantalizing the unknown. ... [P]alatability is prized over accuracy. It is easier to market a nymph than a viperfish."

The Salt Grows Heavy is a horror/fantasy novella of a murderous mermaid and a gender non-conforming plague doctor travelling through a near-dead kingdom, each with a traumatic past to contend with.  Very well written, though it's hard to say 'beautifully written' when the subject matter is, very often, viscera.  Heed the content warnings on this one - not for the faint of heart.

Content warnings: graphic gore & body horror throughout. Cannibalism is on page & described in detail. Blood, death, deaths of children, murder, violence, medical content, medical experimentation, misogyny, sexism, abuse, spousal abuse, rape (not on-page or described in any detail), kidnapping, mass murder, cult violence / religiously motivated abuse.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Medical content, Death, Child abuse, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Body horror, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

ladykatka's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I had to read the first few pages a couple times to get used to the writing style. Once that happened it did have a unique beauty to it. The conversation between the mermaid and the plague doctor was easily the best part. It was gruesome at times but it added to the atmosphere.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Medical trauma

coffeesaurusrex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual content

vampirequeen's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Medical content and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death and Excrement

chrysanthxmum's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy, Torture, and Miscarriage

natka_manatee's review against another edition

dark slow-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? No

1.0

It’s not even the word themselves that are hard to understand, it’s the combination of them and the fact that after you recall the definition, they still don’t actually mean anything. What even happened here? What are “snow fountains” (pg14)? This is like an insufferable teenager discovering the thesaurus. Never again.

Also, this is not even remotely a fairytale. The only thing in common is that she (whoever she is bc she doesn’t have a pronounceable name) is technically a mermaid like “The Little Mermaid”. Although, she also walks on land the whole time and turns into fire at one point so who really knows.

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Vomit

It just sucked dude idk what to tell you

cpratreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A very interesting read. I really liked the style and the story. The gore was written in an interesting way, and the action moved at a good pace for a novella. 

Definitely interested in reading more from Khaw. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Gore, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

If you're looking for a thoroughly macabre reimagining of The Little Mermaid and don't mind (or enjoy!) significant on-page body horror, this is an excellent novella. The story was imaginative and dark and calls back to the much grittier origins of our favorite fairytales. The writing is evocative and flowery (even in describing the rituals of a cannibalistic cult), and the epilogue was actually... sweet? That said, I almost set this aside at 20%, after realizing just how substantial the body horror elements were (I wasn't sure if I could manage another 60 pages). Ultimately, I pushed through because I appreciated the story arc and the thematic goal, and because I do like to read outside my typical genres occasionally. Recommended to horror readers who enjoy dark fairytale retellings!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

bazzie101's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense

4.25

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Miscarriage

alexijai98'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Saw this book described as having A24 vibes and I 100% agree. One of the most unique things I’ve ever read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, and Body horror