Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

74 reviews

thecaffeinatedlibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

5.0

A story that is at once grotesque, and cosy. Hannibal meets The Little Mermaid in this dark horror novella, and I loved every single minute of it!

I had no idea what to expect from this novella, but I was immediately sold with two words: mermaid, plague doctor. I didn’t need anymore convincing.

This has some horrifyingly beautiful writing, prose that is so shocking and visual that you don’t know whether to be disgusted or awed. It is perfectly paced, and flows like a whirling cursive script. This story accomplishes so, SO much in 128 pages. It is atmospheric, horrifying and deeply romantic. 

I highly recommend this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Death, and Violence

caitlinemccann's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Gore, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Torture, Murder, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

julessssss's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

i loved the intimacy between the plague doctor and the mermaid from the start

i think this could have been longer, but the story was also well contained in the novella, just very fast paced

overall, a good horror story and i would recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

brukneem's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What a beautiful duplicate revenge. This was so, so beautiful to read. I'll love it again and again as she loves her plague doctor.

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Miscarriage

itsheyfay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

nkmustdie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Animal death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Blood, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Cannibalism, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Trafficking

booksthatburn's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY is technically the story of a plague doctor and a mermaid, a description which does not do nearly enough to imply how cool and weird this book is. The main character is not nameless, but her name is explicitly one that cannot be pronounced by humans, and so neither does the story render it in a form I could repeat. It deals with cycles of abuse, a religious cult, deprogramming, reclaiming agency, and the need to rescue someone in a bad situation like the one you yourself previously escaped. It’s also about a group of children worshiping a trio of surgeons who claim that death is not murder because they’ll be brought back to life. The children become more and more distorted, changing into a strange collection of remnants in the hands of those who would use and abuse them under claim of immortality.

Khaw's style has clearly developed more since HAMMERS ON BONE (also excellent), and this is less of a romp than THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD. It has their willingness to just let a story be bleak without being depressing, finding hope interwoven with death, plus a strange interlude into cult deprogramming. It is specifically a follow up to one of the stories from the collection BREAKABLE THINGS, called "And in Our Daughters, We Find a Voice". That story is included in the back of THE SALT GROWS HEAVY for anyone who needs a refresher.

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY is a truly excellent piece of horror. I’m very glad I read it. I hope you like it too.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief, Sexism, Vomit, Confinement, and Animal death

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Miscarriage

"And in Our Daughters, We Find a Voice" - Graphic CW for blood, gore, death. Moderate CW for toxic relationship, confinement, pregnancy, miscarriage, violence, cannibalism.

schnaucl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

It took me a little while to warm up to the story but by the end I liked it.  

The prose is very descriptive and the story gives you a strong sense of place.  I consider myself to have a pretty good vocabulary, but there were more than a few words I didn't know.

The main characters were compelling and so was the story.

The short story at the end was a perfect addition.   I liked that it was its own separate thing but added a rich layer to the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

existentialhell's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Medical trauma, Child death, Gore, Torture, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Blood, Confinement, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexism

thatoneguyjm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

A delightfully dark, cold, and savory riff on The Little Mermaid. Also, don’t fuck with mermaids.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Murder, Death, Cannibalism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Blood, and Body horror