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raven_nivhaar's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
The Little Mermaid meets Frankenstein. I quite enjoyed it. The language was absolutely stunning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Animal death and Child death
hoganbreathesinink's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
Definitely not for the faint of heart, but I absolutely loved it. Very dark and grisly–I was so intrigued by the glimpses we get of the world the characters inhabit.
I would definitely read a lengthier book with the mermaid and the plague doctor's backstories!
I would definitely read a lengthier book with the mermaid and the plague doctor's backstories!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
elle_e_d_light's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
2.75
I found this very challenging as a read. The vocabulary used sometimes feels very thesaurus-y. I have a pretty decent vocab level, but I still had to look up a lot of words which interfered with immersion. I also just had several moments were I was confused about what was actually happening. They're all creatures, but I had a very hard time picturing what they looked like or how they seemingly evolved throughout the book.
Also, this book is incredibly gory and because so much of the gore directly deals with the evolution of the beings in the story—which I already was struggling with—I would read some sections several times over and still struggled with figuring out how the gory bits worked in relation to the monsters involved.
I don't know. I was just very confused by the end.
Also, this book is incredibly gory and because so much of the gore directly deals with the evolution of the beings in the story—which I already was struggling with—I would read some sections several times over and still struggled with figuring out how the gory bits worked in relation to the monsters involved.
I don't know. I was just very confused by the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
There's a lot of consuming of people, but none of them are human really, so I don't know if it actually counts as cannibalism. Basically, there's several different monstrous creatures and a lot of gore and body horror.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: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death
lumie's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
No 124 pages have ever felt this long. It was a droning, overtly descriptive, pretentious fever dream of repugnant, disgusting gore. I was vaguely nauseous reading through this, and I'm no stranger to horror. But this just felt gory for gore's sake.
Heed the trigger warnings, there's long detailed descriptions of mutilations, and vaguely human things eating children and other vaguely human things, to excruciating vomit-inducing detail.
The only part I enjoy was right by the end. We are sold this book as a dark retelling of the little mermaid, and that is what the final chapter was. And it's short, impactful and tragic in the best way. It also contains a far less excessively descriptive writing style. It almost seemed disconnected, like it was written by someone else. If anything, it would have made more sense to start the book with this chapter, to grip you with its impact.
Instead I was sort of both bored and disgusted throughout the first 110 pages, wondering if all the carnage was leading to something. And it was, but to a romance that to me felt flat, as the characters didn't have much chemistry between them.
Instead I was sort of both bored and disgusted throughout the first 110 pages, wondering if all the carnage was leading to something. And it was, but to a romance that to me felt flat, as the characters didn't have much chemistry between them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
killerqueen45's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy
ruhlen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
3.5
The most beautifully written gory fairy-tale romance story I've ever listened to.
I'm kind of glad it was so short.
I must admit that I chose to listen to this novella based purely on the cover art and the title. The Salt Grows Heavy is an awesome, intriguing title and the cover art is striking and mysterious. Cassandra Khaw is an interesting writer - I'm still not sure if she is for me. I've read Food of the Gods, so I'm not unfamiliar with Khaw's viscerally graphic style. It did make me uncomfortable listening to it in this book, though.
The Salt Grows Heavy is a first-person retelling of the mermaid myth. It also includes a Frankenstein-esque tale of man trying to achieve immortality and what reminded me of Lord of the Flies group of children worshiping the trio of immortal "Saints." If you're looking for a deep, dark fairy tale, this is about as deep and as dark as you can get.
Susan Dalian performs the narration of the audiobook beautifully. I would compare this audiobook to Circe or Piranesi for the overall tone it evokes. The prose is poetic and delicate and gorgeous, in stark contrast to what it is describing. Much like my warning for Food of the Gods, do not read or listen to this story during any type of meal.
Overall, I think I would give this more like a 3.5. Did the story and writing make me uncomfortable? Yes. Was it memorable? Yes. Did it add something new to the fairy tale fantasy space? Yes. Was it my kind of story? Undecided. Since it is so short, if you are curious about Cassandra Khaw as an author and what she brings to the genre, I would definitely give this one a try. And I highly recommend the audiobook.
I'm kind of glad it was so short.
I must admit that I chose to listen to this novella based purely on the cover art and the title. The Salt Grows Heavy is an awesome, intriguing title and the cover art is striking and mysterious. Cassandra Khaw is an interesting writer - I'm still not sure if she is for me. I've read Food of the Gods, so I'm not unfamiliar with Khaw's viscerally graphic style. It did make me uncomfortable listening to it in this book, though.
The Salt Grows Heavy is a first-person retelling of the mermaid myth. It also includes a Frankenstein-esque tale of man trying to achieve immortality and what reminded me of Lord of the Flies group of children worshiping the trio of immortal "Saints." If you're looking for a deep, dark fairy tale, this is about as deep and as dark as you can get.
Susan Dalian performs the narration of the audiobook beautifully. I would compare this audiobook to Circe or Piranesi for the overall tone it evokes. The prose is poetic and delicate and gorgeous, in stark contrast to what it is describing. Much like my warning for Food of the Gods, do not read or listen to this story during any type of meal.
Overall, I think I would give this more like a 3.5. Did the story and writing make me uncomfortable? Yes. Was it memorable? Yes. Did it add something new to the fairy tale fantasy space? Yes. Was it my kind of story? Undecided. Since it is so short, if you are curious about Cassandra Khaw as an author and what she brings to the genre, I would definitely give this one a try. And I highly recommend the audiobook.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Genocide
moonytoast's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
aedoran08's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape
bellebeaumont95's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Brutal and beautiful in the same degree, The Salt Grows Heavy is a horror novella about narratives of power, and about two people shaped and rebuilt by horrifically traumatic events choosing to stay together.
The writing is lovely, if a little overdone, coloring the scenes in a way that had me both flinching away and immediately coming back, mesmerized. I would have liked to spend a little more time with the two main characters (who I found fascinating) and exploring their relationship, but as the horror fairy tale it is, the brevity works.
In my questionable habit of comparing things to other things, I might describe this as "What if The VVitch (2015) had a crossover with The Language of Thorns, written by the authors of This Is How You Lose The Time War . (All things I LOVE, so this is high praise).
The writing is lovely, if a little overdone, coloring the scenes in a way that had me both flinching away and immediately coming back, mesmerized. I would have liked to spend a little more time with the two main characters (who I found fascinating) and exploring their relationship, but as the horror fairy tale it is, the brevity works.
In my questionable habit of comparing things to other things, I might describe this as "What if The VVitch (2015) had a crossover with The Language of Thorns, written by the authors of This Is How You Lose The Time War . (All things I LOVE, so this is high praise).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Vomit