Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Salt Grows Heavy

This is a very strange novella and whilst I didn’t wholly enjoy it, it was an experience to say the lease. We’re following a mute mermaid and a (possibly) non-binary plague doctor in the aftermath of the her daughters having eaten everyone in the kingdom. Together they travel thought the forest, coming into contact with a group of boys who they go back with and the situation is basically a cult where these ‘saints’ are practicing some sadist games.

The characters were fine and I did enjoy spending time with them and how things developed, the love story sideplot was, for me, better then the actual plot. The discussion around women’s place and what they have to do to submit to men and society at times is portrayed well enough too. I also like the incision of an androgynous character and Khaw doesn’t really focus on this aspect, we’re just getting to know them and their past. The writing is also very beautiful, it flows well and keeps you engaged. But also it’s very gruesome and disgusting at times too, which somehow read pleasantly - it’s super strange. That being said, it did feel a bit pretentious at times and like Khaw was showing off which make some parts of the plot a little confusing.

I think I will keep this for a future reread to see if I could get more out of it.

Content Warnings

witcheep's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

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laurareads87's review against another edition

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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

themorrigan43's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This is a novella, it's very fast and it is very gory. A strange adaptation of The Little Mermaid story, mixed with some Frankenstein.

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rnfortier's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A deeply intense and dark tale of love.
Very clever take on the little Mermaid and Frankenstein.

Content Warnings

moodreader89's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.25

I think it definitely should come with trigger warnings —that’s on me though for not checking.

It was very descriptive, there is a lot of body horror, like…a lot. I definitely found myself shocked and gagging while reading; while the characters and world are fascinating and I might be interested in more about it, I don’t think the character development was enough to make me care as much as I could have? It is a beautifully poetic, grisly—also in a poetic and purposeful way, story though.

Content Warnings

typedtruths's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.25

i didn't like this at all. yes, the themes of unconditional love are beautiful but everything else about this did <i>nothing</i> for me

▷ <u>Representation</u>: nonbinary sc/love interest.

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