Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

80 reviews

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

---

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.

---

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.

spadedigsbutts's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75

Just a very raw book in general! Lots of poetic language and it really just dives into the story right away. I didn't quite get a grasp of the personalities of the main two characters, but it was absolutely fine for what it is. 

[Will add more later!]

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Vomit, Confinement, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

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.

---

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

---

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

kryzysowa_narzeczona's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

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

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.

---

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

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Medical trauma

yenanena's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

cheriepie's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Very lovingly described gore, occasionally verging on the purple. That's usually not an issue for me (I love my books with pretty words) but often the prose verged into indie rock lyrics territory -- it makes sense on a first glance and might capture a vibe, but once you think about it for a second, it doesn't make any sense at all.

I also wish we got to sit in the atmosphere a little longer before the plot kicked off. I was taken with the story and theming of the Plague Doctor.

Additionally -- I think the epilogue cheapened the story a lot. I get it's supposed to be a love story or something and therefore we're supposed to feel happy when the two leads get together again, defying even death. Usually I love that shit. But it's really out of place here, especially when the Plague Doctor had expressed several times their disgust with the Saints' revival of the children, their desire to die, and then they're okay with the mermaid reviving them? With that weird additional "Mad Father" ending where she becomes the thing she was fighting against (done better in Mad Father). I think if it ended after Chapter Three it would have felt more complete.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gore, Child abuse, and Torture