Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

172 reviews

abbseyw's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

kelseyr713's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A dark take on mermaid fairy tales, this one features a huge catharsis and beautiful, lyrical prose. I loved the relationship between the mermaid and the plague doctor. Stick around after the acknowledgments for a prequel chapter.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: War

lshort1230's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I was initially drawn to this book for the prose, similar to Gideon the ninth. I'm not one for horror/gore but since I liked Gideon I thought I would get through this one. There were several moments when I thought to stop, it is quite graphic, and sometimes for no particular reason. The "happy" ending seemed forced, and was unsatisfying 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

ktb97's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

The language in this book is not very accessible. I found myself looking up words constantly and it distracted from the story. However, it is a unique narrative. I’d recommend it as long as you are okay with plenty of gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

syzygy_savi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual harassment

nadiaxm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Great horror retelling! I especially loved the story at the end. Would be 5 stars if the author didn't decide to use the fanciest words in existence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

generaljinjur's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

Nasty, I love it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

chavonnwshen's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

brynnfai's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I liked the ended ending a lot and it was a very fresh book with beautiful prose though addmitedly a bit hard to follow at times. I had to read it out loud to fully understand what I was reading a lot of the time. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Animal death

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My favorite read of the year. Such a compelling weaving together of different fairy tales, all at their most disturbing and horrifying, while bringing out the cores of humanity and love within them. Khan's writing style and the length were perfect for this story, and it has taken its rightful place as one of my favorite horror novellas, and absolute favorite horror romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation