Reviews

Hm. Been sitting on this for a bit. I think I understand what Khaw's trying to do here, but the way they went about it feels... Muddled? As many people have pointed out, there's a lot of five dollar words in this novella that can make it difficult to understand what the author's trying to get at. But without the fancy words, it's a pretty simplistic story. It's a dark fairytale retelling about fairytales, retellings, and storytelling. It's about the cyclical nature of stories and the immortality of stories - how stories can be retold and rehashed, bits and pieces of various forms of a story taken together to create something new, like the reanimated corpse of Frankenstein's monster (or the plague doctor of this novella). It's about how those in power construct and distort stories and narratives to maintain their power. And most of all it's about two victims finding love and understanding with each other as they are both things manipulated by and shaped by those in power. So I get the seeds of the story, but I don't think the finished product entirely lived up to it's potential. Like I said, aside from the breathtaking descriptions and prose, the story is very simple and it's ideas feel half-baked.

alexandriam_rose's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5~that was a weird, very weird, and gruesome and gory, multi-layered little mermaid reimagining

alren99's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

Very lyrical with beautifully dark prose.

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