Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Salt Grows Heavy

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

19 reviews

foxfic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A kidnapped and mutilated mermaid gets her revenge on the kingdom that tried to destroy her, and while on the run, builds a relationship with the plague doctor who is her only true ally. Their diverging perspectives are tested when the pair come across a trio of Frankenstein-esque constructs with a village of children in their thrall.

The mermaid is morally gray — she is at her core a monster, and she is unapologetic for her alien perspective towards humanity. This is presented as a strength rather than a flaw. The mermaid is self assured, she can be cruel, she has a long memory, and she’s also unflinchingly loyal.

What could have been a simple revenge story is instead a character study on a pair of unlikely, damaged monstrous companions. It’s at turns gory and filled with poetic prose, which serves very well in illustrating the dual natures of both the mermaid and her plague doctor.

Additionally, I also read the prequel, And In Our Daughters, We Find a Voice. The short story offers more insight into the nature of mermaids, the background of our mermaid’s relationship with her plague doctor, and the kingdom-destroying events which lead up to The Salt Grows Heavy.

It’s free to read online: https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/daughters-find-voice/

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noah_mc24's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

kingrosereads's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

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ladynocturnal's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

3.0

A mermaid and plague doctor go on a gore filled quest. I wasn't all that invested in the characters or story, but the mermaid lore was interesting. The writing made this novella slightly amusing.

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laurenbookishtwins's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

"It is always interesting to see how often women are described as ravenous when it is the men who, without exception, take without thought of compensation."

A man-eating mermaid meets a non-binary plague doctor after her daughters have eaten their princely father and ravaged the kingdom, and together, they flee. On their travels, they stumble upon a cult of children who worship three saints and find themselves in danger. THE SALT GROWS HEAVY is The Little Mermaid meets Frankenstein, a grisly fairytale horror with heavy and poetic prose—trigger warnings: bodily horror, blood and gore, miscarriage, dismemberment, cannibalism.

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regina_184's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

2.75

Although very short, this book has a lot of interesting plot points and I liked how it included lots of mythology from different regions.

I wish this book was longer because I think the characters are very interesting. Overally this book is a little creepy and gory so it's perfect for Halloween season! However the language is a little flowery so it can be hard to understand the imagery at some points.

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mcroche's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Almost a perfect five. I really, really, really liked this books.

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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.

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cpratreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A very interesting read. I really liked the style and the story. The gore was written in an interesting way, and the action moved at a good pace for a novella.

Definitely interested in reading more from Khaw.

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uncreativeoops's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Took me a while to get into but once the main characters had an actual goal i was hooked. Gorgeous writing and creative similes; you either spend a very long time reading it to catch everything or you can find new things upon rereading it. The body horror is also very graphic in a lyrical way. I have no idea, where the setting was supposed to be, how the world or magic works. This felt like history, fantasy, and postapocalyptic at once and I didn't even mind. Also yes to violent reinterpretations of mermaids; beings from the ocean are terrifying and this should apply to mythological male fantasies as well.

Also I wasn't expecting the most raw love confession followed by torture followed by characters dying several times followed by a Frankensteinesque scene that had me giggling (??) and I still haven't processed it.

I was expecting the body horror, but not body horror mixed with so many emotions it was WILD.

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