Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

47 reviews

cpratreads's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Gore, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

stellarkai's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Murder, and Domestic abuse

bellebeaumont95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense

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

4.25

 Brutal and beautiful in the same degree, The Salt Grows Heavy is a horror novella about narratives of power, and about two people shaped and rebuilt by horrifically traumatic events choosing to stay together.

The writing is lovely, if a little overdone, coloring the scenes in a way that had me both flinching away and immediately coming back, mesmerized. I would have liked to spend a little more time with the two main characters (who I found fascinating) and exploring their relationship, but as the horror fairy tale it is, the brevity works.

In my questionable habit of comparing things to other things, I might describe this as "What if The VVitch (2015) had a crossover with The Language of Thorns, written by the authors of This Is How You Lose The Time War . (All things I LOVE, so this is high praise). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Cannibalism, Violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Torture, Gore, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Vomit

kylasmv15's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Death, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Murder, and Torture

leeghlee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

eaterofwordsandworlds's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse

muse21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Child death, and Domestic abuse

bookwyrm_kate's review against another edition

4.5

Definitely check the content warnings before this one if you’re squeamish. This was a WILD and savage retelling and beyond of the Little Mermaid that was deliciously horrific. I was “hooked.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Violence, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Body horror

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!]

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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

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.

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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