Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

58 reviews

virgilsinferno's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Gore

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault

blacksphinx's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

While being leagues above the other book I've read by Cassandra Khaw, Nothing But Blackened Teeth, it is still a mixed bag. 

It has some gruesome moments of gore and cruelty that earn it the label of horror. Nothing made me laugh or roll my eyes like the previous novella I read. And yet, I finished it not having the faintest idea what on earth a "mermaid" was in this universe. Perhaps it would have been better less as a standalone and more as a novella in a story collection taking place in the same universe?

The romance also took me by surprise in a bad way, considering how much I winced listening to one half of the couple muse about the other's gender.

The things I liked and the things I didn't balance the scales of my opinion. This will almost certainly be the last thing I read by this author.

Also, really didn't like the audiobook. It was the first time I've gotten completely lost and confused about who was speaking, which didn't help my experience.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

spektriva's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This is exactly the kind of book I love. Weird, dark, horrific, asbtract. The writing is intricate and beautiful, even if sometimes it didn't quite land for me. I could talk about the plot or characters or lore but I don't think it's about any of to those things; it's about the feeling it evoked in me. Reading this felt like a dream, bizarre and incoherent, and I really enjoyed the experience. I am also always a sucker of mermaid stories that depict them as monsters. 

Really, the only downsides for me were the occasional use of words or metaphors that felt out of place when compared to the rest of the writing.  I also wasn't super fond of the epilogue, I think I would have preferred if it was left as it was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse

silvae's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse

wintertrees's review against another edition

4.75

A phenomenal novella. The prose is artful and clear, with a spectacular use of metaphors. The main characters are interesting and well-drawn; the mermaid's POV lends itself to a unique view of the events and facilitates many of the previously mentioned metaphors, and the plague doctor contrasts them in all the right ways and compliments them just as well. Foreshadowing in the plot is well-handled, the events building on each other in subtle ways. The themes in the book are handled in interesting and unique ways. The setting, though sparse in details, never feels underdeveloped, and is very intriguing. And of course, the gore is visceral and well-described. 

The only comment I might call a complaint is that I personally felt like certain aspects of the ending didn't quite land for me.

Personally, I felt like a more poetic ending for the plague doctor would've been to die and stay dead. I did not feel like their resurrection received the necessary thematic back-up. However, I acknowledge that this is likely a result of differing priorities of me and the author; the love story was clearly very important to the author, but this is a story element I always have throuble getting invested in, and this book was no exception. I felt like the heart of the story were its themes of consumation, and (im)mortality; I think I would've been more on board with the ending if I'd considered the love story the heart instead. I am happy the plague doctor survived and had a happy ending; the reuniting of lovers, sticking together no matter how terrible the circumstance, with one building the other a new body like their torturers did so many times, only subverting it by creating every aspect with deep respdct for their love's agency, absolutely is poetic in its own way. However, to me, I feel like the continuation of the cycle of horror, with the mermaid becoming the surgeons, was far more obviously set-up than the subversion. I expect others will disagree, though, and that's fine.

Other than that, a near perfect novella.

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Content Warnings

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

honeyb_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The Salt Grows Heavy is dark and often disjointed, it’s gore and intensity driving the fever dream plot. Khaw’s poetic prose and use of uncommon vocabulary add to a sense of uncertainty and building dread. 

A stitched together plague doctor and a tongueless mermaid stumble upon a brutal community in the forest. Seeking revenge and to protect future generations, the doctor and his companion fight for their lives. This book is not for the faint of heart, even with its romantic elements. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Domestic abuse