Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

331 reviews

imreallyjk's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-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

3.5

The prose was beautifully written despite the very gruesome subject. Not for the faint of heart but perhaps for those who need to break away from humanity for a short time…
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wardenred's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-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

3.5

Myths are full of lies.
This is not one of them.

A short, quick, and lyrical read that felt to me less like a story and more like a mood. There’s a lot of body horror here, and on one hand, the way it’s all wrapped in long poetic sentences and clever similes makes it more bearable. On the other hand, the prose contains some evocative imagery that got stuck to my mind and will probably keep disturbing me for days on end.

Speaking of prose, while there are a lot of beautiful, vivid sentences here, on the whole I feel like the author overdid it a little. All those lacy figures of speech convey a mood perfectly, but sometimes obfuscate meaning and substance. And there is definitely a lot of substance here, too! I liked the horror rendition of the mermaid myth, the scary cult in taiga, the nods at numerous fairy tales, the Plague Doctor’s wry wit, and that underlying thread of how when monsters and humans co-exist, the lines blur between them and it’s no longer clear who’s the bigger monster. But I do feel that some parts of the story would have more impact if they were delivered a bit more clearly and concisely.

Still, as far as moods go, this was a beautiful one. Also, terrible and disturbing (very good for horror).
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brendan_clay's review

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

3.75

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willow1113's review against another edition

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

4.25

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djbagwell's review against another edition

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

4.0

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skullmotif's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

  • I enjoyed this book so much that I read it in about three hours. The writing is impeccable. 
  • Developed an instant, tiny crush on the plague doctor; right now to their description and mannerisms. How do I find my own genderless plague doctor? Asking for a friend.
  • Was also devastated when said plague doctor first perished! I actually shouted "No!" HELP.
  • Everything was so raw and the medical terminology used had me NERDING OUT.
  • "How do you kill any religion? You convince its flock that their shepherds are wolves." 
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fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

I loved how poetic and flowery and even animalistic at points the writing of this book got. It really pulled me into the world and set the atmosphere of the story perfectly! And I love this world; even though the book is pretty short, it still felt like a developed setting with hints and more lore.
And I really like the two main characters and their relationship with each other, too. This is a story about two people dealing with their trauma together, healing together in a way, and supporting each other throughout it. They are not perfect or try to be, but they feel realistic and are loyal to each other. I especially loved the line, where the plague doctor calls out the "your trauma makes you stronger" bullshit. 
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ktkumpf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

An absolutely gorgeous short story. Will absolutely be looking into more work from this author. They dynamic was excellent, the prose were phenomenal the pacing worked wonderfully. 0 complaints except that I can never read it again for the first time. But please be mindful this is graphic, profoundly so, and if body horror or child death is not something you can tolerate do not touch it with a 10 foot pole. 
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gloom_lord's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Khaw's The Salt Grows Heavy is itself a bezoar, a taut antidote, a charm against the deafening silence of our thrownness into the world. It reminds us that love can be transcendent, that it may very well be all we have to cling to at life's terminus. It is a beautiful book. 
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rknitss's review against another edition

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

4.5

Another Cassandra Khaw that I didn't realize was novella length and was pleasantly surprised by. This one, once again, does not waste a single word. Told from the point of view of the Mermaid (yes, that mermaid, though the story isn't quite what we've been told) while she travels with a plague doctor, we get a gory adventure that's sprinkled with the musings of an abyssal creature who had the all too normal female experience of having choice and autonomy ripped away from her. Don't worry, dear reader. She rips it right back.
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