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fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Animal death, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Death, Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Confinement
ktkumpf's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Murder, and Medical content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Miscarriage
eddieboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Body horror, Medical content, Child abuse, and Child death
lady_dariya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Medical content, Body horror, Child death, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder
dearestdaisies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
But I can at least somewhat review the contents of the book. I think the prose is really beautiful, and suits the dark setting well. Eerie and strange, in a good way, but it's also far too complex to follow along easily. Or at least, that's how I personally felt. I literally did not understand a good portion of what I was reading, and often had to look up words. Sometimes, multiples times on a single page, maybe even a paragraph. At some point I just stopped doing that because it was really distracting, and broke immersion from the story. I feel like I would have enjoyed this book way more if I understood what I was reading.
I'm thankful this is a novella, but oddly enough I think the plot and the characters (mainly the Mermaid and the Plague Doctor) would really benefit from more development. It feels like a lot of the plot happened just because it could.
As a forewarning to future readers, in terms of content warning there's some detailed gore/murder in the book, along with detailed medical dissection. These sections didn't phase me since the usage of overly complex language made it hard to follow along the gore-y scenes, but it might disturb some if you can visualize text as you read.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Cannibalism, and Child death
gothic_moss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I would recommend reading this book if you:
-can tolerate gore/graphic descriptions of it
-liked the dark Grimm stories better than their retellings
-love casual Non-binary rep, especially as a mysterious plague doctor
-found the black plague intriguing
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
jemmers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence
sofiadanielle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
A critique I will stand by, though, is the use of overly complex, “flowery” language. While I do believe that this type of writing helped in creating that uneasy horror-esque feeling, I would’ve enjoyed the story written in a plainer way.
Feels very fever dream-like (said positively, towards the end.) Quite unique, and I adore the epilogue.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Body horror, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Gore, Murder, and Torture
magnetarmadda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, Child death, Pregnancy, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Gore
This is amazing and beautifully written, but do be careful going in: there is so much gore, a truly unbelievable amount in 106 pages, and if that’s not for you, I would not recommend this booklaurareads87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
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.
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Medical content, Death, Child abuse, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Body horror, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape