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gaeliloveweiss's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Torture, Child death, Physical abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, and Grief
laurareads87'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
vampirequeen's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Medical content and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death and Excrement
clynns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Vomit, Confinement, Death, and Torture
bangiebangs's review
- 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
4.5
I read this not even knowing what genre this was going to be, and I can recommend doing that. Pick it up now, come read the reviews later and see what you think. It's definitely worth it.
This story is dark and uncomfortable, relentlessly tricking you into thinking what will happen next and then leading you somewhere else entirely. Extremely interesting, couldn't put it down, and even if I don't usually read... horror? Is it horror? ... I really enjoyed this one.
Beautiful language, excellent levels of horror, definitely recommended. I'm only not giving it a full 5* because I'm not sure whether I'd reread it... but maybe?
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Gore, Cannibalism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Death, Child death, Physical abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Religious bigotry
ejoverly's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Please do not read this book thinking it is a fairy tale. The description is very misleading. This was a gory waste of time. The only reason I finished it was because it was so short I thought surely it would get better. It DID NOT. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything worse.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Infertility, Gore, and Kidnapping
bellebeaumont95's review
- 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
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).
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
uncreativeoops's review
- 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
I was expecting the body horror, but not body horror mixed with so many emotions it was WILD.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Gore, Medical content, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence
kylasmv15's review
- 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
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
gardens_and_dragons's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It’s a perfect book for spooky season - a godsdamned nightmare of body horror and teeth.
Graphic: Body horror, Medical trauma, Violence, Torture, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Kidnapping and Physical abuse
Listen this book is a giant content warning for body horror. The mermaid cannot die, even while vivisectioned apart. The descriptions of what she eats in turn is graphic. There is no handholding here that I’ve seen in other horror.