Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

41 reviews

cheye13's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Genuinely went into this fully blind and now think it deserves a more conscientious re-read. The tone and writing style were excellent and the imagery was extremely evocative. I think I lost track of who was what to whom because I was reading so quickly. Now that I know the story, I think a secord read will help me to appreciate the plot as well as the general imagery and vibes.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Fire/Fire injury

physical abuse and sexual violence in relation to the little mermaid reference; the main character's human husband having cut out her tongue to control her; graphic: scenes of vivisection

mattyb's review

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

anna__b's review against another edition

4.0

I don't really know what to make of this weird, gory little novella. The writing was definitely very beautiful and poetic (and nasty!), but there were also many times where I was wishing the author would just put down the thesaurus, and it maybe could've used one more round of editing to finish polishing up the prose. I think the goal of the story was to take readers on a brief and intriguing trip through this very dark and spooky and fairytale-esque world, and I definitely got that, but for me if this had even been a little longer it would've been so much better. I have felt like most of the novellas I've tried are missing something, so maybe I should just accept it as a me problem and stop reading novellas, but there was a lot of untapped potential here! More specifically, I would've loved to see more of how the relationship between the mermaid and the doctor came to be and understand more about their dynamic - the bonus story (?) after the acknowledgements did touch on this a little but it’s not clear to me why this wasn’t included as part of the main narrative, I think starting the story off with those scenes would’ve been a real improvement. I also would've liked to see a little more of this world before they arrived at the saints' village, although that may be more due to my own curiosity about the setting rather than feeling like the story really NEEDS it. 

So I guess the TLDR is I was intrigued, entertained, and sort of grossed out, but the prose was slightly overwrought and it needed at least a little more length and development to get me truly invested. I'd definitely like to try something else from this author though! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

blackheart's review

dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was fantastic. Dark, gory, and heart wrenching. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

maresuju's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Torture and Xenophobia

librarymouse's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

The gore and viscera of this novella sheaths a love that is tender in that it is beautiful, and tender in that it is raw to touch.

the narrator growing to look more human in the epilogue harkens back to the miss the reference of the falsehood earlier on about a mermaid's ability to become human if they love a prince deeply enough. The plague doctor's empathy becomes the narrator's upon their eviceration and subsequent death. The space and tenderness the plague doctor holds for the children being mutilated by the surgeons who killed and revived them over and over again is transmuted in their death to make the desire to preserve life something tangible to the narrator.

I enjoyed the way readers were dropped into the story after the narrator had taken a sort of revenge, and is figuring out where to set herself in the world after, and I enjoy that some things are left unexplained.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

abookwormspov's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

gondorgirl's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

autumnleafgirl's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Release Date: May 2, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Horror
Themes: Upside down fairytales, blood and guts, ethereal in a good way

"I am a mother of monsters, better than any of my young."

The story begins with our unnamed mermaid narrator basking in the destruction of her husband's kingdom and the consumption of everyone within it. Emboldened by her escape, trapped in her mute human form, and accompanied by an enigmatic plague doctor, she sets out to begin a new chapter of her immortal life.

When they stumble upon a village of vicious children who serve dubious "saints," however, the pair gets mixed up in a gorey tale of macabre magic, attempted rebellion, and the horrific line between creation and destruction, forcing the main character to break the rules that have kept her a prisoner of her own world for so long.

It should be more than clear that this isn't "The Little Mermaid" story most of us know, or even the pessimistic myth from which it originated. Instead, Khaw has built a grim and beautiful mythology that's equal parts poetry and viscera. It's a world of fierce monsters and wanna-be gods. It's grisly and violent, but their command of language is on full display here, and even the most jarring scenes drip with a lusciousness that seems almost unfair for such bloody happenings.

My only complaint around this book - if it can even be called a complaint - is that I wish there was more of it. This novella was a quick read for me at about 90 pages in the ebook version. Khaw does an immense amount with such small real estate, but I would have been more than thrilled to be carried further along on the protagonist's journey through this terrifying, gorgeous world. Which I guess is a long way of saying yes, it really is that good.

For fans of: Admittedly this is my first book by Khaw, so I can't describe where it ranks amongst their prolific work (something I'll be changing in the very near future), but I would happily recommend this book to horror fantasy fans looking for something that feels similar to but is more bloody than Leigh Bardugo's "The Language of Thorns" story collection. Fans of the more supernatural elements of Christopher Buehlman's "Between Two Fires" will appreciate the lushly decrepit world that Khaw has created. I even think that particularly strong-stomached fans of female characters reclaiming their narratives - such as Madeline Miller's "Circe" - may also find themselves satisfied by how Khaw marries mythology and pure rage into a gem of a novella... If they can live with a little eyeball eating.

The verdict: This book is a horror fantasy fan's favorite dessert - it's deliciously rich, complex in all the right ways, and mournfully over before you're ready for it to be. I was intrigued, disgusted, in love, filled with righteous fury, and heartbroken over and over again in 90 pages - an unexpected triumph that few authors could pull off with such grace as Khaw.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for sending an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

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Content Warnings

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

erynlasbelin's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury