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ktkumpf's review
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.
Content Warnings
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
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Body horror, Medical content, Child abuse, and Child death
lady_dariya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Holy body horror batman, check the warnings before embarking!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Medical content, Body horror, Child death, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder
dearestdaisies's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
Choosing to not give a star rating because I honestly don't know how I feel about the book, and partially that is on me. Horror is a genre I don't really read, and I can recognize when I'm not the intended audience. It feels unfair to knock off points for something that is clearly not for me.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Cannibalism, and Child death
gothic_moss's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- 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 really loved this story. It's characters were strangely endearing, and the fairy-tale esc horror was quite simply, delicious. A lot of people critique this book's prose, and admittedly, it is not for everyone. If you do not enjoy graphic, often lengthy descriptions, this book may annoy you. I however, am an absolute fiend for over-explanation, and for 'flowery' prose. This writing style especially shone in Chapter 4, which broke my heart.
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
jemmers's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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
Gothic, deeply romantic, queer retelling of the classic mermaid myth. Quick read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence
sofiadanielle's review
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Almost docked it to a 3.5, honestly. However!!! Though I think the first 30 pages makes the story framework difficult to understand, I very much enjoyed the last 30 pages.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Body horror, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Gore, Murder, and Torture
magnetarmadda's review
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
"Mermaid. A word that demonstrates the ineptitude of human language, and the species' predisposition for ingantalizing the unknown. ... [P]alatability is prized over accuracy. It is easier to market a nymph than a viperfish."
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
kileyjojo's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
If you're expecting this to be a horror retelling of The Little Mermaid, it's nothing like that. This book is a short novel about the aftermath of what would have been that story. That doesn't make it bad, but it's something to note if that's what you are looking for in a book.
I go back and forth on how I feel about this book. The pace is extremely fast and the story flies by but I don't think that's a bad choice. It could have been fleshed out more but I think it gets the job done. That being said, you're thrown right into the midst of the story and are given practically no background on the characters or what they are encountering. This does prevent the feeling of the book being padded but it also makes it harder to connect to the characters.
The vocabulary used in this book is very advanced. I found myself skipping every other word because I didn't know the meaning of them. This, in combination with the fast pace, makes the book confusing. When the scenes aren't clearly spelled out, it's hard to understand what is happening and how the characters got from point A to point B. For example,there is a portion of the book where the mermaid is dissected on a table. Two sentences go by and she's whole again and running through the woods. The dialogue and the story are so hard to comprehend that I feel like I missed an entire chapter .
If you enjoy horror, gore, and just going with the flow, you would like this book. I don't think the author is a bad writer. I think the book is falsely advertised in where the story goes and that the vocabulary makes the already short book feel even shorter. There are great messages in the book and the characters are unique and interesting. I just wish we got to see more of them. The page count really hinders the character development. The story feels completed but feels like something is missing.
I go back and forth on how I feel about this book. The pace is extremely fast and the story flies by but I don't think that's a bad choice. It could have been fleshed out more but I think it gets the job done. That being said, you're thrown right into the midst of the story and are given practically no background on the characters or what they are encountering. This does prevent the feeling of the book being padded but it also makes it harder to connect to the characters.
The vocabulary used in this book is very advanced. I found myself skipping every other word because I didn't know the meaning of them. This, in combination with the fast pace, makes the book confusing. When the scenes aren't clearly spelled out, it's hard to understand what is happening and how the characters got from point A to point B. For example,
If you enjoy horror, gore, and just going with the flow, you would like this book. I don't think the author is a bad writer. I think the book is falsely advertised in where the story goes and that the vocabulary makes the already short book feel even shorter. There are great messages in the book and the characters are unique and interesting. I just wish we got to see more of them. The page count really hinders the character development. The story feels completed but feels like something is missing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, and Torture