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cwerber's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This novelette is something else and I mean that in the best way possible. It will turn your notion of the little mermaid story upside down.
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Gore
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape
Seriously, look at my warnings. This isn't for the faint of heart.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
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
kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
it got to the point where the sensorial detail even became repetitive; blood = rubies, entrails = coils/ribbons, bones = baby teeth… we get it! tons of words used over & over to the point where it almost felt like copy/paste. for a book so short it shouldn’t have been hard to come up with a word to replace “bathyal” instead of saying it over & over
neither of the leads were interesting. we were on the cusp of so many interesting details about “mermaid” lore, about human reanimation, the magical universe they are in, but the author chose to squander that on pages and pages of describing trees and skin and teeth. the romance had potential to be interesting, but again… the author chose to focus on how everything smelled and tasted for some reason
also this was an extremely loose “fairytale retelling”; I was personally okay with that, but don’t come in expecting anything detailed in that regard. Khaw doesn’t really go into detail about anything that isn’t a texture or a taste
if style over substance is your jam, this may be for you! it is firmly not mine so 2 stars trending downward. I had a similar complaint with Nothing But Blackened Teeth, so I think this author is just on the Don’t Read list for me :/ kernels of really interesting but ultimately unrealized premise seem to be the lay of the land. spent the whole book waiting for Khaw to get into the story only for there not to be a story at
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Kidnapping, Gore, Child death, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Miscarriage, and Child abuse
lakinlindsey's review
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, War, Kidnapping, Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Slavery, Child death, Gore, Death, Murder, Rape, Violence, and Torture
leeghlee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage
rmgmorrow's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
r_o_s_e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, Medical content, Child death, and Confinement
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, and Cannibalism
infinitelibrary's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Violence, and Miscarriage