Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

36 reviews

heartofhorrors's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

gardens_and_dragons's review

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.5

One of the most haunting, beautifully written books about some of the most vile monstrosities. Fascinating look at what it means to be a monster, forsake any humanity because of the horrors done unto to you. A cycle of violence amidst a canabalistic apocalypse. 

It’s a perfect book for spooky season - a godsdamned nightmare of body horror and teeth. 

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Content Warnings

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.

nkmustdie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Animal death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Blood, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Cannibalism, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Trafficking

spadedigsbutts's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

Just a very raw book in general! Lots of poetic language and it really just dives into the story right away. I didn't quite get a grasp of the personalities of the main two characters, but it was absolutely fine for what it is. 

[Will add more later!]

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Vomit, Confinement, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

wrensreadingroom's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Medical trauma

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

reggiethebird's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is in black and white and red. Lots of red. I feel like the author went through an anatomy textbook, found all the strange and unused verbs, and strung a story together as an excuse to print them out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, and Torture

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, Blood, Death, and Gore

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

Minor: Xenophobia and Torture

virgilsinferno's review

dark funny tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Child death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage

Minor: Sexual assault

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