Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

55 reviews

emzhay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.0

This is a captivating and wonderfully grotesque fairytale, but the vocabulary distracts from the atmosphere and emotional beats. So many times I was pulled out of a scene because I had to look up a word that was used. I understand what the author was going for, but sometimes it seemed like they wanted to pick the most obscure synonym from a thesaurus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Gore, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Death

Minor: Miscarriage

fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? No

5.0

I loved how poetic and flowery and even animalistic at points the writing of this book got. It really pulled me into the world and set the atmosphere of the story perfectly! And I love this world; even though the book is pretty short, it still felt like a developed setting with hints and more lore.
And I really like the two main characters and their relationship with each other, too. This is a story about two people dealing with their trauma together, healing together in a way, and supporting each other throughout it. They are not perfect or try to be, but they feel realistic and are loyal to each other. I especially loved the line, where the plague doctor calls out the "your trauma makes you stronger" bullshit. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Confinement

meagan123's review

adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Abandonment and Pregnancy

andibrimi's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

i don’t know what the fuck she’s saying, but girl i am living!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, and Medical trauma

bonzaklibo's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, and Torture

slytherinlyss's review

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-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

3.75

At times it was difficult to distinguish which character was speaking; their personalities were just a bit too similar for their love story to truly blossom. Their motivations and traumas were nearly identical, as well. Overall, a short, enjoyable tale of two ruthless beings in an evil world. Realistic, yet incredibly magical. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Animal death, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Domestic abuse

gaeliloveweiss's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

vampirequeen's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

cpratreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A very interesting read. I really liked the style and the story. The gore was written in an interesting way, and the action moved at a good pace for a novella. 

Definitely interested in reading more from Khaw. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Gore, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

raven_nivhaar's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The Little Mermaid meets Frankenstein. I quite enjoyed it. The language was absolutely stunning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Torture

Minor: Child death and Animal death