Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

78 reviews

percival_wise's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

mar's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-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

4.5

literally had to come back and up my rating after a couple of days bc i cant stop thinking about this book. i want what they have

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child death, Medical content, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Body horror, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death and Miscarriage

ceruleanseas's review

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

This is a stunning fantasy horror novella. Khaw reimagines a version of The Little Mermaid where the prince wasn't so sweet and spins a tale, not about revenge, but about the aftermath. The mermaid (for lack of a better description or a name) leaves her husband's kingdom in ruins, accompanied by a plague doctor who is more than they seem. I adored the elegant and imaginative prose, and appreciated the complex motivation of characters who are unapologetic about their natures. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Confinement, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Rape

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Body horror, Medical content, Child abuse, and Child death

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

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

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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 book

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

laurareads87'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.

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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

typedtruths's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.25

i didn't like this at all. yes, the themes of unconditional love are beautiful but everything else about this did <i>nothing</i> for me

▷ <u>Representation</u>: nonbinary sc/love interest.

<a href="https://typedtruth.wordpress.com/">  Blog</a> • <a href="https://triggerwarningdatabase.com/">Trigger Warning Database</a> • <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/typedtruths">StoryGraph</a>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Cannibalism, Violence, Gore, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Grief

➸ Trigger warnings for misogyny, domestic violence recounted, rape mentioned, miscarriage, involuntary & voluntary medical procedures and experimentation, graphic body horror, graphic blood, gore, and injury depiction, graphic cannibalism, minor grief and loss, death of a child, death of a friend, murder, and cults.

ladykatka'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had to read the first few pages a couple times to get used to the writing style. Once that happened it did have a unique beauty to it. The conversation between the mermaid and the plague doctor was easily the best part. It was gruesome at times but it added to the atmosphere.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Medical trauma