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A review by not_another_ana
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
No, we are not very different at all, even if one is fashioned with thread and dried sinew, the other cleaved and then conjugated by magic.
A siren and a plague doctor travel the land together, walking away from destruction and right into something sinister in the middle of the woods. This is a strange book to summarize or even describe. It felt more like an event or a landscape. I think you'll either like this or absolutely despise it, no inbetween.
Beautiful yet challenging prose. At times I felt like I was wading through a swamp whenever the author threw these complex and uncommon words (not helped by the fact that English is my second language). Very vibes but with a lot of thoughts. I would highly recommend checking trigger warnings for this one, you'll find everything from cannibalism to child death to graphic gore. Ultimately I liked it but I felt cheated by the length, like a meal missing its main ingredient.
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, Cannibalism, Death, Torture, Body horror, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy