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willemijn_corvus 's review for:
The Salt Grows Heavy
by Cassandra Khaw
Our book club pick! And boy oh boy, what a story we chose, once again.
For a relatively short book (127 pages long) it has a cohesive plot. The introduction of the characters are mysterious, yet informative enough to bond with them or start to despise them. The lore remains mostly a secret throughout the entire book right until the end. There are certainly breadcrumbs here and there right from the first page that will keep you engaged and intrigued.
What I really enjoyed was that the dark atmosphere. The author did a marvellous job at painting an eerie picture of the world in which the story is set. The characters all carried their own form of darkness. The things they did and had to endure were dark in a variety of ways. I would describe this story as beautifully macabre. It's breathtakingly beautiful, yet also horrifyingly cruel. The fact that it's a dark retelling of a famous story (The Little Mermaid) makes it even better. Since I know that story so well, it's easy to imagine a much darker truth. That's how stories usually work. We make them more fun or add more elements of light to them in order to make ourselves feel better. And we the ugly, the evil and the rawness of it all.
Now, I am not a fan of romance in books. So, I was a bit hesitant to read about this. But this story has made my rare exception list! It was lovely to read about how different and similar they were and how they met on the same level. There's one line that made me go: AAAAWWW.
Also, the amazing quotes about men?! The author did not leave a page unturned. I was giggling and kicking my lil feet at the straight facts being spilled.
For a relatively short book (127 pages long) it has a cohesive plot. The introduction of the characters are mysterious, yet informative enough to bond with them or start to despise them. The lore remains mostly a secret throughout the entire book right until the end. There are certainly breadcrumbs here and there right from the first page that will keep you engaged and intrigued.
What I really enjoyed was that the dark atmosphere. The author did a marvellous job at painting an eerie picture of the world in which the story is set. The characters all carried their own form of darkness. The things they did and had to endure were dark in a variety of ways. I would describe this story as beautifully macabre. It's breathtakingly beautiful, yet also horrifyingly cruel. The fact that it's a dark retelling of a famous story (The Little Mermaid) makes it even better. Since I know that story so well, it's easy to imagine a much darker truth. That's how stories usually work. We make them more fun or add more elements of light to them in order to make ourselves feel better. And we the ugly, the evil and the rawness of it all.
Now, I am not a fan of romance in books. So, I was a bit hesitant to read about this. But this story has made my rare exception list! It was lovely to read about how different and similar they were and how they met on the same level. There's one line that made me go: AAAAWWW.
Also, the amazing quotes about men?! The author did not leave a page unturned. I was giggling and kicking my lil feet at the straight facts being spilled.