Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Salt Slow

Salt Slow is a collection of nine short stories by Julia Armfield. I first discovered this author through the novel "Our Wives Under the Sea", which I read a few months ago. I still haven't reviewed it because it absolutely blew my mind away with its horrific beauty, but it is one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read. I was excited to pick up Salt Slow, and found it very thought-provoking and delightful to read. Below are short descriptions of each story, my opinions, and a rating out of ten.

1. Mantis- If this were a full novel, I'd read it. However, I think it was perfect as a short story with no explanations. Just a girl whose skin sheds to reveal a male-devouring mantis. I think that it was a good opening story, it sets the brutal atmosphere of the following stories. 9/10

2. The Great Awake- This confusing story is about people whose Sleep leaves them. They are forced to be awake 24/7, while the Sleeps cause havoc. I enjoyed this story, the pacing was a strange mixture between slow and fast. My main thought is about how large the electricity bills would be if you were awake all the time. And how bored I'd be. 7/10

3. The Collectables- The third story is about three friends who talk about dating men a lot, until one of them starts to literally create the "perfect man" after a breakup. It was weird and entertaining. 8/10

4. Formerly Feral- This story features a girl who remains with her father after her parents' divorce, only for his new wife to have a wolf as a daughter called Helen. Helen is treated like a child, and over time the narrator and Helen become very close. I immensely enjoyed this story, and would happily read at least a hundred more pages of the bond between girl and wolf. 9/10

5. Stop your women's ears with wax- This was my favourite story in the collection. It follows Mona, who is travelling with a band whose addictive (and probably magical) music drives their fans (all teenage girls) to commit violent acts against men. I immensely enjoyed the pacing, the plot, the perfectly underdescribed characters. 10/10

6. Granite- This story is about a woman, Maggie, who is in love with a man. He is the perfect partner for her, but unfortunately he turns to stone. I found this story to feel very lyrical, and felt a lot of sympathy for Maggie. 9/10

7. Smack- Here is a story about Nicola, a woman going through a divorce who locks herself inside her ex's beach house. I honestly had no clue what to think about this one. 6/10

8. Cassandra After- The penultimate story is about a woman whose dead girlfriend, Cassandra, comes back from the grave and acts as if everything is normal. Another confusing story with no explanations. 6.5/10

9. salt slow- The world is fully underwater, a couple are on a boat. The narrator, a woman, is pregnant with a non-human child. I liked how we were fed no world building, no information as to if the flooding was quick or if the waters rose over time. 7/10

My average rating of thise stories rounds to 8/10, which I consider an appropriate overall rating for this book. Once again, Armfield's gorgeous writing stole my heart, forcing me to read until I had finished, leaving me thoughtful and slightly confused.

Content Warnings

soymagu7's review against another edition

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5.0

Creepy and weird short stories collection. All I ask for!

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joensign's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

5.0

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sea_sea's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

An amazing collection of 9 short horror stories! I really enjoyed reading this book!
I think my favorite short stories were “The Great Awake”, “Stop your women’s ears with wax” and “Cassandra After” .

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mariebrunelm's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Welcome to the wonderful feeling of falling in love with a short story collection.

Julia Armfield has a knack for writing intense, flawed female characters who are on the brink. Whether they are teenagers in that uncomfortable space between childhood and adulthood, or women going through a break-up or grief, most of them are teetering, and ready to embrace the mess that is their life. I loved that each story was very different from the others, but they had very tenuous, easy-to-miss links that tied this collection together. Most of them start off with a very strong concept that is given in the first lines of the story, and then explore the repercussions of that concept not on the grand scale of geopolitics (though the author easily could) but at the level of bodies. Be ready for both implied and full-on body horror depending on the stories, with a scrumptious taste for words and that delightful hesitation between speculative and realist.

My favourite story was The Great Awake, which was very timely (although a bit late) because I’ve just finished hosting a monthly writing workshop on the theme of sleep.

Rep: queer characters, mostly sapphic. One is on the asexual spectrum.

PS: I bought this book when I first went cat-sitting for a friend, so it is doubly special !

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