Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

159 reviews

ktb97's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

The language in this book is not very accessible. I found myself looking up words constantly and it distracted from the story. However, it is a unique narrative. I’d recommend it as long as you are okay with plenty of gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, and Child death

syzygy_savi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Murder, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual harassment

nadiaxm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Great horror retelling! I especially loved the story at the end. Would be 5 stars if the author didn't decide to use the fanciest words in existence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Cannibalism

generaljinjur's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

Nasty, I love it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Physical abuse, and Medical content

chavonnwshen's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

brynnfai's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I liked the ended ending a lot and it was a very fresh book with beautiful prose though addmitedly a bit hard to follow at times. I had to read it out loud to fully understand what I was reading a lot of the time. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Animal death

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

My favorite read of the year. Such a compelling weaving together of different fairy tales, all at their most disturbing and horrifying, while bringing out the cores of humanity and love within them. Khan's writing style and the length were perfect for this story, and it has taken its rightful place as one of my favorite horror novellas, and absolute favorite horror romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Slavery, and Pregnancy

roxiehrt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

Im still trying to process this book, but it’s a solidly written book. You do get dropped into the world with basically no exposition so know that you’re going to have to figure out the rules of the world as you go along. The flowery language does make it a laborious read and you’ll need to give it your full attention, but it’s worth the read if you’re into a gothic horror fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

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

trollmila's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

While plot happens, for the most part it is a very aesthetic world created. There's a lot of gore and it relies more on emotion and description which you may or may not like! I liked it.

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Content Warnings

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

faroukk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

Really loved this book from Cassandra Khaw. Has what I would describe as "Bloodborne Vibes" and successfully executes on it. That horrific, tense, and cold atmosphere featuring characters with a dark and monstrous underbelly to their psychology was very satisfying to read in this short 100 page novel. 

The main criticism I've seen of this book, and it is important to note, is that Khaw's prose is overly wordy to the point that it actually gets in the way of the story/understanding what's going on. To give you an idea of how "overly complicated" the vocabulary is: I had to google words I'd never seen before/didn't know the definitions to offhand at least 1-3 times per page as I was reading it (and I would say I have a pretty extensive vocabulary). I was willing to do the work of researching definitions while reading due to the shortness of the book, but I most likely would not have had the stamina to do so if the book were longer. 

With that being said, I don't agree with the argument that the "thesaurus fluff" didn't add anything to the story. Khaw clearly has intention behind every single word that they write. The extremely flowery and vibrant prose is often used to beautifully describe some of the most horrific gore you could read. I find this intense contrast, to portray such monstrous and grotesque things so beautifully, to be incredibly evocative and found that it added to the unique atmosphere the book is trying to evoke. Additionally, once you actually google the words, it becomes clear that Khaw did not just randomly decide to use big words. The author has a clear understanding of what these words mean, and constructs sentences expertly to convey incredibly powerful imagery. 

I'm also admittedly biased because I also actually really like books that use big words, and I love the opportunity to expand my vocabulary. I believe that reading is just as much about expanding your language/cognition as it is about understanding the thesis/story of the writing. With that belief in mind, I was willing to go on admittedly a very arduous journey of constantly pulling out my phone as I was reading to understand what the hell was going on. 

Ultimately, if you're willing to stomach the gore and the purple prose, you will love this book. The tone and atmosphere is incredible, the monstrous psychology of desire within the characters is fascinating, and you'll come out of it having learned a bunch of new words! Like I said I'm biased so if the wordiness is not your thing then take my opinion with a grain of salt, but this was right up my alley and I came out of it inspired to write more myself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail