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legs_n_chins's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT. This is what I love in a horror fantasy. The story Khaw was attempting in Nothing But Blackened Teeth I think just wasn’t for me and I’m really glad that I read that one before getting to this. I read the two novellas in publication order just because I’m sort of like that, and that was probably the best decision I could’ve made. I would’ve been even more frustrated and let down by Blackened Teeth if I’d read this one first because this story really just hit all my buttons at once and I felt lit up like a damn Christmas tree.
Khaw’s style works exceptionally well for this story. The flowery, lyrical prose fits into this fairytale thats tugged just a bit to the left. The things I already liked — the word choice and how she uses really visceral, gory language to craft some really beautiful metaphors — felt heightened here because it fit the story better. Being a fairytale, there’s a little more leeway to fall toward purple prose, I think, because there’s this space for dreaminess in the language. There’s magic woven into the idea of fairytales and that’s where room can be made to use metaphor purposefully to make what’s happening a little more vague or hazy. At least, I believe that’s true. Again, Khaw has something in her writing that I find very familiar — this sense of metaphor and dream and magic is something I’ve tried to capture when attempting a sort of fairytale story and now I’m just kinda jealous of Khaw for doing it so effectively.
These characters were very compelling, too. Maybe it’s silly and even cliche a bit, but I’ve always had this aesthetic fascination with plague doctors and I loved the way Khaw included and built on that aesthetic here. The mystery and fascination with plague doctors is a lot about not knowing what’s behind the mask and I do like that Khaw not only allowed us to see behind the mask, but also made it interesting and new. Fitting into the overall notion of the healing, both externally and internally. As well, our POV character was a really wonderful take on a mermaid. I love to remember that mermaids have teeth and lure sailors to the depths to be devoured (I actually have a very unhealthy attachment to that one shot in fucking PotC 4 with the priest and the mermaid and I think that’s forever altered me), so this really spoke to me. I also loved the mythology she gave us around mermaids in her world — their practicality around human life, the way their immortality works, and all the fantastic details in the post script like deprivation of salt and the way they birth children and the sort of lineage that happens. It’s so rich and clever and well thought out, I’m absolutely enamored. And I liked watching the main character grow attached to the plague doctor and their shared displacement in the world. I thought it fit really well and it made the love story aspect work for me despite the very condensed timeline.
The emotional core to this novella, I thought, was very strong. The interplay between the two leads — the emotion behind the plague doctor’s motivations versus the straightforward logic of the mermaid’s motivations — and then how they melded and sort of tugged the other in the opposite direction. How the mermaid ended up bound by emotion and the plague doctor acted on basic logic at the very end to survive the hunt. Both of them ended up going against their initial desires because of their connection and its effect on the world around them. I liked the echos of real world high control groups and the attempt to disrupt the devotion of the followers. I loved the way trauma was portrayed, to my eye, with a lot of care and attention to detail. And I loved how that was a big part of the emotion driving the plague doctor because it added more depth to their character. I also absolutely adored that this ended up mostly being about two people binding themselves to each other in love and doing everything in their power to be together. One of those “didn’t quite expect it to be a love story but goddamn I’m really fucking invested now” moments for me. And how well Khaw teased out those feelings of affection and love and made me so invested in such a short time. Genuinely, I was sort of tearing up a little bit at the end. I wanted so badly for everything to work out.
The horror elements were very up my ally here, too. Less direct thrillers and scares, more just that ever present, creeping eeriness. The haunting aspects of this little village and the isolation of being an outsider, plus the trapped, anxious feeling of being around a high control group. I like that this wasn’t about demons or ghosts and more just about the horror of these surgeons convincing children they were living a good life. There is, I think, this inherent desire to protect children in our society and Khaw really plays into that well. Plus, the body horror wasn’t overdone or really disgusting. I don’t like body horror that leans into just being gross out; this is more what I can handle in terms of it being just very bloody and visceral. Plus, the body horror aspect fit well with the themes this overall horror of being helpless to protect the children in the village.
I loved the blending of the fairytales, too. Not just suggesting that this was its own tale and there was more lord behind it, but also the mentions of familiar tales like Cinderella and Red Riding Hood and even the princess whose words turned to jewels! (An excellent deep cut, in my opinion.) Plus, this story itself being a twisted version of The Little Mermaid. I loved Khaw’s take on it and the elements she wove into the full story. Like the bit from Andersen’s original version about the mermaid turning to sea foam. But also, that combined with the usual fae lore about the power of names! It just really, really worked for me as someone who loves fairytale adaptations and retellings. I was so enamored by it, and I think that’s why the post script was actually probably my favorite bit. I mean I loved all of it, don’t get me wrong, even without the post script this would’ve been a five star read for me, but the actual retelling that Khaw included along with all the details of her world building. God, it was just so fucking pitch perfect to me.
I still sort of can’t get over how much I loved this, especially when I was a bit tentative after having read Blackened Teeth, but holy shit did I love it. The few things that sort of made me pause (like being surprised that Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Corpus existed, or the times when Khaw’s feminist views — though I didn’t disagree or generally dislike — felt sort of like being beaten over the head with pointed rhetoric) paled in comparison against the work as a whole. I think everything came together really well, and this is just a novella that speaks to all the things I like in a story. In a fairytale. I think I’ll be coming back to this one many more times.
Khaw’s style works exceptionally well for this story. The flowery, lyrical prose fits into this fairytale thats tugged just a bit to the left. The things I already liked — the word choice and how she uses really visceral, gory language to craft some really beautiful metaphors — felt heightened here because it fit the story better. Being a fairytale, there’s a little more leeway to fall toward purple prose, I think, because there’s this space for dreaminess in the language. There’s magic woven into the idea of fairytales and that’s where room can be made to use metaphor purposefully to make what’s happening a little more vague or hazy. At least, I believe that’s true. Again, Khaw has something in her writing that I find very familiar — this sense of metaphor and dream and magic is something I’ve tried to capture when attempting a sort of fairytale story and now I’m just kinda jealous of Khaw for doing it so effectively.
These characters were very compelling, too. Maybe it’s silly and even cliche a bit, but I’ve always had this aesthetic fascination with plague doctors and I loved the way Khaw included and built on that aesthetic here. The mystery and fascination with plague doctors is a lot about not knowing what’s behind the mask and I do like that Khaw not only allowed us to see behind the mask, but also made it interesting and new. Fitting into the overall notion of the healing, both externally and internally. As well, our POV character was a really wonderful take on a mermaid. I love to remember that mermaids have teeth and lure sailors to the depths to be devoured (I actually have a very unhealthy attachment to that one shot in fucking PotC 4 with the priest and the mermaid and I think that’s forever altered me), so this really spoke to me. I also loved the mythology she gave us around mermaids in her world — their practicality around human life, the way their immortality works, and all the fantastic details in the post script like deprivation of salt and the way they birth children and the sort of lineage that happens. It’s so rich and clever and well thought out, I’m absolutely enamored. And I liked watching the main character grow attached to the plague doctor and their shared displacement in the world. I thought it fit really well and it made the love story aspect work for me despite the very condensed timeline.
The emotional core to this novella, I thought, was very strong. The interplay between the two leads — the emotion behind the plague doctor’s motivations versus the straightforward logic of the mermaid’s motivations — and then how they melded and sort of tugged the other in the opposite direction. How the mermaid ended up bound by emotion and the plague doctor acted on basic logic at the very end to survive the hunt. Both of them ended up going against their initial desires because of their connection and its effect on the world around them. I liked the echos of real world high control groups and the attempt to disrupt the devotion of the followers. I loved the way trauma was portrayed, to my eye, with a lot of care and attention to detail. And I loved how that was a big part of the emotion driving the plague doctor because it added more depth to their character. I also absolutely adored that this ended up mostly being about two people binding themselves to each other in love and doing everything in their power to be together. One of those “didn’t quite expect it to be a love story but goddamn I’m really fucking invested now” moments for me. And how well Khaw teased out those feelings of affection and love and made me so invested in such a short time. Genuinely, I was sort of tearing up a little bit at the end. I wanted so badly for everything to work out.
The horror elements were very up my ally here, too. Less direct thrillers and scares, more just that ever present, creeping eeriness. The haunting aspects of this little village and the isolation of being an outsider, plus the trapped, anxious feeling of being around a high control group. I like that this wasn’t about demons or ghosts and more just about the horror of these surgeons convincing children they were living a good life. There is, I think, this inherent desire to protect children in our society and Khaw really plays into that well. Plus, the body horror wasn’t overdone or really disgusting. I don’t like body horror that leans into just being gross out; this is more what I can handle in terms of it being just very bloody and visceral. Plus, the body horror aspect fit well with the themes this overall horror of being helpless to protect the children in the village.
I loved the blending of the fairytales, too. Not just suggesting that this was its own tale and there was more lord behind it, but also the mentions of familiar tales like Cinderella and Red Riding Hood and even the princess whose words turned to jewels! (An excellent deep cut, in my opinion.) Plus, this story itself being a twisted version of The Little Mermaid. I loved Khaw’s take on it and the elements she wove into the full story. Like the bit from Andersen’s original version about the mermaid turning to sea foam. But also, that combined with the usual fae lore about the power of names! It just really, really worked for me as someone who loves fairytale adaptations and retellings. I was so enamored by it, and I think that’s why the post script was actually probably my favorite bit. I mean I loved all of it, don’t get me wrong, even without the post script this would’ve been a five star read for me, but the actual retelling that Khaw included along with all the details of her world building. God, it was just so fucking pitch perfect to me.
I still sort of can’t get over how much I loved this, especially when I was a bit tentative after having read Blackened Teeth, but holy shit did I love it. The few things that sort of made me pause (like being surprised that Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Corpus existed, or the times when Khaw’s feminist views — though I didn’t disagree or generally dislike — felt sort of like being beaten over the head with pointed rhetoric) paled in comparison against the work as a whole. I think everything came together really well, and this is just a novella that speaks to all the things I like in a story. In a fairytale. I think I’ll be coming back to this one many more times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
meg_thebrave's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This novella is like reading gruesome, brutal poetry, turning a fairytale on its head. I loved it. I look forward to reading more of Khaw’s work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
justjai's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
This book at first took a bit to get into. The prose reminded me of bramble off to the side of an unbroken path, me getting caught every once in a while. But I carried on, the story felt a bit distant, but I loved the language and the bits of lore, gore and fantasy woven into it. It’s short page length definitely helped in my enjoyment of this the story told in this style.
This book lent me it's words for a few evenings and I enjoyed each one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
leafhead's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
“But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth.”
This is a novella about stopping horrible saints. It grapples with the horror of cult like behaviour.
But the book is actually a love story that develops between the main characters, a deep love that is felt on the page.
While not my usual book of choice, I think this book will live rent free for quite some time.
This is a novella about stopping horrible saints. It grapples with the horror of cult like behaviour.
But the book is actually a love story that develops between the main characters, a deep love that is felt on the page.
While not my usual book of choice, I think this book will live rent free for quite some time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Outing
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
gauriraut's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
paigehf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Torture, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
cfell's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
cowboycarol342's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
absolutely heart wrenching.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
matcha_cat's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Grief and Pregnancy