Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

54 reviews

valodniece's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Daaaaaamn. I'm not sure if Khaw intended this to be a criticism of the Russian state throughout all of its incarnations (imperial, communist, modern), but it certainly is. Set in the taiga, worshiping those who hurt you and cannibalize you and the belief that they will still somehow lift you up but never do... on the surface, sure, it is a dark and cannibalistic Little Mermaid retelling, told through the looking glass inspired by Lord of the Flies, but it really reads as more than that. Excellent work by Cassandra Khaw, and I will definitely be reading more of their work.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

slytherinlyss's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

At times it was difficult to distinguish which character was speaking; their personalities were just a bit too similar for their love story to truly blossom. Their motivations and traumas were nearly identical, as well. Overall, a short, enjoyable tale of two ruthless beings in an evil world. Realistic, yet incredibly magical. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Cannibalism

themorrigan43's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This is a novella, it's very fast and it is very gory. A strange adaptation of The Little Mermaid story, mixed with some Frankenstein.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Pregnancy

cwerber's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy shit, y'all. 

This novelette is something else and I mean that in the best way possible. It will turn your notion of the little mermaid story upside down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

Seriously, look at my warnings. This isn't for the faint of heart.

typedtruths's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.25

i didn't like this at all. yes, the themes of unconditional love are beautiful but everything else about this did <i>nothing</i> for me

▷ <u>Representation</u>: nonbinary sc/love interest.

<a href="https://typedtruth.wordpress.com/">  Blog</a> • <a href="https://triggerwarningdatabase.com/">Trigger Warning Database</a> • <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/typedtruths">StoryGraph</a>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

➸ Trigger warnings for misogyny, domestic violence recounted, rape mentioned, miscarriage, involuntary & voluntary medical procedures and experimentation, graphic body horror, graphic blood, gore, and injury depiction, graphic cannibalism, minor grief and loss, death of a child, death of a friend, murder, and cults.

lilmswolfe's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The use of words not often used in everyday life was overwhelming. It’s fine if there a word here and there, I can usually decipher what it means by the surrounding text but dang 2-3 words every sentence or so? Sheesh. 

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Content Warnings

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

queerreaderchaos's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

cpratreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

A very interesting read. I really liked the style and the story. The gore was written in an interesting way, and the action moved at a good pace for a novella. 

Definitely interested in reading more from Khaw. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

stellarkai's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, and Murder

bellebeaumont95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense

• 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? No

4.25

 Brutal and beautiful in the same degree, The Salt Grows Heavy is a horror novella about narratives of power, and about two people shaped and rebuilt by horrifically traumatic events choosing to stay together.

The writing is lovely, if a little overdone, coloring the scenes in a way that had me both flinching away and immediately coming back, mesmerized. I would have liked to spend a little more time with the two main characters (who I found fascinating) and exploring their relationship, but as the horror fairy tale it is, the brevity works.

In my questionable habit of comparing things to other things, I might describe this as "What if The VVitch (2015) had a crossover with The Language of Thorns, written by the authors of This Is How You Lose The Time War . (All things I LOVE, so this is high praise). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Vomit