Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

22 reviews

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Did not live up the premise! A lot of overly descriptive, borderline garrulous prose that amounted to very little substance, character building, or plot. it felt like they received a thesaurus for christmas from a loved one and wrote this book to prove they’d used it. 

it got to the point where the sensorial detail even became repetitive; blood = rubies, entrails = coils/ribbons, bones = baby teeth… we get it! tons of words used over & over to the point where it almost felt like copy/paste. for a book so short it shouldn’t have been hard to come up with a word to replace “bathyal” instead of saying it over & over 

neither of the leads were interesting. we were on the cusp of so many interesting details about “mermaid” lore, about human reanimation, the magical universe they are in, but the author chose to squander that on pages and pages of describing trees and skin and teeth. the romance had potential to be interesting, but again… the author chose to focus on how everything smelled and tasted for some reason 

also this was an extremely loose “fairytale retelling”; I was personally okay with that, but don’t come in expecting anything detailed in that regard. Khaw doesn’t really go into detail about anything that isn’t a texture or a taste 

if style over substance is your jam, this may be for you! it is firmly not mine so 2 stars trending downward. I had a similar complaint with Nothing But Blackened Teeth, so I think this author is just on the Don’t Read list for me :/ kernels of really interesting but ultimately unrealized premise seem to be the lay of the land. spent the whole book waiting for Khaw to get into the story only for there not to be a story at 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Kidnapping, Gore, Child death, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Miscarriage, and Child abuse

lakinlindsey's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, War, Kidnapping, Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Slavery, Child death, Gore, Death, Murder, Rape, Violence, and Torture

leeghlee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

rmgmorrow's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

r_o_s_e's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Child death, Medical content, and Torture

Minor: Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, and Dysphoria

infinitelibrary's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Violence, and Miscarriage

klr0's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

One of the most haunting, beautifully written books about some of the most vile monstrosities. Fascinating look at what it means to be a monster, forsake any humanity because of the horrors done unto to you. A cycle of violence amidst a canabalistic apocalypse. 

It’s a perfect book for spooky season - a godsdamned nightmare of body horror and teeth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical trauma, Violence, Torture, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Kidnapping and Physical abuse

Listen this book is a giant content warning for body horror. The mermaid cannot die, even while vivisectioned apart. The descriptions of what she eats in turn is graphic. There is no handholding here that I’ve seen in other horror.

nkmustdie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Animal death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Blood, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Cannibalism, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Trafficking

spadedigsbutts's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

Just a very raw book in general! Lots of poetic language and it really just dives into the story right away. I didn't quite get a grasp of the personalities of the main two characters, but it was absolutely fine for what it is. 

[Will add more later!]

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Vomit, Confinement, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy