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gaeliloveweiss's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
laurareads87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
The Salt Grows Heavy is a horror/fantasy novella of a murderous mermaid and a gender non-conforming plague doctor travelling through a near-dead kingdom, each with a traumatic past to contend with. Very well written, though it's hard to say 'beautifully written' when the subject matter is, very often, viscera. Heed the content warnings on this one - not for the faint of heart.
Content warnings: graphic gore & body horror throughout. Cannibalism is on page & described in detail. Blood, death, deaths of children, murder, violence, medical content, medical experimentation, misogyny, sexism, abuse, spousal abuse, rape (not on-page or described in any detail), kidnapping, mass murder, cult violence / religiously motivated abuse.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
cwerber's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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.vampirequeen's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death and Excrement
clynns's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
ejoverly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Please do not read this book thinking it is a fairy tale. The description is very misleading. This was a gory waste of time. The only reason I finished it was because it was so short I thought surely it would get better. It DID NOT. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything worse.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
- 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
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
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
lakinlindsey's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
leeghlee's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Miscarriage
wordswritinstarlight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail