“Perhaps we are as any myths are: protean, impossible, exactly what we need to be.”

The Salt Grows Heavy is a captivating, beautiful, and brutal novella by Cassandra Khaw. The plot follows a mermaid and a plague doctor as they leave behind the ruins of a kingdom devoured by her children. They think they have left the cruelty of mankind behind, only to discover a group even more merciless.

This novella is so visceral, and every word used makes the violence tangible while still giving a fairytale-esque feel. It’s nearly poetic, and I love how the main character’s eloquence is also a character choice: “When you do not have the option for conversation, there arises a wealth of time for personal instruction.”

Both nostalgic and savagely satisfying, The Salt Grows Heavy reminds the reader of childhood stories while nodding to the original gruesome stories they stem from.

Incredibly beautiful writing, but I just didn't feel like it was super enjoyable for me. I would definitely recommend to someone who reads more horror though!

Content warnings: gore, blood, death, vivisection, self-administered surgery, eye trauma, surgery, body horror

A mermaid and a plague doctor go to investigate a cult that worships surgeons. There are ageless children, there are sacrifices, there is self-administered surgery. It’s gross. It’s beautiful. I loved all one hundred pages.

I have so many highlights in this one. The story is relatively simple as suggested by the blurb, but it’s the word craft that really makes this one stand out. The world is dark, and the detail-work is exquisite. I love the subtle shifts in how the mermaid refers to the plague doctor that make this romantic with an ending that I’d consider “happy at some point, just not now.”

I’ll definitely be returning to this one to immerse myself in gorgeous writing that depicts biology in all its gross brutality.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw is a dark and creepy tale, perfect for the fantasy reader who wants a quick read tinged with horror.

The book opens in the aftermath of a slaughter. The narrator’s vicious half-prince mermaid children have devoured their father and his kingdom. She makes a companion of a plague doctor. Together they burn what remains then head off together into the wilderness.

And there, in the woods, things get violently weird.

The companions come across a community of mostly children, a bit reminiscent of Lord of the Flies. At the urging of the plague doctor, they attempt to free the children from the saints, who lead their society and hold them in their thrall.

Ultimately, I wanted to like this novella more than I did. I went in with the expectation of a vicious killer mermaid, but ended up with a woodland commune full of body horror. I didn’t enjoy that plot as much as I would’ve liked a story that revolved more around the mermaid and the plague doctor. If the saints’ community was but one stop of their journey, it would’ve made for a much longer book. But one that I would have found more satisfying.

Thank you to Tor, Nightfire, and NetGalley for the gift of this eARC.

Myths are full of lies. This is not one of them."

So we all know the tale of ' The Little Mermaid', but what if I told you that the story that you know and love is not the whole story, or even the real story?
That the actual story was much darker, sadder and scarier than even the one told by Hans Christen Andersen.
What if I told you in fact that the idea of 'true love' was actually just some PR genius. Propaganda designed to enchant the public and unconditional deviotion to the monarch, while overlooking a marriage between the prince voiceless mermaid as rather than a royal princess.
A piece of propaganda, told
order for you to accept the abhorant behaviours of a prince and his exotic mute wife. The tale of devotion and love to cover one of slavery and servitude.

Cassandra Khaw's novella is a feminist telling of the folktale The Little Mermaid, picking up the narrative after she is already voiceless and married to the prince. Unfortunately, their children being half mermaid have devoured the kingdom leaving nothing but decay and death in their wake. The Mermaid, along with another survivor and the plague Doctor set out on a dark and dangerous quest to find a new home that will be safe and accepting of them as they are two "manufactured" beings.

I personally always hated the story because I couldnt understand or accept why the mermaid would give up her only power 'voice' in order to potentially marry a man who doesn't even know her, and she has no assurance that he feels the same way about her. Khaw's narrative answers these questions by explaining that the mermaid was in fact stolen and made voiceless by the prince, having her tongue cut out of her mouth to ensure she couldn't tell her story and in doing so, making his side of the story the only narrative.

Khaw also incorporates social and cultural critics of christian religion and they ways in which appropriate narratives and then alter them in order to then use stories as a means to control and enslave others. I loved the intellectual depth to this 108 page narrative.
Genre:
LGBTQIA
Literary Fiction
Horror
Feminist
Folklore retelling

I was very intrigued at the beginning, but the plot didn't show up until 40% in -- at which point, it had better been a freaking good plot, and it wasn't. I was intrigued by the two main characters, but pretty bored by everything else. Plus, the writing was so purpley (who the hell uses the word "nadir" 3x in 106 pages??) that I felt like the author was trying to make up for the lack of development everywhere else.

This author seems to be incredibly hit or miss for me. I'll def check out more from them in the future, but I don't recommend this one at all.

I absolutely loved this book and I wasn't sure what to expect. I loved the relationship between the two main characters and the entire book had this amazing creepy atmosphere.

This book was much better than her other novella! I loved the characters and the premise. It made me want more from these characters. I would love for her to write a full blown novel about these two specifically!

Cassandra Khaw writes such beautiful prose and has such intensely creative ideas. She has a way of transporting you to a world parallel to our own where fantastical and terrible things are possible in a very visceral way. I enjoyed reading The Salt Grows Heavy far more than Nothing But Blackened Teeth, though I do feel that it suffers from some of the same issues. Particularly, I feel that both books needed to be longer and given more room to grow and breathe. Overall, however, I would call That Salt Grows Heavy a triumph and look forward to the possibility of Khaw one day tackling longer forms of fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I absolutely loved The Salt Grows Heavy! It's a great fairytale horror novella that blends The Little Mermaid, Frankenstein, and something all its own. It has unique fairytale subversions, a subtle queer vibe, and just a great feeling for the impending spooky season. Their writing style is very flowery, but I honestly think it's perfect for fairytale horror, and it really makes the scenery feel like part of the horror. If you read and enjoyed Khaw's short story These Deathless Bones, you will definitely enjoy this one! Highly recommended.

TW: torture, dismemberment etc

Oddly charming for a story about vicious little mermaid and her travelling companion, a Plague Doctor who’s more than he seems. Like the Plague Doctor, I wanted to know more of the mermaid’s story: her past, her home. Short in length in gives the reader a taste of these two characters while leaving them wanting more.

First and foremost, I would definitely recommend/use this novel in my AP classes as a mentor text. The writing is poetic, revolting, and absorbing. For me this book was all vibes and atmosphere. I didn’t really focus on the plot of this novella because I was so enamored with the writing. Khaw is a master of imagery and literary devices. The descriptions were so vivid I could see the horror that was happening. This is a masterclass in imagery.

The Salt Grows Heavy is a good novella. The writing is gorgeously-dark, with a lot of solid body horror, but it was just a little too abstract for my tastes.

That is 100%, my opinion though, so take it with a grain of salt ((pun intended)). If this sounds intriguing to you, definitely give it a shot. In fact, I want to be clear, I did enjoy this. I liked it. It's a solid novella. I just could not tell you the point, or really what happened at all.

I think it is a fresh, yet horrific, take on The Little Mermaid, but I'm only pulling that from the publisher's synopsis. Honestly, I would never have guessed that while reading this story, if I hadn't been prompted ahead of time.

I think Cassandra Khaw is an incredibly smart and creative human. Khaw is most likely too smart for me. I do really appreciate their horror imagery though. It's always a bit body horror, always a bit wildly-detailed and it never fails to make my toes curl. I am going to continue picking up Khaw's stories. Every time I am impressed with the creation. Some aspects hit, some aspects miss, but it's always intriguing.

This is a bit of a short review for me, but this novella is just over 100-pages and I really didn't understand 98-of the pages, so not sure what else to say.

Writing = beautiful; concept = over my head.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. As mentioned, I find Khaw's stories captivating, if a bit confusing. I definitely look forward to seeing what they deliver next!

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and the author for this ARC!!!
This book was confusing and I disliked all of the pompous big words she used throughout, it felt like she was trying to show off instead of tell a story.

Really good folk/fantasy horror short story, I liked if a lot more than Nothign But Blackened Teeth. I really love Khaw's prose as always, she writes in such a beautiful way and I also end up learning more words as a result.

The ending of this novella is also very open ended but satisfying in the same breath, which I personally think is hard to attain.

I was ambivalent about this author's previous work but I was entirely on board with this - I loved the fractured-fairy-tale feel, the vicious mermaid protagonist, the Frankenstein's monster plague doctor, the whole thing. Devoured it in a day.

The Salt Grows Heavy was dark and engrossing. I couldn't put it down and it definitely gave me some funky dreams! I highly recommend this book not only for the amazing story but also for Cassandra Khaw's sparkling prose that brings the story to life.

I ended up DNFing. The vocabulary used through out was just above me and having to look up the meanings of things so often just made for a poor reading experience.

I'm really happy to say that I enjoyed this novella far more than the previous work I read by this author, Nothing But Blackened Teeth. The dark fairy-tale romance was atmospheric and interesting, and there were many moments in the story that I felt really showed off the talent Cassandra Khaw has as an author. They are obviously a very creative writer and there were points in the story where I did in fact have to pause just to appreciate the beautiful prose and I would love it if they came out with another dark fairy-tale story in the form of a full novel as I would love to see what they could do with a more established plot and fleshed out characters in that genre. That being said, this novella did have a few flaws, mainly in how the characters felt pretty one-note and how the story felt like a race to reach the ending. I wish we got more page time to delve into the backstory of the two main characters including their first meeting so that their relationship was better fleshed out and developed. The plot itself needed a bit more expanding as well and at its short length to me felt like a lot of beautiful writing used to describe gore and not enough used to actually flesh out the story. I ended up deciding on three stars since the writing was genuinely beautiful and lended the story the feeling of a frighteningly realistic fever dream, there were just parts where that felt more like a hinderence than help. I look forward to whatever the author has coming out next and I hope that they end up releasing more of these dark fairy-tale stories in the future.

This is my first time reading Cassandra Khaw, and I had gathered (based on other Goodreads reviews) that they were a divisive writer. Having finished this novella, I can certainly see why. The subject matter was gruesome and fantastical, while the language used was often bizarrely highbrow and obscure. I'm thankful to have read this on Kindle, so I could highlight words for their meaning. It certainly enriched my experience, because I think much of the story's details would have been completely lost without knowing the definitions.

I recently came across a Library Journal interview with Khaw, in which they explained how obsessed they are with the English language and how they find meaning behind the use of complicated words. They explained that the richness of the English language is what draws them into stories in the first place; if a story is told using commonplace words, Khaw mentally checks out. I was thankful to come across this information, as it made me appreciate their writing more than I originally would have.

Overall, I would recommend this to literary horror fans (it does have a truly sharp, biting feel all throughout) and those interested in prose stylistics. While this was just an "okay" read for me overall, I am intrigued enough to give other Khaw novellas a chance in the future.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novella in exchange for my honest review!