The Salt Grows Heavy fell short of its potential, offering a confusing and disjointed reading experience. The lack of a cohesive plot, flawed characterization, and inconsistent pacing prevented me from fully engaging with the story. While there may be elements that some readers appreciate, I cannot recommend this novel to those seeking a well-structured and immersive literary experience.

The Salt Grows Heavy cements Cassandra Khaw as one of the modern masters of the horror novella. Tonally, the book is very different from Khaw’s magnificent, ethereal 2021 novella Nothing but Blackened Teeth, which just proves the author’s range, as both books kept me engrossed through very different means.

Salt is narrated by a mermaid who married a king, but this is no happily-ever-after tale. The King has tortured his wife (including cutting out her tongue) and forced her to bear his daughters who, just prior to the start of the novella, have devoured their father, his court, and most of his kingdom. Among the survivors are the now-free mermaid and the court’s mysterious non-binary Plague Doctor, who flee the castle in search of safe haven. Which, this being a horror novella, they do not find, encountering instead a group of nearly feral children and the men they worship as gods. And this is when the story gets really disturbing.

The mermaid’s narrative voice is lush and detailed, bordering on archaic, while still being relatable to the modern reader. The weight of her experiences at her husband’s hands, the pride and fear she expressed about her daughters, inform every sentence. The developing bond between mermaid queen and plague doctor as they learn each other’s secrets, is the beautiful core of an otherwise horrific and bloody story; the fits and starts of awkward mutual attraction are so real that I recognized myself in each moment. But fair warning: this is not a cozy romance. The mermaid also narrates, in visceral detail, moments of brutal body horror that disturbed me even while I was unable to look away. The mermaid and the Plague Doctor each have experienced debilitating trauma at the hands of people who should have cared for them, through which the author explores the abuses of power endemic to so many fairy tales.

In The Salt Grows Heavy, Cassandra Khaw comingles threads and themes from fairy tales both famous (The Little Mermaid) and less-so (The Three Army Surgeons), along with works as seminal as Frankenstein and The Lord of the Flies – a combination which in lesser hands maybe would not work, but in Khaw’s hands becomes a vessel for exploring othering, outsidership, and the myriad ways in which we find ourselves controlled and confined.

I received an electronic advance reading copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. The Salt Grows Heavy was published on May 2, 2023

WOW! For being so short, this one packs a solid punch. It's gory and gross and brutal. . .and beautiful. I like that it gave two different versions of belief - belief in someone to love versus belief in a religion or god(s) and their promises.

The deaths and repeated body consuming was pretty gory. If you can stomach the details, the stuff in between is just beautiful. There were so many lines I wanted to write down, so many little moments that held my breath. The use of "they" was so good too. I loved this little story. I definitely see myself visiting it again. And what an ending. I loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

"Ash sleets from the firmament in soft handfuls of black, gathering in gauzy drifts around my ankles. The sky is ink and seething murk, whispering secrets to itself, the clouds snarled like long, dark hair."

Cassandra Khaw is an auto-buy author for me, and their latest novella The Salt Grows Heavy is just as dark as their other writing. I love mermaids and absolutely adore how Khaw took the legends and shaped them into something wholly and horrifically unique.

Beautifully written with every word in its place, the prose is descriptive and all encompassing. Some readers may struggle with the purple prose or depictions of gore, so be sure to check the content warnings.

"Man mistakes his own experiences as the canvas on which all truths are drawn. He is rarely correct in this respect."

This is a difficult novella to review because it's kind of something to be experienced, but this was a read I won't forget anytime soon.

Content warnings: blood and gore, death, dismemberment, murder

eARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion nor the contents of my review. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and subject to change upon final publication.

Well this was deliciously delightful and dark! 4.5 Stars and i'd give it a 89/100 WGB Score. Perfect to read in one sitting by the beach or a lake or even just curled up under the blankets in the dead of night. I enjoyed Khaw's prose a lot more in this novella then their previous one that I read. Perfectly spooky and weird and that cover art is just sublime.

I don't think Cassandra Khaw is for me. I love a short and scary and weird story but for some reason this and Nothing But Blackened Teeth didn't work for me personally. I wouldn't tell anyone not to read it though because I know there is an audience who would really enjoy it.

I just read a beautiful creepy, horror romance and I absolutely loved it. It gave me the creeps in all the right ways. I loved this version of a mermaid and this gave all the creepy children vibes I never asked for but now I know is totally my wheelhouse.. The only downfall was I wanted more. I wanted to really dive into this world Khaw built and explore every single inch of it.

Another beautiful story from Cassandra Khaw. Like her other work, SALT is full of lush and vivid writing, emotionally stacked scenes, and breathtaking detail. Loved this new addition to her catalog!

For such a short novel, this story really packs a punch! I was a huge fan of Cassandra Khaw's Nothing But Blackened Teeth and I enjoyed this one as well. The Salt Grows Heavy is a horrifying fantasy story about two supernatural beings, each with their own scar scraping back stories, and their journey to freedom. It's at times confusing, but that adds to the overall emotions that you feel over the course of the story. Because their world is confusing and the horrors done to them and that they do to others are the same. Khaw also has an incredible way with words that is able to shine in this sparkling mess between characters. Highly recommend.

This was an interesting, dark take on The Little Mermaid fairy tale. I enjoyed it for the most part, but the language was sometimes a bit too flowery for my personal taste.

HAPPY #bookbirthday to THE SALT GROWS HEAVY by @casskhaw !! Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher, @macmillan.audio for the audio-ARC.

Do you like mermaids? How about plague doctors? How about a horrifically beautiful love story between the two? This book is billed as a retelling of THE LITTLE MERMAID, and it excels in that realm, but it also has some FRANKENSTEIN nods as well.

Once upon a time, a prince captured a mermaid and made her his bride. He kept her hidden, cut out her tongue so she could not speak, and filled her womb. When the daughters of the mermaid and the prince are born, they have their father's eyes...and their mother's teeth...

The story begins atop a pile of ruin as the babies terrorize and devour the whole kingdom. The only survivors, it seems are the mermaid herself and a plague doctor who was tasked with quelling the mermaid devouring plague. The two find comfort in each other and realize that they share a common bond in being each an amalgamation of different parts stitched together over time...one by magic and the other by medical science.

This story is haunting and beautiful, horrifying and heart-warming. This is the kind of love story I am after. Things are messy and there are many flaws in each partner exposed, they share their vulnerabilities and they fight to make things right.

If you like retellings that turn fairy tales on their heads, love vulnerable, strange characters, or are a big fan of unconventional love stories, this is your book. That is, if you can handle a bit of viscera. 😉

This is one of my favorite books I have read all year so far. It is short and wonderful and you should go look for it on shelves because it joins the world today!!

What book have you read with the weirdest, most unconventional love story? I don't read a lot of romance specific book but I love a horror romance!

💚SMASHBOT💚

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw is a short horror novella loosely inspired by the original little mermaid tale. We follow a Mermaid, who's daughters have devoured the kingdom, and a Plague Doctor who stumble on a village of children and their "Saints." These "Saints" both kill and bring these children back to life and the Doctor wants to destroy them as he knows what is really going on. Beautifully written while also a little gruesome.

I received and ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Cassandra Khaw continues to demonstrate an amazing ability to create amazingly dark yet believable landscapes. The Salt Grows Heavy is a prime example of how to create an entire world in a short amount of time, then populate it with amazing character which the reader cares about no matter what they do.

Khaw presents us with a mermaid and a monster traveling together, adds in a cannibalistic cult of deathless people, and sprinkles in a healthy dose of squirm inducing gore. While there are some brutal scenes, the bloodshed is never gratuitous.

Brilliant world, brilliant characters, brilliant writing. Highest recommendations.

A mermaid with no voice meets a Plague Doctor whose face is hidden from her when the kingdom of her human husband has literally been devoured by her gluttonous children. They journey to a land where feral children are under the sway of a sinister force of self-proclaimed saints with a voracious appetite for their bodies and lifeforces.

The Salt Grows Heavy is a lyrical fable with beautiful and disturbing imagery. Khaw is a wordsmith whose master artistry crafts tableaus that are both luscious and deeply unsettling. Body horror is intrinsic to the narrative and is not for the faint of heart. However, compelling writing and characterization with its leads, the mermaid whose story has been told many times, but not in this particular bloodthirsty and gritty manner, and a non-binary person of mystery whose compassion, composure, mysteriousness, and elegance makes them uniquely fascinating and beautiful. The bond that develops between the mermaid and the Plague Doctor is the heart of the story and grounds the reader in a work that reads like visual poetry. The narrative will evoke a myriad of emotions in the reader, yet it will not be easily understood or defined. The Salt Grows Heavy is for adventurous readers with a taste for dark fairy tale retellings.

As a 5 star prediction, The Salt Grows Heavy ended up being a huge disappoint. I'm convinced the author must have sat by a Thesaurus writing this, trying to find the most obscure words possible. This overwriting made it hard to hear the actual story. At the 50% mark, I still had hope for the story, but it quickly deteriorated after that. All I can say is lots of body horror and not much else. I will not be giving this author a second try.

I would like to thank Tor/Forge for a digital copy of this novel via NetGalley. This was a dark, quick, intense read. It's a horror fairy tale based on a mermaid and a plague doctor. Mermaid folklore is a big part of the plot and there are several meta moments where characters discuss the folklore. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In this dark retelling of The Little Mermaid, the eponymous character is more monster than maid. After her daughters consume the man who captured her and cut our her tongue along with the rest of the kingdom, she sets off with a strange plague doctor with a storied past of their own. Dark and creepy and a bit esoteric in all the best ways. Tbh I could've read a full-length novel all about this version of the characters--and it might've functioned a bit better in that form, fully allowed to stretch out to its edges.

Given my past feelings about Nothing But Blackened Teeth, I was hesitant to try another of Khaw’s books. I must say that this was a dark little piece of fiction that worked for me. If you’re looking for an ultra-gory novella that’s also heavy on body horror, then try this one. If you don’t like complicated, “flowery” writing, then definitely avoid. You may recall that in my review for Nothing But Blackened Teeth, I praised her intricate style of writing, so I enjoyed it.

Now as for what I didn’t like, let’s start off by saying that I don’t understand why it’s being marketed as a retelling. I have no clue what it’s a retelling of and the little mermaid would be a stretch. It’s closer to Lord of the Flies than the Little Mermaid. There also wasn’t much by way of a cohesive plot, so it’s for sure character-driven. And lastly, I don’t think the romance was really built up to nor necessary. Admittedly, I enjoyed it. I thought it was cute (gruesome, but cute). But I don’t think it fit the vibe that the protagonist had given her past.

A short book that packs a powerful punch. This story blends science, magic, and visceral language to tell a story that had me riveted from start to finish. Includes some lovely queer representation and a very different take on the mermaid myth.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

This book just wasn't for me, but maybe it will be for you.

I don't know why the book is billed as being about mermaids, the main character resembles a mermaid in name only (but then again, I'm not a mermaid expert). I feel like this book has more in common with Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster than any other fictional creature.

I also didn't appreciate the insta-love quality to the main characters relationship. At first they were acquaintances and the only two people left in a destroyed kingdom but by the end of this short novella she's totally obsessed with the plague doctor. I didn't see where that came from. It felt like she is quite literally obsessed with them because they were the first human to be kind to her. Which might have been interesting if it had been elaborated on.

I'm starting to think that horror/gore just doesn't do it for me. I used to think that because I don't get too scared or grossed out to read horror, that that meant that I enjoyed it. But I'm beginning to realize that I feel neutral towards the horror and gore elements and I need something else to be exciting or interesting. Here there was plenty of horror, gore, and body-horror; the main character eating people, surgery and dissections. And to the author's credit there were some very beautifully and poetically described depictions of gore, but for me it was akin to a beautifully described depiction of someone mowing their lawn... I just didn't care.