The two main characters are so fascinating, both individually and in their dynamics. I would’ve followed them through any adventure. When they find some disturbing practices, they can’t help but explore this cult of sorts. Everything after that part rocks too. Just an all-round banger of a story. Took my favorite parts of fantasy, mixed them with body horror, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Highly recommend. Quick read, too.

Another tight venture into lyrical horror for Cassandra Khaw. This little book is packed with atmosphere and puts a vivid and unique spin on a beloved and infrequently adapted fairytale.

I hope this book finds its audience, but for me, something about the writing just didn't work. I had a similar experience with the author previously, but wanted to try again. A little too fantasy for me maybe? Either way, there will undoubtedly be readers who love this, just wasnt' for me.

Review will be live on the 3rd of May at: http://www.nerds-feather.com/2023/05/review-salt-grows-heavy-by-cassandra.html

My initial response to finishing this novella was "what the fuck did I just read?", and I stand by that assessment... but in a positive way. It's a deeply peculiar book, and one that's somewhat hard to describe when dragged outside the confines of the story.

It's a reimagining of the little mermaid, but... after the story...

A mermaid and a plague doctor go on a journey, both haunted by the darkness of their pasts...

What if the really important part of the little mermaid was the murderous revenge she got on the entire kingdom...?

Creepy woodland child-cults are never a good sign! Do not trust them, even if you're functionally immortal...

All of these are perfectly reasonable ways of talking about the story. Essentially, we meet up with a mermaid after her offspring have devoured the kingdom of the prince who married her in her revenge, when a mysterious plague doctor sort of kind of invites her to come with them, wherever they're headed to, seemingly unphased by the total carnage she's caused. On their way to wherever they're going, they come across a group of children hunting one of their number in the woods, a chance encounter that leads down a dark and bloody path to the plague doctor's history, and the mermaid's future.

But even this does not give a true sense of what the story is, because it's one of those stories which simply refuses to be confined to its plot. It's not about what happens, but how. And the how is vividly, lusciously, darkly, incredibly gorily, sumptuously and intensely overwrittenly, in the best possible way. It is a story I devoured, simply and precisely because the prose was delicious.

It goes in hard right from the first paragraph, which includes:

I pause. In the penumbra, the fading dusk gorgeted by coral and gold, you could be forgiven for mistaking the ruined house a ribcage, the roof its tent of ragged skin. The foundation, at a careless look, could pass for bones, the door for a mouth, the chimney a finger crooked at the sky, or at a wife who would not be a saviour.

And if anything, it only goes in harder as the story goes on.

This is the core of this novella's appeal in my opinion - if you like that level of intricate prose construction (and don't mind the grisly nature of the story), you will probably enjoy it immensely. If, however, you don't, or prose just isn't an interest or priority for you, this might be one that passes you by.

What's interesting about that, at least for me, is that I tend to prefer my stories to be character driven. And this isn't, really. We see a lot of the characters, but they are often opaque to each other and to us. We see through the mermaid's eyes, hear her thoughts, and yet even then she is remote and cold. Which is by design - she's meant to be alien, a creature living in our world but not of it, born of the chilly abyss of the sea, and hungry and uncaring and vengeful from it. So we see her, we spend the time growing to know her very well, and yet she remains cut off from us emotionally, by her very being. Where the prose is overwritten, the emotions are understated, the stuff of hints and shared looks leading to shared understanding, left for the reader to parse or not.

And as we progress through the story, it becomes clear how deliberate this is.

Because while it isn't all of what the story is, or is about, some of it is the story of someone who has been stripped of agency, of personhood, and who has exacted her revenge, but is still living with the legacy of what was done to her by a man who wanted to own her. Who told stories about her that misled the world about her nature. Who cut out of her tongue so she couldn't tell her own stories to counter them. So the fact that our access to her is at arm's reach feels especially fitting. We will know her as she wants us to know her, and no more, because she deserves that choice now.

We know the plague doctor, at least at first, at an even further remove. They speak little, and their emotional responses are something of a mystery to the mermaid, and so they are to us, through her interpretation. And while we never really get a deep sense of them through their words and perspective, we do begin to see the plague doctor as a deeply emotional person through their actions. It is more their story than the mermaid's, really, though it is told through her eyes.

But the two go together, as both of them are people who had their choices taken away from them, and were made into something else by people who had the power to do what they liked. Where the mermaid responds to this with bloody vengeance, the plague doctor has chosen kindness and healing, at least for now. What they feel about the mermaid's choices remains hidden to us, behind their mask and the mermaid's incomprehension of human feeling.

And so at its core, it's a story of two people who've suffered the greatest of injustices against their persons, and how they choose to live beyond that, how they respond to it, and how they relate to each other in the wake of their shared and different experiences. Because whatever emotion there is or is not in how we see them each through the mermaid's eyes, what there plainly is is fellowship, right from the start, and that link is such an appealing one, such a lovely one, that it keeps you invested through all the grisly body horror that comes with it.

I'm normally too much of a wuss for this kind of darkness, but in this, I didn't mind it. The writing transforms it into something beautiful at key moments, and the core dynamic between the two main characters makes it worthwhile even when it isn't beautiful. It makes a very strange, dark story, all told, but one whose wonder lies in that strangeness. It ends up with the feel of some old, dark fairy tale we don't tell anymore, where nothing is explained, a lot of people get murdered, and if there's any moral at all, it's not a gentle one. But sometimes those are exactly what you want, and this does it brilliantly.

I'm still torn on whether I love or hate Khaw's flowery prose, but I think it worked much better in this than in Nothing but Blackened Teeth. This was a weird, queer little story about relationships, which was not what I expected but I enjoyed it nonetheless. More vibes than plot, which worked overall.

"There is nothing wrong with being a monster."

Their mouth bends. "You always know the right things to say."

Words of comfort, from one monster to another. This book was the love story that I didn't know I needed, the love story of a mermaid and a plague doctor, two monsters who try to defeat other monsters and their tribal cult of young children. There are two major elements that I appreciated in this book. The beautiful, poetic language, oftentimes with such rich and arcane language that I was glad to use the web search feature of my ebook. And the graphic depictions of body horror, as the carnivorous mermaid has an appetite for sundry body parts and the adversary monsters, a trio of self-proclaimed saviors, seek immortality through the surgical harvesting of children's body parts. The grisly scenes of chopping and snipping and slicing and chomping are made more . . . palatable by the lyrically dense language that Khaw employs. It also helps that the story is told from the perspective of the nameless mermaid, who is lovingly devoted to her plague doctor.

This book hit all the right spots for me, and I want to thank Netgalley and Tor for the opportunity.

A twisted fairytale that left me both satisfied and wishing for more. 'The Salt Grows Heavy' is a book to savored and not devoured. Cassandra Khaw treats her prose like poetry and it creates an intoxicating reading experience.

Dropped directly into the action, 'The Salt Grows Heavy' wastes no time in getting to the point. You travel through a dark fairytale landscape with a mermaid, stranded after murdering her abusive human husband, and her only companion - a plague doctor with a tragic past. When they come face to face with the cult that birthed the good doctor nothing is certain anymore.

At first glance this novella is dense. Khaw has a clear love of language and it impacts her word choice throughout the novel. Overall, I found the plot compelling, gruesome (not without good reason), heartbreaking and tender. You made need a dictionary to weed through some of the more intense passages but I found that the elevated language choices aligned with the content -- the story is meant to be decadent and the words align directly with the lush almost velvet feel of the plot.

I enjoyed this read. It was one I could manage in one sitting. The ending was satisfying but left me wishing for a few more pages. Overall, I would give 'The Salt Grows Heavy' a solid 4 out of 5.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I suppose one of the things about requesting an ARC is that apart from some scant reviews and the provided synopsis, you don't have much to go off of. In most cases I think this is wonderful; I love diving into a book with no preconceptions. I think with this one though, I was given more than I bargained for.

This is a beautifully written novella, despite the content. I don't think I've ever looked up as many words while reading, bless the Kindle lookup feature. Each word is chosen with purpose and each sentence lyrically crafted. I also think this is one of the few novellas I've read that is exactly the length it should be. I thought the book was eerie, disgusting, and atmospheric. I enjoyed our characters and the relationship between them, even if their development was a little flat.

With that being said, I think this is the closest I've gotten to reading splatterpunk, and I don't plan on getting any closer. I felt a little blindsided by the levels of explicit gore in this book and while I felt like I was in a good headspace to handle that, it was a lot. I think people who love graphic horror will eat this one up (pun not intended EW!), but for atmospheric slow-burn psychological horror girlies like me, it was a tad much.

If you decide to go for this one, take those content warnings seriously.

content warnings: cannibalism, body horror, gore, torture

I have read one other by Cassandra Khaw (Blackened Teeth), which had an amazing cover, but I really did not like the writing style of the author. I decided to give this one a chance since it, too, had great cover art, and I trust TOR Publishing Group to not steer me wrong! I have to say, I did enjoy this book, but I do have some issues with the writing style. The author is able to paint such a grotesque scene beautifully- poetic body horror in the best way! However, my issue lies in comprehension of the actual storyline. I find myself thinking, what is actually going on here? I have to read and reread passages many times. I think because I was familiar with this format from Blackened Teeth, I knew I'd have to really put on my thinking cap to parse out the plot. Another issue I had was the pronouns used for the single plague doctor. This is great to have LGBTQIA+ representation in literature (and I don't even know this is what the author went for), but in this context (and when talking about the group of several plague doctors), "they/them" was a bit confusing to know which was being referred to. I thought the actual storyline was horrifying, like the old Grimm Bros or Hans Christian Andersen tales-a mermaid seeks revenge. Although again, not exactly sure where the plague doctors fit into it all (unless this was some kind of commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic). It was unusual and unique, and I must admit-thrilling to watch a sort of patriarchy go down after the exploitation of the mermaid and her people. I will likely check out more from this author. Thanks, TOR and NetGalley for the ARC!

With The Salt Grows Heavy, Cassandra Khaw has written a novella that feels like my worst nightmare. The story starts with the main character, the mermaid who has comes to the sea to marry a prince, sitting in the charred remains of a kingdom that she and her daughters have destroyed. A person dressed as a plague doctor accompanies her out of the desolation and into the world. Make no mistakes. This is not a fairytale even though the main character is a fairytale mermaid. This kingdom is razed. This land is dark. This is a scourge. 

Cassandra Khaw writes deep and beautiful prose. There were times when I could feel everything that the characters felt. I could taste the things that they ate. The pain that they felt seeped from the page and into my own flesh. This denseness is off putting to some. Her sentences are sometimes complex and filled with tough phrasing and unknown words. The likelihood of any reader going through this novella and not having to look up a single word will be rare. However the concentration that the story demands, for us to delve into new language and writing, attaches us to the story, makes us dive deep into a world that is just as new and just as brutal to live through. This is purposeful. For a story that is only a little over 100 pages, this is not a casual read. The reader has to be completely engaged in the story from the very beginning. If we have to work to get into this story, through the writing, the more vivid and horrifying the world becomes. Admittedly, this will turn off quite a few readers, those who are looking for an easy book, but those who stick with The Salt Grows Heavy receive a story that displays great depths in agony and pain. 

This is a very short book, and I love the story and the characters. The mermaid and the plague doctor are compelling and unforgettable. I feel this is a setup book, like The Salt Grows Heavy is just a chapter in their story. This could be the beginning of a series of novellas. If this is a standalone and we never hear from these two characters again, The Salt Grows Heavy is a big treasure in a small package. Even though it takes some effort, the reward is worth it. I hope that it is just the beginning.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Inspired by the fairytale The Little Mermaid, this novella is about the enduring power of love in a macabre but beautiful setting. Forget everything you think you know about this story because it features a plague doctor, a cult, and bloodthirsty children. Cassandra Khaw's writing is masterful and every word has a purpose, making this a captivating read.

This was a very graphic horror novella. I liked the aspect of mermaids being evil and fighting back against evil men.

Having read Nothing But Blackened Teeth I went into this book excited yet unsure what to expect. I didn’t even read the description, I just requested it because I was so eager to read it. Khan has such a unique style of writing that just makes me fall in love. She is hard to compare to any other horror author, she just fits into her own category. I tell people if you like unique horror authors I recommend T. Kingfisher and Cassandra Khaw because both are unique authors that write horror but make it palatable.

Khaw creates a unique world in The Salt Grows Heavy that incorporates fantasy, mystery, horror, and suspense. It also has a bit of historical fiction feel to it like the world COULD be within our own but is so outrageous that, then again, it couldn’t possibly. A marvelous addition to her title list and one I will highly recommend.

I LOVED everything about this book. The horror aspect, the relationship between the mermaid and the plague doctor, the writing. It was so good!

A mermaid and a plague doctor find a disturbing little village of children who play hunter and hunted for their three "saints".

Pros:
✅ delivers on the horror! Very graphic body horror and creepy atmosphere
✅ the writing was very good but it also has a con...
✅ although, I could not describe to you the setting of this book, the atmosphere was strong
✅ it's got that fever dream greatness if that is what you like.

Cons:
❌ the author did sound like she swallowed a thesaurus.
❌ the plot. I mean, we're supposed to have the mermaid who has murdered her husband and destroyed his kingdom, which is epic AF, but we get very little on that. Instead, she meets this plague doctor which is a bit unclear how and why, and they discover these weird ass doctors who use children for their own gain, but like... why? I get that the whole point of this book is to be very... cryptic and dark, kind of like a fever dream, but I still feel like it lacked a little something to make it great.

I didn't dislike this book, I actually quite enjoyed it, but I don't think it'll really stick with me.

Just absolutely fucking nauseating and chilling - it's so good. The prose is the star of the show here, but that doesn't take away from how compelling the characters and plot are. I can't go into detail without giving anything away, but if you're interested in a single thing the blurb puts forward, please check this out.

I consider Cassandra Khaw to be the most intelligent horror writer working today. The way she crafts her stories with precision is a gift, and her latest work, The Salt Grows Heavy, is an absolute gem.

Our mermaid narrator, and her Plague Doctor companion encounter a strange village, where young people are butchered in the pursuit of eternal life. The tribe is manipulated by three “saints”, who resemble a barbaric Greek chorus. The Plague Doctor is strangely keen to free these young people, and their mermaid bride endeavors to assist. But this is a bleak fairytale, and escape never comes easily.

I have seen Khaw’s previous work dismissed as “purple prose”. But Khaw’s writing is never needlessly flamboyant. She challenges the reader by using heightened language to contribute to the sense of unease. By creating a world that is not entirely comfortable and familiar, Khaw firmly consumes the dedicated reader. Patience and repeated readings bring great rewards.

The Salt Grows Heavy is a perfect length to read in one sitting. I would recommend carving out time and focus to truly appreciate this novella. It is bleak, but beautiful.

Cassandra Khaw is an incredibly original voice in horror. <i>The Salt Grows Heavy</i> is a modern fable told in 4 parts (3 days and an epilogue). I wish I had read this book in one sitting because I think I would have liked it more. I was reading it in fits and starts, and with a thin plot and a lot of description, it made it difficult to follow. It's a novella, so easily read in one sitting, and I'll read it again once the book comes out.

Khaw uses a lot of high-level vocabulary throughout the novel. I didn't like it at first because it jarred against the base description of eating and viscera. However, I started to like that more as I continued reading precisely because it was jarring. It adds to the unease of the novella.

The story is unique and strange, and I'm excited to read more from this author.

Well, this was very strange. Sort of fantasy, fairy tale, science fiction, and horror with lots of body horror. The plot is impossible to tell as I really don't understand it completely. However, the themes are how love can last through hard times and what someone will do for love. I didn't think I liked it at first but the more I read the more I had to keep reading. I liked the end. Still, very strange.

The Salt Grows Heavy is a short yet intense and vicious horror love story about a mermaid and a plague doctor trying to navigate their way together through an unsettling wasteland. Khaw's prose is somehow both ethereal and dreamy yet highly detailed with all the gore and viscera you could want. The short format throws you right into the story and yet you find yourself immediately hoping these two are able to survive together. It may be punny to say- but I devoured this story.

Tldr: Mermaid body-horror love story. Many regrown thumbs up.