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.

With gorgeous writing, I wanted to be full on obsessed with The Salt Grows Heavy. Every piece of it felt like a book which would call to my soul. And while I think there are some truly compelling elements here, I would have just liked pieces within the middle to have more space to lean into the story. I adored the imagery, the ending felt a bit loose and lacked the emotional weight.
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This book had me on the edge of my seat, knocked me off my chair and put me to bed.
A fairytale turned on its head, I've never read anything like it. I was fascinated by the body horror so vividly described, the world building within only 100 pages and the characters' richness in depth.

Khaw once again shows how wonderful a writer they are. Every sentence a type of poetry and it spells out a beautifully horrific story. Simply, a mermaid and a plague doctor go on a journey together. This novella has it all for being so short and sweet, in a bloody way. While complete, I could see this being turned into a larger story and I’d be happy to read it.

I was sent the ebook from the publisher based on past reading experiences. This book was so far from what I usually could get in to. I don't read a lot of high fantasy, but this book had some moments where I was just confused with what was even happening. The writing style is beautiful though. I made it 25% into this book before I decided I wasn't invested enough to follow along.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Take what you normally think of when it comes to mermaids and throw it away. This has nothing to do with cute little sea creatures, it's dark and gory, and beautiful. I'm always left feeling a little "wtf" when I read Cassandra Khaw but I enjoy it every time.

Although this book was only around a 100 pages it felt like it was much longer. I think that it could have actually been much longer if the author would haven't have been so repetitive. It really bogged the story down. With that taken in account the story itself was pretty good. I do wish that it would have been longer than it was so things could have been expanded.

I absolutely loved this dark reimagining mashup of the original little mermaid fairytale and Frankenstein. The pairing of a mermaid and a Plague Doctor was brilliant and new. The prose was elegant and captivating, holding my interest until the very end. The horror elements were intricately woven, with elements of
Dystopian and body horror.

Let me begin with this- Khaw's previous book, Nothing But Blackened Teeth, did not end up to my liking. The premise of The Salt Grows Heavy was just enough up my alley that I desperately wanted to give Khaw another chance. I am so glad that I did.

Moody and vicious, the tale told out in this novella about a plague doctor and a mermaid going on a journey together delves into folklore, belief and the cruelty of humans. But also love.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Summary:

You know how the story goes – a prince comes across a mermaid, falls in love with her, and brings her to his castle, where they live happily ever after. This is not that story. The prince is not charming. He is, in fact, merely a monster in human form.

As for the mermaid, she and her daughters have teeth and aren't afraid to use them. After devouring the kingdom, they have little else to do by roaming the lands in the company of a mysterious plague doctor.

My Review:

If you're looking for a dark version of the Little Mermaid, full of body horror and gore, The Salt Grows Heavy is the book for you. In short, Cassandra Khaw has done it again – she's written a spine-tingling horror novel within a complex world. Her shockingly compelling characters make it impossible for readers to look the other way.

I know I'm probably biased here, as Cassandra Khaw is one of my favorite horror authors, but I sincerely loved The Salt Grows Heavy. It was a mixture of many elements, most of which I didn't expect. It made for a delightful (and morbid) reading experience, to say the least!

Whenever I thought I had a hold of the narrative, something seemed to change, and it all slipped away. Despite this, the world and plot made sense, with every turn clicking into place. In a way, I almost wish the story continued, even though I agree it stopped at the perfect ending point.

Highlights:
Mermaid Horror
LGBTQ+
Dark Retelling of the Little Mermaid

Trigger Warnings:
Graphic Details
Body Horror
Child & Animal Death

Body ody ody... horror. To the max. 😳 Honestly that's pretty much what I remember from this book. It was very disturbing and grisly, not a book for anyone who is even remotely squeamish. Honestly, I'm not sure if I even understand the premise of the book completely (Was it horror, romance, fairy tale?... I'm going with all of the above) but, I'm pretty sure, I enjoyed it nonetheless. 😂
🖤
Sometimes the writing felt clunky and hard to get through because of the word choices (I swear I was looking up definitions every few minutes). This took me out of the story and made it harder to really submerge myself into it. When I was immersed, the atmosphere was enjoyably dark and the characters were frankly terrifying, their actions downright horrific at times.
🖤
I'm still confused about some things but overall I thought this was a pretty good book. If you can stomach it, it is a fairly quick read and, without giving too much away, does have a semi-happy ending.

I just didn't understand the point of anything in this book. How did the Plague Doctor and Mermaid meet? What is going on in the weird world they are living in? I just could not care about the characters because you are not really told anything about them that makes you want to care. And this is not an "unlikeable" character, which I am fine with. I just couldn't give a damn one way or the other. The only redeeming factor is that it's a very short read and the writing itself flows well even if it doesn't have me engaged in the story.

Khaw is certainly not short of imagination, but the story feels incomplete somehow. Though the backbone and conceit are wild, I never believied the chemistry of it's two leads, and the climax comes too quickly. With some cuts, it would have made a solid short story, or a nice novel with some expansions, but as it is it feels either overstuffed or incomplete.