Nothing But Blackened Teeth was one of my most disappointing reads last year, but when I saw the cover and read the synopsis for The Salt Grows Heavy I knew I had to give Khaw another chance. A cannibalistic mermaid and plague doctor navigating a post-apocalyptic kingdom? Sign me up.

My main issue is the pretentious and forced language. I normally love learning new words but having to Google the definition of something on every single page became laborious, as it was often empty and unnecessary. Though I struggled to get through it, I still wish the story was longer so it could be fleshed out more.

I did appreciate the dark atmosphere and body horror. There were a handful of times the descriptions made me viscerally uncomfortable and for that I give it 2 stars.

Rolling poetic prose gives this short story (?) an etheral nightmare-esque quality that is both vivid and horrifying. I was drawn in my the langorious language. It's cadence and decadence. The main character was interesting in her absolute lack of humanity (she's a mermaid) and her perspective facinated me.

I liked it academically but not emotionally. However, if you are looking for something truly creepy and out there and you also love endulging in lingustical ballet then I think this book is worth reading.

Amazing book, thrilling, dark, emotional, absolutely gorgeous. There is a gore heavy component, but the book is written in such a way it is beautiful and heart rending. Definitely a book you will sink your teeth into and devour, much like the main character.

Lovely and haunting. Disturbing and intriguing. An insightful story about loving and being loved despite one’s shortcomings and misgivings. The prose is beautiful and, while the content may be terrifying, the feelings it evokes are uplifting.

I expect a spooky time when I pick up a Cassandra Khaw novella. Did not expect to be heavily attached to a carnivorous mermaid and a plague doctor. Finished this in one sitting and instantly wanted to start it again. I can't call it a dark romance but the love is there.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I love a dark fairytale, and this book fed that craving for me. It taps into the darker elements of the original Little Mermaid tale and heightening them, with a cannibalistic twist. It’s dark and gory, but so incredibly well-rendered.

I really did not know what to expect and I was blown away! The writing is incredible and the imagery is gross and raw and bloody. A gen for anyone who loves body horror and (very) dark fairy tales

This is a gorgeously lyrical and gruesome love story interwoven with mythology and I could not love it more! I recommend going in with as little foreknowledge as possible and just savoring the experience.

**Received an eARC via NetGalley**

After reading NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH, I knew I had to read this one as soon as I saw it. Firstly, this book has very beautiful and descriptive language. It can be a bit tough to go through if you aren't used to poetic descriptions, but it's well worth it. I so thoroughly enjoyed the way they stitched together multiple dark fairytales to make one beautifully grim tale. I liked slowly figuring out which stories the characters were drawn from, how they differ from what I've read before, and how they would connect here. It was also interesting consuming the story through the POV of the MC, who is very observant but seemingly dispassionate about everything, though she is always just a moment away from consuming everything herself. There is definitely some body horror and child death, so I recommend reading cautiously if you may be sensitive to those things. Otherwise, I never wanted the story to end.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for allowing me to read The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw!!!

I really enjoyed this novella. I think I would also like a longer story about her life in the ocean and with her husband. The love story part was very sweet.

I absolutely adore mermaids, and when I saw the premise of this novella, I was super excited. The story itself is made up of dark fantasy and lots of gore, and I truly enjoyed it. I wish there would have been more backstory on the mermaid herself and maybe a bit more actual mermaid action, but other than that, it was a fantastic read.

The novella is filled to the brim with lots of poetic prose, which can seem a bit overdone at times. I noticed this in other people's reviews as well, but maybe that's just Khaws way of writing. Either way, I enjoyed this short book and would love to see more of this mermaid and her plague doctor

This was dark, gory, atmospheric. It is very short and a fast read, something to pick up more for the nightmare vibes than for the story.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

Don’t be deceived by the the size of this book! It’s but a tiny thing that packs a major punch. Filled with dark gothic folklore this book will keep you curious and engaged throughout. The point of view is so refreshing!

This is my first Cassandra Khaw book and definitely won’t be my last. The characters in this book were intriguing and definitely let the pace of the short novella going. A lot of body horror and the descriptions were haunting…beautiful too? This book was great.

4.5/5 Stars

TL;DR - A gorgeously-written novella that is short and anything but sweet. Creepy, evocative, and wildly gory, this story takes a fairytale and turns it into a nightmare, one full of heart (and many other organs!). At it’s core a love story and an exploration of resilience, as awe-inspiring as it is stomach-turning.

Big thanks to Tor Publishing Group/Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review!

‘The Salt Grows Heavy’ by Cassandra Khaw is a retelling of the classic fairytale ‘The Little Mermaid’, or, rather, a telling of the aftermath, after the mermaid’s monstrous daughters devour their royal father and all of his kingdom. It's told from the perspective of the mermaid herself, whose name we never learn, and her enigmatic companion, a plague doctor who also never shares their name. We follow them from the ruins of their devoured kingdom, up into northern lands where children run wild and deathless ‘saints’ rule over them.

First off, this book is GORY. Major body horror going on here - people and their parts get eaten, kids get murdered, people are subjected to vivisection, and we see all of it in pretty close detail. If you’re squeamish, be warned that this book is absolutely drenched in blood and guts.

That said, the writing is just so gorgeous. Everything really feels like a fairytale, airy and ephemeral, but it’s also subtly insidious in a way that perfectly captures the slow descent into a horror story as the plot progresses. There are a lot of lines about morality, humanity, and existence that are so heavy-hitting that I had to pause to fully let them sink in. So many ideas beautifully and horrifically delivered, and it was a thrill to read.

With only approximately 112 pages, this is a short novella, but it really packs a lot into such a small space. The plot moves along at a comfortable pace until the end when it picks up, and there are a few twists along the way that I really enjoyed.

The mermaid and her plague doctor are interesting characters, and though we don’t get a lot of time with them, they are still compelling to see in action. The love story is a little rushed, but given the length of the story and the fact that it’s essentially a fairytale, I can buy it. Their relationship is sweet, and I can see why they would fall for each other in the brief time we have with them. Also, big thumbs up for the non-binary rep!

If I had to find fault with this novella, it would be that there’s a lot of really fancy words, and it made reading a bit of a chore. Yes, I learned a lot of new words, and I can see a case for it lending itself well to the style of the story, but it was just a bit too wordy for my taste sometimes. If you’re a big word connoisseur and/or a hardcore logophile, you’ll love this book.

Final Thoughts:

I would consider this novella a “No Plot, Just Vibes” story, and I mean that as a compliment. It was a fun little break from longer books, and overall an engaging and enjoyable story. Honestly, it makes me want to seek out more novellas!

I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this book!

Release Date: May 2, 2023
Genre: Fantasy Horror
Themes: Upside down fairytales, blood and guts, ethereal in a good way

"I am a mother of monsters, better than any of my young."

The story begins with our unnamed mermaid narrator basking in the destruction of her husband's kingdom and the consumption of everyone within it. Emboldened by her escape, trapped in her mute human form, and accompanied by an enigmatic plague doctor, she sets out to begin a new chapter of her immortal life.

When they stumble upon a village of vicious children who serve dubious "saints," however, the pair gets mixed up in a gorey tale of macabre magic, attempted rebellion, and the horrific line between creation and destruction, forcing the main character to break the rules that have kept her a prisoner of her own world for so long.

It should be more than clear that this isn't "The Little Mermaid" story most of us know, or even the pessimistic myth from which it originated. Instead, Khaw has built a grim and beautiful mythology that's equal parts poetry and viscera. It's a world of fierce monsters and wanna-be gods. It's grisly and violent, but their command of language is on full display here, and even the most jarring scenes drip with a lusciousness that seems almost unfair for such bloody happenings.

My only complaint around this book - if it can even be called a complaint - is that I wish there was more of it. This novella was a quick read for me at about 90 pages in the ebook version. Khaw does an immense amount with such small real estate, but I would have been more than thrilled to be carried further along on the protagonist's journey through this terrifying, gorgeous world. Which I guess is a long way of saying yes, it really is that good.

For fans of: Admittedly this is my first book by Khaw, so I can't describe where it ranks amongst their prolific work (something I'll be changing in the very near future), but I would happily recommend this book to horror fantasy fans looking for something that feels similar to but is more bloody than Leigh Bardugo's "The Language of Thorns" story collection. Fans of the more supernatural elements of Christopher Buehlman's "Between Two Fires" will appreciate the lushly decrepit world that Khaw has created. I even think that particularly strong-stomached fans of female characters reclaiming their narratives - such as Madeline Miller's "Circe" - may also find themselves satisfied by how Khaw marries mythology and pure rage into a gem of a novella... If they can live with a little eyeball eating.

The verdict: This book is a horror fantasy fan's favorite dessert - it's deliciously rich, complex in all the right ways, and mournfully over before you're ready for it to be. I was intrigued, disgusted, in love, filled with righteous fury, and heartbroken over and over again in 90 pages - an unexpected triumph that few authors could pull off with such grace as Khaw.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for sending an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Cassandra Khaw’s new novella, SALT GROWS HEAVY, is a visceral and blood stained fairytale.

In lyrical prose, we follow a mermaid stolen from the sea and mysterious plague doctor on a journey through the woods that and the unexpected events that lead their tale down a different path.

This novella is filled with dark whimsy and carnage - the kind of tale that I’ve been waiting for. And while it was a bit dense in some parts I throughly enjoyed this eerie fairytale.

Thank you to TorNighfire and NetGalley for the egalley

The thought process of reading this novella:

“Wow ok so she’s a mermaid neat”
—quick kindle dictionary check
“Oh her daughters ate a village? Mmmkay”
—another dictionary check
“Who TF is this doctor?”
—dictionary check
“IS THIS A CULT?!”
—multiple dictionary checks
“TF AM I READING AND WHY DO I LIKE IT??”
—more dictionary checks


I’ve never felt dumber but more entranced by a story before. Nightmare meets perfect prose meets fairy tale, this one reads like a wander through the woods. The deep, dark, cannibal-ridden woods.

You know what I’ve not read enough about in the horror genre? Mermaids!

Cassandra Khaw has delivered a horror novella that is seeped in folklore, cults, and vengeance. I love that Khaw has taken the story we all know about a certain mermaid and flipped it into something you could imagine Guillermo del Toro putting on the screen. Khaw’s writing is so vivid and imaginative that the reader can’t help being consumed by this story. There were parts where I really wanted to look away, but I just couldn’t stop wanting to know what was going to happen next. I did find myself googling a few terms here and there that were words like bezoar, that I’m not familiar with. It didn’t take away from the story and if anything served to continue peaking my interest.

I think it’s safe to say that Khaw is the only writer I know of who could somehow manage to sneak a love story into this novella. When the hints first started flying I thought no way and then like magic, they made it come to life in the most natural and fitting of ways, completely authentic to the rest of this story.

Bonus: This novella has possibly one of my favorite lines ever…
“It is always interesting to see how often women are described as ravenous when it is the men who, without exception, take without thought of compensation.”

A huge thank you to Tor Nightfire for my gifted copy!

I feel like calling The Salt Grows Heavy a twisted, gory, horror take on The Little Mermaid would be such a disservice to what it truly is. It is an examination of the cruelness of the very real world backdropped against the whispers of an achingly familiar fairy tale. Khaw doesn't just go back to the original body of work's darkness and tragedy, they bury deep into its marrow—slicing deep into it, sucking it out, and serving it up on each deliciously horrific page.

Khaw's ability to put such deeply nuanced exploration of the human—and not so human—soul and psyche in a short novella astounds me. I finished it in the wee hours of the morning, bombarding my family's group chat with my raving of how it feels as if this novella altered my brain chemistry. There was the me before I read it and who I am now after I have carved a place for it in my soul.

The Salt Grows Heavy is one of my most favorite stories I've ever read, finding odd companionship with Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Frankenstein, The Outsiders, and Their Eyes Were Watching God. All stories that transformed me and helped to mold me as a person. The Salt Grows Heavy earned it's blood-soaked crown amongst them.

This tale is not for the faint of heart, and I highly encourage you to review content and trigger warnings.