This was absolutely a gory and horrific fairy tale in all of the best ways. I was interested from the first page and this story took me through a snow covered taiga into a fantastical world full of nightmares and violence. I've always been a fan of fairy tales and I thoroughly enjoyed reading one that did not hold back on the horror. I will have to say though that because of the way this story was written it was often confusing to read and sometimes felt like a chore trying to decipher exactly what the author was meaning. I still highly recommend this, just know going into it that it is has a unique writing style and complex wording.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw is a horror novella heavy laden with prose. The story is short and a bit hard to follow. It is interesting to use such beautiful descriptive language for such horrendous acts. Very heavy on the body horror and mutilation of people including children. This was an interesting read, but it left be feeling confused.

I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but I was ready to take the plunge the second I saw this book. The Salt Grows Heavy is a gloriously grotesque dark fantasy retelling three fairy tales: The Little Mermaid, How Some Children Played at Slaughtering, and The Three Army Surgeons, the latter two far less famous than the former. Khaw weaves these stories together to create a new fairy tale, one of cruelty, greed, and love.

Khaw’s mermaid is beautiful and vicious, all teeth and hunger, an angler fish dragged from the deep. I absolutely loved this portrayal of mermaids as a monstrous force of nature. The story of the mermaid here is much closer to Hans Christian Anderson’s original grim story while still embracing the romance of later iterations; it was a phenomenal retelling. This story is less creepy but instead elicits shock and awe.

I also have to mention that I appreciated the nod to the witch bride from These Deathless Bones, a short story that I absolutely adored. I had wished for more of the witch bride, and my wish came true! This is the third novella that I’ve read by Cassandra Khaw, and they never cease to amaze me with their gorgeous prose. Cassandra is easily one of the most creative writers publishing today, and I will read any of their books without question. The Salt Grows Heavy is one of their best works yet.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this fantastically dark book early!

I love dark fairy tale retelling as much as anyone these days, but sometimes I worry that the retelling and dark fairy tale market is a bit over-saturated at the moment. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by this creepy tale. It is truly unlike anything out there at the moment, as a mermaid and plague doctor (quite an unlikely pair) team up and face challenges both external and internal. The darkness simmers below the surface in this tale until the plot reaches its excellent climax that I, as a new horror reader, did not see coming.

Take note, that this story is not for the faint-hearted or those of weak stomach—at times, this story is darker than the synopsis makes it appear. But, if you are a fan of dark fantasy and horror that sheds light on our own nature, then this is definitely a book to pick up.

This was stunning. I was so immersed in this this world and it was so raw and emotional and lovely all at the same time. If you are a fan of gothic horror, this one is for you.

I figured out why the salt is so heavy… It’s because it is being weighed down by a bunch of unnecessarily pretentious words!!! I’m so torn on what rating to even give this novella, the story itself is fascinating and such a good twist on the Little Mermaid and it’s also giving Frankenstein vibes. However the authors word choices themselves were killing me! The SAT level vocabulary takes away from a smooth and immersive reading experience, I was constantly being taken out of the story because I had to google a word every other paragraph, sometimes every other sentence!! Please just put the thesaurus down! No one knows what paillettes are, but I promise we know what sequins are, you want to say very sparkly got it! Where were the beta readers and the editors? I feel like I can’t be the only one that felt so clueless reading this… but maybe they’re just smarter than me.

It took me 3 days to read a total of 97 pages, and I had to look up 54 words!! Most of them are so obscure and arcane like am I supposed to just know all of these??
I know it feels like I'm just completely hating on this book but the crazy thing is that I actually liked it!! I wish the bonus chapter (after the acknowledgements) which is really just the prologue had been longer, and included at the start because I do want to know more.

Ughhh 3 Stars, but it’s complicated!

Thank you so much Netgalley and TorNightfire for the digital ARC!

My Thoughts:

My Flabber is Gasted!

Did CK really need to go the hard?!

The answer is a resounding YES!

I enjoyed Nothing but Blackened Teeth so much that this next one from Cassandra Khaw was immediately on my radar. Her writing style is rich and thick and sets the scene like no other. It's out there. It's a little weird. It's macabre. It's different. I love it. It draws you in. I hung on to every word. A solid horror novella worth your time.

Phew! Cassandra Khaw's prose is always impeccable. This is a book you'll want to sink your teeth into. It's somehow both delicious and disgusting all at once, and I mean that in the best way. Beautiful, horrible, and heartfelt. Would not recommend reading while eating.

Cassandra Khaw is one of the most skilled and exciting writers on the horror scene today. With past works, Khaw combines folklore with dense, poetic writing and dark folklore. With flawed and imperfect characters both undergoing and causing suffering, it feels like their previous works were simply practice for the masterpiece that is The Salt Grows Heavy.

Combining dark fantasy with the post-apocalyptic, the story is told from the point of view of one of folklore’s most ubiquitous creations: a mermaid. A being who acknowledges her myriad forms through different cultures, the mermaid has murdered her noble husband and burned his kingdom to ash. On the run, she is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with their own inner darkness. The two form a deep bond, discovering a village full of ageless, bloodthirsty children and those who control them.

The Salt Grows Heavy would collapse under the weight of the magnificent prose and beautiful language if not for Khaw's skill with the cast. Khaw provides a luxurious feast of character depth through the mermaid and the plague doctor. These are two people who need one another, but also two very dangerous and very disturbed individuals who will stop at nothing to survive. But they wish to survive together.

With little page time, Khaw constructs a compelling narrative out of well-trod fairytales and breaks them out to reveal the rot at the center. The carnage is vividly rendered, but never does Khaw forget this is a story of people. The mermaid and her plague doctor are dazzlingly, disturbingly human.

The Salt Grows Heavy is an enthralling book, a reminder that fairy tales still have teeth.

Holy hell I devoured this. I consumed every inch of this book and it left a hollow pit in my stomach longing for more.

I was skeptical prior to starting. I wasn’t a fan of Nothing But Blackened Teeth. But THIS!! This novella was divine.

The story follows a mermaid shortly after birthing two children and her journey with a plague doctor following escape from a vicious husband.

The depth to this story, I became so attached to the characters and their story, their development and their relationship. This is something I normally struggle with with novellas. Not this one. I loved every second of their story, and I crave more.

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The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw is possibly one of the prettiest but most gruesome books I've read. Khaw's writing is lyrical, verging on the purple side, but it works to enhance the horror of the scenes they paint. From opening the book by describing how a house looks like the empty bones of a body, to the dark and atmospheric painting of the world in which our characters are traveling. Khaw manages to show us both the horror and beauty of what's around.

The story itself is concise. A former queen, think a twisted Little Mermaid after she bore the Prince children and they turned out to be the horrors that she truly is, and a Plague Doctor are leaving the devastated realm her children destroyed and traveling to another. They find themselves in a village of children that is controlled and 'cared for' by a trio of Saints. We see the reflection of what violence and the search for immortality can do to a person and the victims it creates. Our mermaid is silenced, through violence perpetrated upon her by her husband, and over the course of the story she finds her voice again and becomes the master of her own story and heart.

As I stated the horror in this is intense, I wouldn't recommend this for the faint of heart. From a description to eating an eyeball to the sight of someone's insides leaking out their front, Khaw cuts no corners. My only complaint, in truth, has nothing to do with that. I almost never say this but the epilogue on this felt a bit too much, and unneeded. A tidy and sweet ending to a brutal and visceral story. Though I'm giving this one a high mark, I do wish that last little bit had been left to the reader to decide.

5 out of 5 Plague Masks

*MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!*

This was a weird book. I think that overall I enjoyed it, but it was fucking weird.

So, basically a mermaid falls in love with a plague doctor, and things go incredibly sideways for most of the middle of the book. It had some very Lord of the Flies/Peter Pan lost boys vibes, with this group of mostly pre-teen boys living in the wild with these three “Saints” who have shown them the way to everlasting life. It’s incredibly violent and traumatic, and fairly upsetting.

Despite the large amounts of violence and gore in this book, the ending was actually quite tender and lovely.

Cassandra Khaw is really writing some unique stories, and while they may not be entirely for me, I really appreciate what she’s doing and that she’s having success writing these sometimes rather bizarre stories.

If you liked Blackened Teeth, there’s no doubt you’ll enjoy The Salt Grows Heavy, which is a strange combination of The Little Mermaid meets Frankenstein. It’s not hard to see those Little Mermaid parallels, but this has nothing to do with the Disney tale. No, this is about the kind of mermaid that has sharpened teeth perfect for devouring flesh. Ariel could never.

There are also elements of the Frankenstein story here, and Khaw does not spare us the details. With each cut of the knife and prod of the needle, we experience the pain and euphoria of the saints' experiments. Like in Nothing But Blackened Teeth, the author paints a picture as horrible as it is astonishing. Never have I read such gruesome scenes rendered so elaborately intricate so as to make them almost alluring—except in a Cassandra Khaw book.

There are several morals of the story here, including what defines being a monster—as well as embracing that darkness inside of you. Surprisingly—but fittingly—this is also a love story of sorts, and I ultimately found the ending immensely satisfying. Though The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw won’t be for everyone, I encourage anyone who’s interested in horror and mythology to explore what this book has to offer. You’ll certainly never look at mermaids the same way again.

This little mermaid retelling is definitely not what I was expecting. In this retelling, or rather gruesome, fan-written sequel, the mermaid is reimagined as a bloodthirsty creature of the deep. This story also has elements of Lord of the Flies and Frankenstein. Classic horror fans would enjoy this. This was definitely thrilling and delightfully disturbing, but I found the narrative somewhat disjointed and difficult to follow. Khaw's vocabulary is incredibly sophisticated. Many times, I found myself running to dictionary.com, which definitely pulled me out of the story. Still, this was imaginative, creative, and fun.

Thanks to netgalley and tor for an arc in exchange for an honest review

“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 mermaid has just ravaged her husband’s kingdom, when she takes up with a local plague doctor. They happen upon a strange village filled with children and three surgeons that call themselves Saints. A childish game goes awry when the children start killing each other. The children reassure the mermaid and doctor that there’s no problem, the children have to die to be resurrected by the Saints.

Cassandra Khaw writes *very* interesting books. I had trouble reading The All-Consuming World, Nothing but Blackened Teeth was a solid four-star read, and I absolutely fell in love with The Salt Grows Heavy.

It’s no secret that not only do I love mermaid stories, I love revenge stories. Even better when they’re queer. Even better when they’re bloody. Khaw adds a little of each to this novella to create something truly outstanding. The language they use is often poetic and intense, which really sucked me into this story. As often with novellas, there can be a feeling the story is rushed or not flushed out enough, but that’s not a problem here. I think the story is appropriately paced with a satisfying ending.

If you are hesitant to read Khaw, please give The Salt Grows Heavy a chance. I am glad I still have a backlog of their work to read. I’d love to see how their writing has evolved over time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the chance to read this advanced review copy.

CW for blood, body horror, violence, gore, death, fire, child death, grief, and animal death (minor)

4.5 stars - rounded up to 5 stars

I adored this short book way more than I expected I would when I decided to start it. Cassandra Khaw was able to weave a dark and mesmerizing fairytale like the original Grimm Fairy Tales. While a lot of this story had gruesome imagery her writing style was beautiful and lyrical weaving a beautiful image of a mermaid and a plague doctor on a journey together.

This book touches on dark side of mermaids and shows this mermaid, now on the run, escaping from her royal partner. She is not able to speak when she first interacts with the plague doctor and eventually you find out aspects of both of their backgrounds. The trauma of their lives bringing them together as they approach a town of blood thirsty children and their “saints” that protects them.

If you like dark fairy tales full of gruesome imagery and a strange accompaniment, I recommend this for you. It is also short and sweet so it is a quick and easy read!

A beautiful love story that is juxtaposed with a horrifying setting full of gore and cannibalism. This story was enthralling.

A very different outcome to the Little Mermaid tale. This mermaid lost everything when taken in by her prince. However, this story begins with her final acts of vengeance brought on by her bloodthirsty children as she leaves with her plague doctor.

They come across boys playing violently and follow them to a ramshackle town run by three saints. They have a very deceptive hold on these children, controlling them through fear and a god-like presence. The plague doctor and mermaid prepare to destroy these men before they can hurt more children.

This story is gross, and yet absolutely poignant and full of the most savory, lyrical writing, and more than anything, this story is full of a strong love and devotion between two people.

Definitely recommend this!

Out May 2, 2023!

I am a huge fan of "Nothing But Blackened Teeth" and this book will be taking a place right next to. It's dark and discomforting because it asks the readers to look at the dark parts of themselves. For that reason alone, I find great comfort in the story.

Unhappily ever after, this story starts where they usually end. More vivid imagery and vignettes than plot, Khaw revels in the gross and unspeakable. The situations are terrible but not terrifying. A good read for when you're in that spooky mood.

*3 stars but more like a 3 1/2 stars.*

This was definitely one of the most unique books i’ve read this year. I’d previously only read one other book by Cassandra Khaw and it was Nothing But Blackened Teeth. It was an okay story but it needed a bit more character development. This book is like the complete opposite. It is EXTREMELY detailed in more ways than one.

First off, the actual writing style of this. WOW. So complex, a lot of words that I don’t use on a day-to-day basis. You might need a dictionary while you read this. However, Khaw strings together long, beautiful pieces of writing. Her descriptions of gore and trauma are beautifully detailed. Sometimes, it does feel like she adds complicated words to some parts for no other reason than for it to sound fancy. Overall though, really nice.

Unfortunately, the actual plot of the story is what fell a little flat for me. This book has A LOT of different things going on. This book has everything that would have me excited: mermaids, plague doctors, cults, and body horror. However, i feel like the book should have been expanded into a bigger novel. Apparently, this is in the same universe as another piece of writing by Khaw. It’s possible I may have missed out on some background info before reading this book. It was just so many good ideas but I wanted so much more information from them. I loved the incorporation of mermaids and the reader is teased with bits of history about the character. I would have loved a whole book just on her and her story. Same thing in the case of the plague doctor. Their backstory is fascinating but I almost wished it was a separate story. I did enjoy the two characters’ relationship. It really has you rooting for them at the end.

Overall, I liked this but it’s not a love for me. I just wanted more information and more backstory. If you go into this for horror, the actual horror scenes are great. A lot of body horror and it is very detailed.

Once again, thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital ARC of this.