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This book was truly disgusting, as it was meant to be, and the prose was beautiful. I had to look up words I was unfamiliar with. I enjoyed the challenge. The novella was intriguing and gross. Perfect for Halloween if you want to fear mermaids.

TW: very graphic, includes eye stuff

How can a book be so gross and so sweet at the same time? *sniffle* 5 ⭐️

This one was less than 100 pages, but it used every last one to full effect. Horror mixed with longing mixed with fantasy. Very good. I have another, longer, one by this author and I very much look forward to it.

@puddlejumper has shared the author pick for Decembers #queerbc Let @puddlejumper know if you want to join in!
original post :
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2804954

hopefully this novella is better than “nothing but blackened teeth”. #horror

edit: finished the novella in about a hour. 2/5. Interesting plot, but good god someone needs to rip away their thesaurus. “unhandsomeness” instead of ugly, “phalanges” instead of fingers, and so on. there is a bonus short story (like 4 pages) at the end that I liked more than the novella #mermaids #bodyhorror

I really liked the story and the eerie grotesque atmosphere of this novella. It is like a mix of Hans Christian Anderson & Edgar Allen Poe. What was mildly annoying is the almost elitist vocabulary inserted through out - which was part of why I DNF‘d this author‘s other book. However, I did like the story so 4⭐️.

Maybe it's not a book for everyone, but I really liked it!

"How men fear things that can't be quieted." In "The Salt Grows Heavy", by Cassandra Khaw

"“Eventually, this was all that remained. A membranous sac of cells and nerves, a sampling of brain, enough raw material with which to grow new organs, new limbs. I wonder sometimes if this consciousness is the same, if I am the same, or if I am a mere fabrication, strung together by circumstances.”
“There is nothing wrong with being a monster.” Their mouth bends.
“You always know the right things to say.”"
In The Salt Grows Heavy, Cassandra Khaw

"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 savior." In" The Salt Grows Heavy" by Cassandra Khaw

This was poetically written —as poetic as a darkly gore-y fairytale adjacent can be, I suppose closer to the Grimm intent —but the flowery prose hid a lot in terms of plot advance.

I love this book. I‘m so glad it was my first read of the year (I annotated a copy for my friend for Christmas). It‘s just such a lovely, gory little story. 😊

4⭐️ this is a strange, brutal and bloody retelling of the little mermaid. It‘s not a book that‘s going to be for everybody, but it does the job and being somewhat creepy and making you ill. It‘s bizarre and this authors writing can be, while very very poetic, unnecessarily sesquipedalian.

I LOVE this book with my whole heart. What does it say about me that my top two favorite books are about killer mermaids? 🤔 Anyway, the plague doctor and the mermaid are so cute, and I hope they live happily ever after. 🖤🖤

Thank you @Nessavamusic for this fun #creepychristmas swap package! I love the bookmark and choice of book 🎉😘
Thank you @teebe for hosting!

A mermaid whose children have devoured everyone in her prince‘s kingdom will leave with a plague doctor in search of new places, new people, new freedom. They run into a cult of “saints” that is made up of murderous children. I loved this. It even takes a turn into, dare I say, romance? A Khaw talent is that she can intaglio meaning and tenderness onto moments of gore, viscera. I also appreciate her vocabulary. Every time I read her I feel l👇🏼

I had to go snack after this. I love her writing.

Love the endpapers more than the cover but enjoying my run of reading books that are in boxes that are fresh in to the library.

This is kind of a Little Mermaid retelling - except the mermaid was taken out of the ocean against her will by a human prince and made his bride - her freedom comes with the birth of their offspring which wreaks devastation on the kingdom. She flees with the only other survivor, a plague doctor… and well shit gets real.

this is so different to the first Cassandra Khaw book I read (I love it)

It did spawn quite the convo for book club. Only two in the group managed to finish it, but we all disliked it for various reasons. As this author might say, “The style of verbiage afflicted our orbital sockets.”

Thank you so much, @TheBookHippie I love everything you sent! The illustration on the journal is amazing and obviously you know how much I live Frankenstein! I‘m teChing right now and can‘t wait to bring it in to class to add to my collection of Franky academia and publications! The Salt Grows Heavy looks great too. Can‘t wait to dive in with a cup of classic black tea. The best!!! 🎃🎃🎃
#HauntedHollowSwap
#HHS

Remarkably written, with beautiful prose and lush imagery. I quite enjoyed this.

A strange gory little book. I have a hard time with novellas because they can scrimp on characterization, but as this is a kind of fairy tale, it seemed fitting that the characters are more types than not. Not that they're not unique: we have a teeth baring mermaid whose daughters have eaten the kingdom and a nonbinary "plague doctor" who is more Frankenstein's monster than human. Full of body horror. I can't say I've ever ready anything like it.

Who else loves a dark fairy tale retelling?

bookriot.com/twisted-fairy-tale-retellings/

At just 106 pages, this novella is a quick read. It might actually take longer to figure out how to describe it most effectively. There‘s a mermaid (& she isn‘t your Disney mermaid), there‘s a plague doctor, a band of murderous children (but if you call them that they get very upset) and a trio of, shall we say, surgeons who like to conduct experiments. This book is dark, visceral, horrific, & entertaining if that‘s your thing. A good read.

Out and about with today‘s portable reading.

#ReadingOnTheTrain #OutAndAbout

This is a creepy story about a mermaid and a plague doctor who fall in love.
It's a small book, so it's a quick read.

#recommendedbyafriend

" 'Do your people believe in an afterlife?'

I shake my head. What need is there for such platitudes when you are born to yourself time and again? Like a story, we are the summation of our incarnations, a spirit refracted through a billion lives. We are our pasts, our futures, tethered by the flavour of our sisters' flesh."

@AmyG thank you for my #FallingForFallSwap. I am excited to start reading, and using my new book light (I have really been needing one). Happing reading all. #FFFS 🍁

Another solid novella by Khaw. It seems odd to say that she writes body horror beautifully. This is a retelling of the Little Mermaid after she finds her Prince, except this mermaid has teeth. 4.5 stars
#RushAThon
@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

Next up.

I may have been to a bookstore again ... leaving tomorrow so that's it for me lol

Body horror!!!

"With its second exhalation, the wind brings a storm, a rippling diamantine Ragnarök, strangling the taiga in salt."

(The photo is more fog than storm, but I didn't have anything closer in my camera roll.)

This is an odd little novel. There's a ton of body horror stuff---so if you plan to try this one, be aware of that going in---but it doesn't feel gratuitous. Khaw uses the juxtaposition of the characters' physicality and their inner lives---their souls, their spark of divinity---to make the love story that unfolds more vivid. In addition to this, the language is beautiful (despite an overuse of the term "diamantine").

Book mail!❤️

4.5 stars. Great retelling of the Little Mermaid and what happens after the wedding. I love this world where humans are not the only sentient species and they all coexist, though not always peacefully.

🎧 Fairytale retelling - Little Mermaid.

She‘s no Disney Princess!!

There‘s a plague doctor, body horror, creepy children & a mute mermaid princess. You‘d think I‘d love this!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I really wanted to love this but I honestly don‘t even know what I listened to. It‘s like the true story of The Little Mermaid but after the events we think we know and she‘s on some journey with a plague doctor into what I can only imagine is the dark world the original writers of fairy tales wrote about. It felt like an interlude between 2 stories and not a story itself. Eloquent writing though! 🌟🌟

A gruesome take on the little mermaid. Very beautifully written and sweet at times for all the eating of body parts. Highly recommend if you are looking for a dark fairytale.

This book is due back at the library soon, so it's my current read. Plus I'm in the mood for a scary fairy tale.

An epic horror mermaid tale!

My back hurts, so I'm sitting on the couch and reading and basically nothing else. Mermaid goes chomp.

The Little Mermaid, but make it a feminist revenge story. Mix it with The Island of Doctor Moreau and Lord of the Flies. Add one agender plague doctor. Make it gory. No, gorier. But with poetic language and a lot of words that people will have to look up.
I wish this was longer. I would have liked more world building and more time for things to play out. But brevity is a fairytale trait. My tolerance for gore was exceeded, but it fit the story.

I really enjoyed this one. You have a cannibalistic little mermaid traveling with a plague doctor, and then they meet like the children of the corn and their gods. It's nuts and beautifully written 🖤
#NoShameReadathon2023 #Booktokmademereadit @Nessavamusic #ReadySetRead #feelinginthetitle @Clwojick

“karmic debt is a contrivance of despair”

The writing was fantastic. The relationship between the two main characters was touching. I liked it.