“Carry me through the centuries. I think I’d like to share, just a little, in what immortality is like.” Cassandra Khaw delivers a dark, compelling tale within 100 pages. It's beautifully woven and mystical, filled with morbidly fascinating gore, and maybe even one of the most enchantingly and achingly sweet love stories ever written.This book feels like village folklore, passed down through oral retellings from the village recluse to wide-eyed children, filled with vivid imagery that leaves...

Instead of a review, I'm just going to drop some quotes here.\"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.\" - What's that even supposed to mean?\"The plague doctor tasks themself with everything else: defenses, the replenishment of our rations, the ablutions of my mount.\" - The what of your what now?\"They laugh, the sound refracted by keratin.\" - Huh?\"The two of us move in si...

Reading this SHORT novella felt like that one episode of *Friends* where Joey writes a letter of recommendation for Monica and Chandler, except he used a thesaurus for every. damn. word. making it incomprehensible. Honestly, trying to get through *The Salt Grows Heavy* by Cassandra Khaw felt the same way. While Khaw is undoubtedly talented, the writing here is so overwrought and dense that it becomes a chore to decipher. If you're looking for a straightforward, enjoyable read, this isn't it. Thi...

‘The powerful have always made meals of the small.’Stories have power. They pass on lessons; they can be ‘a means to conquer the terrors of mankind through metaphor,’ as fairy tale expert Jack Zipes wrote, but they can also uphold power and enforce standards. *The Salt Grows Heavy,* the vicious and bewitching body horror novella by Cassandra Khaw, is full of the stuff of myths from mermaids to necromancy. Though in the wake of all the grisly deaths scattering corpses across the narrative, the da...

I liked The Salt Grows Heavy. (I think.)But maybe I didn’t, because I had an urge to put it down more than once while I read it. Only I couldn’t do it, no matter how hard I tried. I had to see how the story ended.If you’ve read Cassandra Khaw before, then you know they like big words and dense prose to the point where it’s sometimes hard to discern their meaning. And you’ll find lots more of it here in their latest novella, a horrific fairy tale about a mermaid and a plague doctor who are travel...

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw is a Blend of Dark Fantasy and Horror!Fairytale or Nightmare?A mermaid mother and her mermaid daughters with sharp teeth like hers, an androgynous plague doctor, ageless children, sinister surgeons, and everyone seems to be ravishingly hungry, in the weirdest way... Are you curious yet?Despite many readers not loving this author's last novella Nothing But Blackened Teeth I did enjoy it. It was atmospheric with characters that were a perfect blend between ri...

This could have been such a phenomenal story, but it felt more like an excuse to show off every obscure word imaginable. It didn't enhance the narrative; instead, it came across as pretentious. The epilogue was the saving grace – I absolutely loved it. The core story of *The Salt Grows Heavy* by Cassandra Khaw is unique, but the constant barrage of elaborate, uncommon vocabulary made it difficult to fully grasp. As far as dark fantasy book reviews go, this one's mixed for me.

I haven't the foggiest idea what I just read, but I rather enjoyed it. Seriously, "The Salt Grows Heavy" by Cassandra Khaw is one wild ride. If you're looking for weird book reviews, this is it. Definitely worth a read if you're into bizarre, unsettling, and beautifully written stories. Khaw's writing is something else!

Check out my interview with Cassandra Khaw.My complete review is published at Grimdark Magazine.Cassandra Khaw’s new novella, The Salt Grows Heavy, is a darkly beautiful nightmare brought to life, which will drive a dagger through your heart and leave you begging for more.The Salt Grows Heavy is narrated by a mermaid who, as in The Little Mermaid, has become mute for her royal human partner. But in Khaw’s tale, the mermaid loses her tongue in a bizarre ritual of autosarcophagy that promotes spou...

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY by Cassandra Khaw (Nothing But Blackened Teeth)Release Date: May 2023General Genre: Adult Horror, Dark FantasySubgenre/Themes: Body Horror, Immortality cult, creepy isolated village, plague doctors, mermaidsWriting Style: Fast pace, intricately detailed, luscious proseWhat You Need to Know: A vengeful mermaid and a plague doctor journey together through unknown territory. They stumble upon some children playing a murderous game and follow them back to an isolated, eerie vill...