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The Salt Grows Heavy is a novella by Cassandra Khaw that the publisher Titan Books released on May 2nd, 2023. (I swear half the books I read are from Titan Books.)
The Salt Grows Heavy follows a Plague Doctor and mermaid-being as they flee their previous kingdom and come across a group of children in the middle of nowhere. After watching the children acting weird, the pair follow them, and everything unfolds in a nightmare.
The Salt Grows Heavy is either a The Little Mermaid retelling or has The Little Mermaid vibes.
EVALUATION
Genre
The Salt Grows Heavy fits the genre of short horror quite well. The imagery during the middle to end portion of the story was particularly graphic, or at least conjured up muscle-twinging images and reactions.
Prose
Similar to Nothing But Blackened Teeth, another book by Cassandra Khaw I have read, the writing style felt overly technical and ‘fancy’, if you get what I mean. There was too much use of higher-knowledge words where more common words and phrases would have given the same effect. It could be that the writing style is aimed at a mature adult audience, which is fair. However, despite being an adult, I prefer simpler language as I think it allows for a wider audience, but also, I don’t really want to be challenged while reading for pleasure.
The writing did pull me out of the story, and instead of seeing the story in my mind like a film, I just read the words and pieced the images together between reading.
Characters
There were really only two main characters: the Mermaid and the Plague Doctor. Neither had names.
The Mermaid was interesting in her backstory and physically. Honestly, I want to talk about how interesting I found her, but I never really got to experience her. She was interesting, but it was a new way of describing a mermaid that I hadn’t heard of before.
The Plague Doctor was okay. They were the mysterious, hard-to-crack nut sidekick and the knowledgeable one of the pair. Again, they were okay, and it was a short story, so delving too much into the characters isn’t something that can happen.
I think the reason I can’t say much about them is because I didn’t like the writing style.
Pacing & Worldbuilding
The pacing was okay. It ebbed and flowed nicely. There wasn’t any point where I felt like it was dragging, but there also wasn’t any point where I felt it was so exciting it flew past.
As for worldbuilding, it was very immersive. Very much like Nothing But Blackened Teeth, Khaw impressively builds the world quickly and establishes the rules throughout without it feeling like a major info-dump session.
Plot & Theme
I couldn’t say that I found The Salt Grows Heavy’s ‘gripping’, but it was interesting enough that it kept me reading. The ending itself wasn’t that much. It ended, but it was neither satisfying nor a letdown. The additional story at the end, which was a prequel-type thing, was the most interesting part of the story for me. It focused more on the mermaid’s life in the kingdom, which, after reading the story and only getting hints, was nice. It was more interesting.
Story’s Impact
Honestly, The Salt Grows Heavy was a rough read. Despite only being 125 pages, I forced myself to finish it. I would have left it had it not been the first book read of 2024 and such a short book.
RECOMMENDATION
If you enjoy Cassandra Khaw’s writing style, you’ll like it. However, if you are looking for something with simpler language that still conjures beautiful images in your mind, then this isn’t for you.
Honestly, it’s a book I won’t be reading again, and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Information & Rating
Triskele Rating: 3/7
5-Star Rating: 2/5
Book: The Salt Grows Heavy
Author(s): Cassandra Khaw
Series Name: Standalone
Pages: 125
Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Novella, LGBT, Adult, Retellings, Mermaids,
Format: Hardback
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1803363424
Publication Date: 2 May 2023
Publisher: Titan Books
Reading Speeds
(Based on Kindle/How Long To Read)
Average Estimated Reading Speed: 1 hour and 38 minutes
Based on the average of 300WPM
My Estimated Reading Speed: 2 hours and 9 minutes
Based on my calculated speed of 228WPM
Calculated by How Long To Read’s test
Goodreads Blurb
You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.
On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three ‘saints’ who control them.
The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruellest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.
