Number 70- The Salt Grows Heavy - Cassandra Khaw

 

After reading Khaw's previous work, I felt somewhat frustrated.  I liked the writing but couldn't bring myself to love the book. Full thoughts on that book here. However, I decided to give them a second chance, especially with that cover...

A mermaid and her companion, a plague doctor, travel across a destroyed kingdom and encounter a group of children in the process of hunting and killing one of their own.

To say any more would be unfair.  This is a book that's best experienced completely cold without knowing any more than is on the blurb in the inside flap of the dustjacket.

I absolutely loved this book. The tricksiness of her prose style completely suits the weirdness of the subject matter and made this into the new best horror I've read this year by a long way.

I pretty much read this in one sitting.  It's compulsive, gruesome, deeply strange and you'll never watch/read/think about The Little mermaid in the same way ever again. It's beautiful and repulsive in equal measure. A strange hybrid of Mary Shelley, Hans Anderson and...

I can genuinely say I have never read anything quite like this and just cannot find the final comparison point to finish that last sentence. But it's something horrifically violent yet gorgeous to look at...

Some of the imagery is seared in my brain still, a week after finishing it. Her use of language is stunning throughout. Not one word is wasted in this novella and every phrase is calculated for maximum impact.

I'm almost tempted to give this a 10/10 since I can't pick a fault with it other than I wanted more... even though Khaw finishes it in a perfect place.

If you weren't convinced by Nothing but Blackened Teeth, give this a go.  This confirms Khaw as a major talent. I will 100% be buying everything else she releases now.