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Title details for The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw - Wait list

The Salt Grows Heavy

by Cassandra Khaw
Susan Dalian
Audiobook
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From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairytale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.
"Narrator Susan Dalian viscerally conveys the gruesome body horror while deftly capturing the lush imagery." - Library Journal
"This brilliant novella is not to be missed." —Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
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 cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 2, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781250900876
      • File size: 83826 KB
      • Duration: 02:54:38

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 13, 2023
      In this twisting and pitch-black horror tale from Khaw (Nothing but Blackened Teeth), a voiceless mermaid plucked from the ocean ventures into a snowy forest alongside a melancholy plague doctor. These unlikely traveling companions soon encounter a village of mutilated children and uncover the architects of this bizarre encampment: three surgeons obsessed with immortality and the reconstitution of the body. As more of the village’s terrible secrets come to light, the mermaid and the plague doctor must rely on each other to survive. Khaw’s prose is rich and gorgeous (“In my dreams, I still swim that soundless black, still travel its eddies of salt and cold nothing”), and the surprising tenderness at the story’s heart is only magnified by the violence and gore that surround it. Both elements prove devastatingly effective in constructing a folklore-infused world that feels wholly unique for contemporary horror fiction. Expertly blending a gothic atmosphere with elements of splatterpunk, this brilliant novella is not to be missed.

    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      It's a familiar tale--the story of a young mermaid who yearns for life on land and trades her voice for the love of a prince. But many forget that mermaids are dangerous, with sharp teeth that are ready to devour anything in their path. Khaw (Breakable Things) tells of a voiceless mermaid whose daughters have consumed the entire kingdom, leaving little more than a wasteland. Joined by a mysterious plague doctor, the mermaid flees into the frozen forest, only to discover a village of mutilated, bloodthirsty children. The children are controlled by three ghastly "saints," surgeons who toy with immortality and resurrection in unimaginably cruel ways. Though this grotesque, torture-filled tale of a mermaid who has seen the worst of humanity is captivating, some listeners may find Khaw's intricate language frustratingly impenetrable. Even so, narrator Susan Dalian viscerally conveys the gruesome body horror while deftly capturing the lush imagery. VERDICT A quick listen that should appeal to fans of Khaw's Nothing but Blackened Teeth or those looking for a horrific take on the ever-popular The Little Mermaid.--Elyssa Everling

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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