#i know their voice is androgynous but i couldn't help the association and also the southern twang was funny. and also the warmth

[slowdripsunrise]

ok yeah its 4 am idc book review time for the salt grows heavy by cassandra khaw!!! spoilers under the cut :)

KLMELDKFCMLEKRMFLKVMLEKRMVLKERMVKLM AHHGGHGGBHGH 5 stars. off the bat. oughghgg i think this is one of my first 5 star book in a while tbh.... actually idk. whatever.

first off one of my favorite things about this book was the setting. ohhhhh my god the beauty of the taiga the beauty of snow!!!!!!! cold!!!!!!!!!!! like good lord do i hate being cold but new england november is killing me i need 5ft of snow rn or i will die. i think if this story was set in any other environment it wouldn't have hit as hard for me,,, even some place just as harsh and cold wouldn't have worked this specific beauty of the taiga and the snow, the descriptions of the aspens and cedars and pines,,, the desolation it causes to the village around them. the imagery of this basically religious cult of children surrounded by cold and dark forest !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fav. fav ever omg.

the characters..... oggghhh the mermaid and the plague doctor, HER plague doctor, them together was so sos os so sweet. i loved it so much ohhh my god the tenderness there that i could Feel, without any real physical/sexual intimacy. and each of them on their own, the plague doctor's general care for others, for the children even if they was so indifferent about the mass murder of the kingdom lol. the sweetness without ulterior motives, idk. idk why im so endeared by them lmao ive imprinted and yeah again its like 4:30 now so. did i almost cry when they died. yeahhhhhhhh. and the mermaid!!!!!!!! blunt and hungry! loved her i don't know how to articulate my thoughts more than that, nonhuman and shows it and her transformation at the end to more human after the centuries go by and her teeth, her cunning, was so fairy tale like. and her love for her plague doctor, the switch from "the" to "my" OijoIJOIJOIEJJIOREJFIOER. one of my fav scenes of them together was when they were talking to luke and patching him up,,,, ;ladscx,;ls,dc;lms;dc,l;s,dc

ok and so the writing, yes it was a bit dense. did i understand every single word? god no, was it beautiful. yes omfg, i think the voice and the writing perfectly fit and encapsulated the vibe of this story. again it was very fairy tale esque and i really liked it. i don't think i would have liked the writing as much if this was a full length novel, thought. here, it works perfectly and serves its purpose.

the gore and the romance intertwined, these bloody awful evil people and the tender love they have for each other, the understanding,,,,, absolutely loved the horror aspects of this book, how it made the story so incredibly original. i forgot that i was reading a little mermaid retelling and felt like i was reading a brand new myth or fairy tale.

thats all im gonna say right now bc i need to sleep but 5/5 recommend for sure to everypne who thinks they can stomach it this is one of if not my fav of the year bye bye

#the salt grows heavy #thoughts.txt #book review #confession i listened to an orville peck song a bit before i read this book and i a bit associated his voice to the plague doctors lmao #i know their voice is androgynous but i couldn't help the association and also the southern twang was funny. and also the warmth #ifl idk if the mermaid ever described her plague doctors voice as warm but thats how i pictured it lol #for reference i know absolutely nothing about orville peck and have heard maybe 2 of his songs #so the association was moreso from what i picture OPs getup is-mask #wears mostly black? i think? idk