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Cassandra Khaw’s The Salt Grows Heavy is a dark and twisted fairy tale that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. The novella follows a mermaid who, after losing her tongue to her husband, births daughters who immediately devour their wicked father and the people of his treacherous kingdom. The mermaid and her daughters are then forced to flee, and they eventually meet up with a mysterious plague doctor. The two of them form an uneasy alliance as they travel to a strange community where the children are seemingly ageless and the adults are something like surgeons … but not quite.

Khaw’s prose is elevated and and her vocabulary is precise as she establishes a potent sense of atmosphere and dread. The novella’s quick-pace and willingness to embrace both horror and mythology held my attention, particularly because both protagonist were rather monstrous themselves, which resulted in complex characterization.

I would recommend The Salt Grows Heavy to fans of dark fantasy and horror. It is a well-written and thought-provoking story that will challenge your assumptions about good and evil. However, I would caution readers who are sensitive to violence or disturbing imagery. The novella does contain some rather graphic depictions.