The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Beautifully dark fairytale with haunting prose.

Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher or Catherynne M. Valente, this story will bite you and not let go until the end. Our main character is a mermaid-like creature more shark than siren. With her city being destroyed behind her, she walks into the woods along side a plague doctor. An easy friendship begins to form between them when they come upon a scene, where a group of boys are hunting another boy. From there the story squeezes the reader tight, not letting up the pace, while it explores the dark recesses of immortality, love and life.

Although this audiobook is short, you'll want to give it your full attention, because Khaw's beautiful prose are dense with meaning and action. I also recommend reading the digital/physical book after listening because I wanted to highlight, remember and share so many of her quotes, "There is a reason the hunt is central to so many narratives. For all that humanity professes to delighting in it's own sophistication, it longs for simplicity, for when the world can be deboned into binaries; darkness and light, death and life, hunter and hunted." Narrator, Susan Dalian, does an interesting thing with this book, her tone echo's the emotional arc of the book, starting off calm and then growing tense with well-placed pauses and emphasizing passages.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Tor NightFire for this advanced listener copy.

This book is best read outside at night, by a warm fire with good company (keep a knife close at hand).