I’ve had my eye on this author ever since Nothing But Blackened Teeth came out years ago. This similarly brief nightmare of a novella showcases the growing talent that I and other readers first noticed in her earlier work.

This book chronicles the story of a mermaid (of a kind you’ve never seen in fiction before, trust me) and a nameless plague doctor wandering a bleak, hostile, fantasy world, searching for a place to start anew. Along the way they must battle the elements, semi feral children, and malevolent surgeons with pretentions to immortality. But as they search for some place to call their own, the relationship between these two consummate outcasts deepens from mere dependence for survival into something far more resonant and beautiful.

The world depicted here is uniquely dark and upsetting, it feels fully fleshed out and lived in for all that we only get brief descriptions of it. Khaw's gruesome plot is rendered beautiful with her remarkably unique and poetic language, a major strong suit of this talented writer. The characters make a compelling pair and play wonderfully off each other. The world building is top notch but its in the interactions between our two main characters that this book really shines. This IS a horror story too, make no mistake, there’s some genuinely nasty stuff in here even for people accustomed to the likes of Stephen King and Clive Barker.

But in the end The Salt Grows Heavy is that rarest of birds, a gruesome, macabrely beautiful tale skillfully weaving the disparate threads of both horror and romance into a compelling and memorable tapestry. Khaw spins a story as chilling as it is heartfelt and as frightening as it is ultimately sweet and love affirming.