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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Salt Grows Heavy in Books
May 12, 2024
94 of 220
Book
The Salt Grows Heavy
By Cassandra Khaw
⭐️⭐️⭐️
After the murder of her husband and the fall of his empire, a mermaid and her plague doctor companion escape into the wilderness. Deep in the woods, they stumble across a village where children hunt each other for sport, sacrificing one of their own at the behest of three surgeons they call "the saints." These saints play god with their magic, harvesting the best bits of the children for themselves and piecing the sacrifices back together again.
To save the children from their fates, the plague doctor must confront their past, and the mermaid must embrace the darkest parts of her true nature.
This was certainly not the story I’m used to reading when it comes to mermaids. This was fully of gore and dark meanings. Some parts are hard to read and not for the context but it’s like a full dictionary has been thrown in and it really put me off. Overall it’s a deeply dark fairytale of mermaids and death. For a small book it packs a punch in places.
Book
The Salt Grows Heavy
By Cassandra Khaw
⭐️⭐️⭐️
After the murder of her husband and the fall of his empire, a mermaid and her plague doctor companion escape into the wilderness. Deep in the woods, they stumble across a village where children hunt each other for sport, sacrificing one of their own at the behest of three surgeons they call "the saints." These saints play god with their magic, harvesting the best bits of the children for themselves and piecing the sacrifices back together again.
To save the children from their fates, the plague doctor must confront their past, and the mermaid must embrace the darkest parts of her true nature.
This was certainly not the story I’m used to reading when it comes to mermaids. This was fully of gore and dark meanings. Some parts are hard to read and not for the context but it’s like a full dictionary has been thrown in and it really put me off. Overall it’s a deeply dark fairytale of mermaids and death. For a small book it packs a punch in places.
ClareR (6247 KP) rated Nightshade in Books
Jan 15, 2023
As much as I loved reading this book, the main character Eve Laing is not a character to like. She’s self-centred, driven and oblivious to anything other than her work. She’s an artist,, but better known as the muse to an infamous male artist, much to her disgust.
Eve seems to be set on self-destruction, and over the course of a night walk through London (she’s braver than me!) from her former family home to the studio she now lives in, Eve tells her story. She’s an unlikeable and unreliable narrator. I will admit that I did feel some sympathy for her when her young lover shows his true colours.
And I kept thinking: why shouldn’t she want more? Because she’s married? Because she’s in her 60’s? Because she’s a mother? She’s clearly not a happy person and envies the life she imagines that she could have had.
I don’t think I’m giving too much away when I say that this is a book that can’t end well. And it may well say something about me when I say that I rather liked the ending.
Eve seems to be set on self-destruction, and over the course of a night walk through London (she’s braver than me!) from her former family home to the studio she now lives in, Eve tells her story. She’s an unlikeable and unreliable narrator. I will admit that I did feel some sympathy for her when her young lover shows his true colours.
And I kept thinking: why shouldn’t she want more? Because she’s married? Because she’s in her 60’s? Because she’s a mother? She’s clearly not a happy person and envies the life she imagines that she could have had.
I don’t think I’m giving too much away when I say that this is a book that can’t end well. And it may well say something about me when I say that I rather liked the ending.
To Dream of Shadows
9.0
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She will save hundreds of lives. But can she save her own? Inspired by a previously untold true...
Coming Out on the Field: A Lesbian Romance
6.0
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A coming out age-gap love story with a cast of softball players and plenty of steam. Dee needed...
Novella FF Contemporary Sports Romance
Merissa (14046 KP) rated A Lightness in My Soul in Books
Jan 18, 2021 (Updated Aug 7, 2023)
A LIGHTNESS IN MY SOUL is a fictional novella based on a true story, one that happened in Germany many years ago.
Just like the British evacuated their children, so did the Germans, although not everyone was put into homes, but camps instead. This is a heartbreaking and harrowing tale, told in the first person, as Arthur goes to a KLV camp. You stay with him as he begins to question just what is going on, then the Americans arrive, and you stay with him in the aftermath of that.
The conditions Arthur has to face are very well-written, managing to give the reader the horror and hopelessness of the situation without making it gruesome or unnecessarily violent.
For anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, especially if you are interested in the German perspective, then this is definitely one for your bookshelves. A one-sitting, engrossing read highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 18, 2021
Just like the British evacuated their children, so did the Germans, although not everyone was put into homes, but camps instead. This is a heartbreaking and harrowing tale, told in the first person, as Arthur goes to a KLV camp. You stay with him as he begins to question just what is going on, then the Americans arrive, and you stay with him in the aftermath of that.
The conditions Arthur has to face are very well-written, managing to give the reader the horror and hopelessness of the situation without making it gruesome or unnecessarily violent.
For anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, especially if you are interested in the German perspective, then this is definitely one for your bookshelves. A one-sitting, engrossing read highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 18, 2021
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Silence Before Dawn (WW2 Resistance Series Book 1) [Audiobook] in Books
Oct 9, 2022
![The Silence Before Dawn (WW2 Resistance Series Book 1) [Audiobook]](/uploads/profile_image/e1b/7f40e687-8bd3-42f4-ad91-b230424c3e1b.jpg?m=1665321953)
I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook which, although a work of fiction, is based on the true stories of women secret agents during World War II.
As you can imagine, there is an abundance of tension as the Resistance and SOE (Special Operations Executive) undertake their dangerous missions with the ever present threat of being discovered by the Gestapo.
The main character of Marianne is excellent and such a strong character as, in fact, are the rest of the cast. What I particularly liked is that the central focus is on the female protagonists and it depicted their bravery, commitment and sense of duty excellently.
The story, as you can imagine given the subject matter, is intense but riveting and compelling and I cannot praise the narrator enough - what an excellent job Sofia Zervudachi has done; there are quite a lot of characters, both male and female, and she made each one unique.
This is the first in a series and I very much look forward to finding out what happens next and I must give my thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The Silence Before Dawn.
As you can imagine, there is an abundance of tension as the Resistance and SOE (Special Operations Executive) undertake their dangerous missions with the ever present threat of being discovered by the Gestapo.
The main character of Marianne is excellent and such a strong character as, in fact, are the rest of the cast. What I particularly liked is that the central focus is on the female protagonists and it depicted their bravery, commitment and sense of duty excellently.
The story, as you can imagine given the subject matter, is intense but riveting and compelling and I cannot praise the narrator enough - what an excellent job Sofia Zervudachi has done; there are quite a lot of characters, both male and female, and she made each one unique.
This is the first in a series and I very much look forward to finding out what happens next and I must give my thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The Silence Before Dawn.
Envy (Seven Princes of Sin #5)
8.0
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Nothing lasts forever... All Becca wants is for Red Riot to make it big and being offered a gig...
Dark Contemporary Paranormal Romance TRIGGER WARNINGS Profanity
Brothers of the Sword (Warrior #5)
6.0
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BROTHERS OF THE SWORD is the fourth ebook novella in the WARRIOR series, telling the dramatic story...
Lord of War (Warrior #5)
6.0
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LORD OF WAR is the fifth and final ebook novella in the WARRIOR series, telling the dramatic story...
Darren (1599 KP) rated Iceman (2014) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Story: Iceman starts when Ho Ying (Yen) gets awoken from a frozen sleep of 400-years in the modern time, he must look to adapt fast to a world different from his own. Ying isn’t the only one to make it to the modern time, his brothers Sao (Wang) and Niehu (Yu) arrive as they look to hunt him down after all these years after he is meant to of betrayed his emperor.
Ying must use the people willing to help him in May (Huang) to locate the Golden Wheel of Time, to prove that he is innocent to stop his brother’s from hunting him down.
Thoughts on Iceman
Characters – Ying was once one of the emperor’s most trusted imperial guards, he is betrayed and framed for treason before getting frozen in time. He gets defrosted in the modern time, where he must go in search for the Golden Wheel of Time to prove his true innocence and protect the world from his own brothers. Sao and San Ko are the two brothers that have also, they are causing more havoc in their hunt for Ying which has drawn more police presence. May is the young lady that takes Ying in, teaches him about the modern day unaware of the true danger that could come their direction. Cheung is running a military chase for Ying, he has learnt the power of the Golden Wheel of Time and believes that he can use it for his own good.
Performances – Donnie Yen is the main attraction to this film, we know he can handle the action which is does with ease, it is when it needs to work on the comedy side of things when his performance goes downhill. Baoqiang Wang and Kang Yu are both entertaining enough in their roles, while Simon Yam brings much needed seriousness to the film. Shengyi Huang is the strongest part of the comedy in the film.
Story – The story follows three brothers and former imperial guards in ancient China, find themselves waking up in the modern time, still at battle for the action that happened in the ancient times. This story is an ambitious idea and it does work for the idea of having the fish out of water situation created for the imperial guards. We do go through the idea of needing to figure out how survive in the new surrounding, which does work too and seeing the twists along the way with the flashbacks does fill in moments of blanks in the storyline. Parts of the storyline can come off confusing though because we do seem to have a lot going on and it does feel like if you blink you might miss something.
Action/Comedy – The action in this film is easily the highlight of it, we get to see Donnie Yen doing his fighting sequences which are always entertaining to watch. The comedy however falls flat resorting to fart jokes, May is the only one that gets proper laughs.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show how the ancient men must adapt to the modern world with the different type of locations they visit.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are good in places, but weak if others, when it comes to the roaring faces they particular look weak.
Scene of the Movie – Bridge fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Fart Jokes.
Final Thoughts – This is an easy watch action sci-fi film, if you want martial arts entertainment this will give you what you need.
Overall: Enjoyable action film.
Ying must use the people willing to help him in May (Huang) to locate the Golden Wheel of Time, to prove that he is innocent to stop his brother’s from hunting him down.
Thoughts on Iceman
Characters – Ying was once one of the emperor’s most trusted imperial guards, he is betrayed and framed for treason before getting frozen in time. He gets defrosted in the modern time, where he must go in search for the Golden Wheel of Time to prove his true innocence and protect the world from his own brothers. Sao and San Ko are the two brothers that have also, they are causing more havoc in their hunt for Ying which has drawn more police presence. May is the young lady that takes Ying in, teaches him about the modern day unaware of the true danger that could come their direction. Cheung is running a military chase for Ying, he has learnt the power of the Golden Wheel of Time and believes that he can use it for his own good.
Performances – Donnie Yen is the main attraction to this film, we know he can handle the action which is does with ease, it is when it needs to work on the comedy side of things when his performance goes downhill. Baoqiang Wang and Kang Yu are both entertaining enough in their roles, while Simon Yam brings much needed seriousness to the film. Shengyi Huang is the strongest part of the comedy in the film.
Story – The story follows three brothers and former imperial guards in ancient China, find themselves waking up in the modern time, still at battle for the action that happened in the ancient times. This story is an ambitious idea and it does work for the idea of having the fish out of water situation created for the imperial guards. We do go through the idea of needing to figure out how survive in the new surrounding, which does work too and seeing the twists along the way with the flashbacks does fill in moments of blanks in the storyline. Parts of the storyline can come off confusing though because we do seem to have a lot going on and it does feel like if you blink you might miss something.
Action/Comedy – The action in this film is easily the highlight of it, we get to see Donnie Yen doing his fighting sequences which are always entertaining to watch. The comedy however falls flat resorting to fart jokes, May is the only one that gets proper laughs.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show how the ancient men must adapt to the modern world with the different type of locations they visit.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are good in places, but weak if others, when it comes to the roaring faces they particular look weak.
Scene of the Movie – Bridge fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Fart Jokes.
Final Thoughts – This is an easy watch action sci-fi film, if you want martial arts entertainment this will give you what you need.
Overall: Enjoyable action film.