Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Les dangers de fumer au lit by Mariana Enríquez

30 reviews

lethargicbat's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I have a minor concussion and covid which I think is to blame for this generous ranking (although one star is solely for The Well). The problem with many of the shorts is that the premise never fully gets off the ground, however I found the potential of an idea in many of them to actually be interesting and something I would of loved to read more on.

A city that traps you with the abused, dead children haunting you—forcing the society that's abandoned them to be confronted by them, to wretch at their smell and be fearful of actually seeing them. A small town's luck going to shit because of the abuse of an outsider and how the family that was kind is saved from this curse but must navigate the growing suspension or paranoia from their neighbors. A ghost manipulating and luring a suicidal woman to entrap her, freeing her spirit while condemning the woman's instead to never find peace. A musician with a cult-like following and the fans behavior being so obsessive still after his death that it lead to cannibalism. A woman with an intense fetish for cardiovascular diseases until it's not enough for them to be dying but instead she must hear and feel their actual deaths.

These are all fascinating and would of been glorious premises for stories but.... None of them actually clicked. None of them gained the momentum they deserve to life it off the ground and be an actual story. Instead, while hacking up phlegm and blood with a 102 fever, I'm laying in bed thinking of what these ideas could of been and appreciating them only as that: ideas.

As short stories they failed in being actual stories. Most failed in feeling developed, in having a conclusion that felt satisfactory, and in providing any real progression in these ideas beyond attempts of using shock or disgust as entertainment. After awhile it gets boring to read about people shitting on sidewalks when you know it's just to trigger an ‘oh ew!’ effect or to read about how apparently every attractive person is bony and too depressed to eat when you know it doesn't add any character flavor or progress. Instead of a written story it felt as if you were in a bar listening to someone who you barely like drunkenly tell you their idea for a book and instead of actually progressing that idea that does have potential, they just add a little padding around it. And then do it again and again, until finally you have this collection.

But, I must repeat myself because I mean it, I really liked the ideas for the most part. The stories go by quick (even if that may be because there isn't much substance to them) and I enjoyed many little lines here and there. But for the most part it failed as a short story collection and the drabbles would of been better as writing prompts, making me ultimately disappointed on something I (maybe unfairly?) hyped up in my head and was excited for ://

Other than The Well. I loved that one immensely, from the premise to the actual execution, and it felt like a personal hate crime until I got to Kids Who Come Back and it actually was one. (/lh)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Alcohol

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Transphobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

libraryoflanelle's review against another edition

2.0

This was my first Mariana Enriquez and I did not like it. I figured some of the language use could have been down to translation issues, this being an earlier work and/or a one off but sadly that does not seem to be the case. I do not often review books that aren't ARCs so did not immediately review this one, despite having issue with it. I CANNOT recommend this book. The writing style and some of the stories were very much my vibe but the repeated use of inappropriate language and a whole lot of fatphobia cannot go unmentioned. Below are some examples along with TWs for those who feel similarly to me or who appreciate the heads up.

 

Some NOPE quotes with TWs (pg numbers from UK edition):

 
TW: Inappropriate slavery reference

“I claimed mental exhaustion, and they understood; "You've been working like a s***e," they told me.” Pg 8 

 
TW: Fatphobia

“Maybe if he saw how ugly her body was she had some really tubby legs, which she claimed were because she'd played hockey when she was little, but half of us had played hockey too, and none of us had those big ham hocks. Plus she had a flat ass and broad hips, which was why jeans never fit her well. If he saw those defects (plus the black hairs she never really got rid of maybe she couldn't pull them out down to the root, she was really dark), maybe Diego would stop liking Silvia and finally pay attention to us.” Pg 16 
 
“A girl was walking ahead of her, somewhat unsta ble, with jeans too low and tight on her hips so her flaccid belly spilled out from under her short shirt a roll of chalky, stretch-marked flesh that would have been easy to hide with a long, baggy shirt, but the girl clearly wasn't worried about aesthetics.” Pg 57  

TW: Transphobia

“but carefully, because she didn't want any cops to see her, and she didn't want to ask the tr*****s for money, because they beat up girls like her.” Pg 132 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Kidnapping

eli99's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book had some good stories and some they weren't worth it. It's the type of crazy horror that I love. Boardering on reality. I love reading books like this that have been translated to English because you can tell a bit of the cultural difference as well. Horror and ghost stories are so different between cultures. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia

fabscarl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

brigg_sy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Horrible, vile, disgusting, and weird. An incredible selection of short stories that are so well-written, and enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia

ezravarley's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was absolutely horrific and dark with a huge TW throughout the whole book but it was also really really good, I loved the writing and I loved that the stories weren’t typical scary story narratives. It’s dark and grim but it’s great if that’s your thing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic friendship

One of the stories uses transphobic language and slurs directed at trans women in sex work.

krhe's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

El relato de los problemas de corazón... Esto no lo voy a olvidar en mi puta vida. 

ALSO LO DE LOS CRÍOS REAPARECIDOS WTF

Trigger warnings: todos 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

pehanicovaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The stories itself were good,not all of them but my personal fav are Where are you,dear heart? The Well and Back When We Talked To Dead, only thing that botheted me was the endings,they don’t do the story justice,it didn’t wrap up the story as it should 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship

wiley_coyote5's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Torture, Transphobia, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

This is a dark, heavy book. Each story is about awful people, doing selfish things and getting punished for it.