Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

11 reviews

pages_with_panda's review

dark mysterious sad

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

4.0

Because this is a collection of short stories by the author, I'm going to split the reviews up by story. I've also included content warnings for each story as well and a single sentence summary. 

 Angelita Unearthed: 5/5
Woman is haunted by the dead baby corpse of her great-aunt.
Really liked the story! Very simple but super creepy and unsettling. I thought the relationship between the two characters was kinda funny - almost siblings. Lowkey the last scene made me chuckle.
• Moderate: Death of a child, Body horror, Gore,

Our Lady of the Quarry: 4/5
Teenage kids sneak into a quarry for the summer.
Good story, nice build up. Love any kind of revenge story and this was no exception. Good for Natalie.
•  Moderate: Sexual content,
• Minor: Death,

The Cart: 2/5
A mysterious stranger shows up the neighborhood before horrible things start happening.
I did like where this story was going for the most part,. Again, I like revenge stories...But the story fell apart at the end and I couldn't really make heads-or-tails of what happened.
• Moderate: Excrement, Violence, Classism,
• Minor: Racism, Suicide, Animal death, Cannibalism

The Well: 5/5
A young girl suffers from severe anxiety of death and monsters.
Another favorite. Very, very unsettling and dark. The mystery surrounding what happened to her during that first trip was so interesting. Very well done. Sad ending.
• Moderate: Suicide,
• Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts,

Rambla Triste: 2/5
A neighborhood is haunted by murdered children.
I couldn't really understand the premise for this one at all. Was a little interesting but didn't seem to have a point to the story.
• Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse,
• Minor: Excrement, Child death,

The Lookout: 3/5
A Lady in a tower overlooks the hotel where she lives and invites another women to visit.
Had a nice "The Shinning" vibe and also some mystery regarding the Lady Upstairs. An okay story.
• Graphic: Self-harm,
• Minor: Rape, Attempted suicide, Drug abuse

Where are you, Dear Heart? : 5/5
A girl becomes obsessed with irregular heartbeats and tries to find the most imperfectly perfect one.
Incredibly unsettling. Can't stop thinking about this premise and the absolute horror of it. "What the fuck did I just read!?" But in a good, horrific way.
• Graphic: Medical
• Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Ableism,

Meat: 5/5
Two super fanatical fans of a rock star exhume his body and eat his corpse.
Another very disturbing story. Very well laid out and I really liked it. Horrific.
• Graphic: Suicide, Cannibalism,
• Moderate: Self-harm, Vomit
• Minor: Blood

Neither Baptism or Birthday: 3/5
A man tries to record a girl's hallucinations.
Very creepy story. Interesting build up as well. Ending fell a little flat.
• Moderate: Sexual content, Pedophilias, Mental illness, Self-harm

The Kids That Came Back: 5/5
Hundreds of missing children rematerialize but are the same age as when they disappeared.
I really liked this one. Super unsettling and creepy. Had a nice buildup as well and an interesting POV from Machi. (Interesting enough, compared to the Spanish version, the English version of this story had added a few sections of backstory that I think were completely unnecessary, especially because they added some slurs. And really added nothing to the story.)
• Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide
• Minor: Kidnapping, Death, Transphobic slur, Drug abuse,

Dangers of Smoking in Bed: 1/5
Woman smokes in bed.
Uninteresting. Couldn't really get into it. Thought the title story would be great but it fell flat.
• Moderate: Fire,
• Minor: Death, Sexual content, Blood

Back When We Talked to the Dead: 3/4
A group of girls use an Ouiji board. 
A basic premise but interesting anyways! Unsettling but not too bad. 
• Minor: Ableism slur (Spanish version) 

Overall review for the book: 4/5. Solid stories! This is a horror book so check content warnings. Not suitable for young readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual content, Self harm, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Ableism, Vomit, Gore, Excrement, Violence, Classism, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Child death, and Body horror

Minor: Racism, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Cannibalism, and Rape

Spoiler

Use of transphobic slurs and ableist slurs

lala_reads's review

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

…not quite 5 because some of the stories were just a little too bizarre /made me feel a bit sick.

By far the stories that stick with me the most are:
- Where are you dear heart (that final line 😮)
- The Lookout 
- No Birthdays or Baptisms 
- Kids who come back 
- Meat 

Also, never did I think I’d read a book where someone pooping in the street would be one of the least weird things to happen! This happened in two of the stories!!!

I loved the spookiness and the pacing of these short stories. The imagery 10/10! I definitely need to venture into short story territory especially for horror because I’m amazed at by how much mystery and drama can be conjured up in a few pages!

I’d love to see these stories turned into a tv series! I’m definitely going to check out “Things we lost in the fire”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Suicide, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Excrement, Blood, and Classism

cosyskog's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories, and it definitely needs to come with multiple content warnings. However, maybe the ugliness of some of the characters is the real horror, the unspoken realisation that they are just like people we already know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Child death, Child abuse, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, Body shaming, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide, Ableism, Classism, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Cursing, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Violence

Minor: Car accident, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Police brutality

cady_sass's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I never read anthologies, because I know myself and I want more depth, more character development, a plot arc. But this book has been calling to me. I’m very glad I finally picked it up. A couple of the short stories I hated, most of them I loved. It feels like the translator really did the original work justice, the prose is gorgeous and vivid and gritty, but someone who’s read the original Spanish will have to say for sure. There’s certainly some triggering imagery so proceed with caution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Classism, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Abandonment, Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Violence, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

franzys_whip's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Blood, Gore, Ableism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Child death, Violence, Trafficking, Body horror, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Excrement, Self harm, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Classism, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Minor: Grief

It's...definitely a lot, but I swear this book is so good beyond all that

orlabutler's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

This book really was not for me. I'm sure there are some people out there that would love it but I honestly wanted to give up on it over and over again. I only powered through because it is a book of short stories and I thought I might find one I liked. Every story felt like it was dragging on and then the end felt like a page was missing. There are some serious and disturbing themes explored and not well, I feel like they are more being used for shock factor than anything else. I saw so many people recommend this book and I am very disappointed 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Classism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Gore, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Slavery, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Addiction, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Trafficking, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Incest

nialiversuch's review

dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Body horror, Body shaming, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

emimli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Classism, Body horror, Ableism, Gore, Violence, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Terminal illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Chronic illness, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Excrement, Child death, Child abuse, Car accident, Addiction, and Pedophilia

adibasultana's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, Drug abuse, Self harm, Child death, Mental illness, Classism, and Violence

mmirjamm's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Medical content, and Violence