Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

153 reviews

alyxinthestars's review against another edition

dark fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Body horror, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Murder, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Grief, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Rape, and Pregnancy

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

mahoyap's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

Uhh, it’s getting weirder and more interesting after half of the stories but nothing too explicit or scary. My favourite is Kids who come back and Back when we talked to the dead. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Rape, Child death, and Child abuse

applesodaperson's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This is the first adult short stories book that I have read, and I’m not sure I liked it very much. The stories were good and creepy, but it was hard to get invested in the characters since they stories were each so short. 
Read from the Provo library.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child death and Gore

sparringego8's review

The stories were too ambiguous, used normal bodily functions too often and didn't really have the horror vibe it was selling. Perhaps there is more depth to these stories if you come from a Latinx background but I didn't find them that engaging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Excrement, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

I enjoyed some in this selection, felt some were very meh, but overall enjoyed the writing and creepy factor. Def check trigger warnings because some of it can be quite graphic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Medical content, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Sexual content, and Trafficking

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

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

solliereads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

This was genuinely the most interestingly written collection of short stories that I've ever read. Enríquez has a way of writing that reminds me specifically of the saying about not being able to look away from a car crash - I felt equally mesmerized and disturbed, unable to put the book down.

My favourites/standouts were - as seems to be popular from the reviews - Kids Who Come Back, as well as Meat, The Lookout Tower and Where Are You, Dear Heart?

I would strongly recommend checking out the warnings other reviewers have included for this book, as I likely haven't included all of them, but I would absolutely recommend adding this book to your to-read pile if you're interested in dark horror with twist endings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, Rape, Transphobia, and Cannibalism

itsjoenna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

i was just looking for a book set in Argentina and this one came up, so i didn't have any expectations. i was confused at first, but soon it got me interested. so dark, disturbing, and strange, but i like it. i enjoyed some of the stories, some were just so-so. my favourite chapter is "kids who come back", i love it sooo much, the mystery got me hooked, i want more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Cannibalism and Gore

dariarp'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Vomit, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Violence, Suicide, Self harm, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Drug use, Medical content, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Death, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders