Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

112 reviews

sadlytriste's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It was my first time reading a collection of short stories and my first horror book, and I found the experience quite enjoyable. Immersing myself in one story at a time was a unique experience, but some of the stories were so compelling that I couldn't resist reading more. It felt like a fantastic foray into the world of horror literature. Mariana Enriquez's writing style is captivating and enthralling, keeping me eagerly anticipating what would happen next with every page turn. Mariana Enriquez skillfully delves into a wide range of themes, including witchcraft, curses, trauma, and forbidden desires.

Among all the stories, "Meat" and "Kids Who Come Back" were my favorites. However, I should note that the stories can be pretty vile, so if you don't like that, you should probably avoid it. Overall, I would rate the collection 4 out of 5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Murder

mionnechan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

2.5

Je ne sais pas trop où me placer vis-à-vis du livre. Pour moi, il s'agissait d'une lecture inégale, ce qui a eu tendance à gâcher le plaisir général.
 D'un côté, j'ai eu des nouvelles dans lesquelles je me suis investie et qui m'ont touchées, mais de l'autre c'était tout l'inverse. Ce n'est pas à cause de la plume qui est très efficace pour plonger dans une ambiance en peu de mots, mais le contenu qui semblait parfois peu abouti en raison du la nature des nouvelles.  Je ne vais pas vous mentir, la majorité des fins étaient ouvertes et c'est quelque chose qui a tendance à me saouler. Donc peut-être que c'est ça qui m'a un peu bloqué dans le livre. 

Mais mon expérience n'était pas uniquement négative, bien au contraire ! J'ai beaucoup aimé me plonger un peu dans les légendes et croyances d'Amérique du sud et la manière dont la folie humaine était décrite dans certaines nouvelles. Ce sont vraiment celles qui m'ont le plus marquées au final. 

J'ai conscience que mon avis est un peu brouillon, alors je ne peux que vous conseiller de vous faire votre avis ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Pedophilia

rowanelisa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

emziesreads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense

4.0

Meat. Gorgeous writing, excellent storytelling, plus horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

goldbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

malineu's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

jess_18's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

a lot of this made me really uncomfortable in places, which sometimes felt unnecessary. however it was written very well and was interesting to say the least. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

sharkgirl45's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Amazingly spooky and haunting story collection. Every story had me at the very least disconcerted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Excrement, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

haylee_reads's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I love horror, but I don’t think this is my brand of horror. It’s no lie that Enriquez is talented in their craft, but I don’t think I will read anything else they write. These stories all had interesting premises, but the level of gore was just next level and felt unnecessary at times. I also think that every story just ended so abruptly that it really threw me off. I know that’s usually the case with short stories, but it took me a second to realize when each story ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

miraveta's review against another edition

dark

4.0

kinda funny how 'the dangers of smoking in bed' is the least interesting story in this. I've probably got to go back and read this all in Spanish sometime.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Gore

Moderate: Pedophilia, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Self harm, Sexual violence, Excrement, and Trafficking