Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

15 reviews

pages_with_panda's review against another edition

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

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

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

Use of transphobic slurs and ableist slurs

alreinwarth's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Transphobia and Lesbophobia

cosyskog's review against another edition

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

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

cady_sass's review against another edition

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

franzys_whip's review against another edition

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

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

Minor: Grief

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

nialiversuch's review against another edition

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

emimli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

raquelcanread's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Blood, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

introverted_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Incest, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia