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apthompson's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
nefarious_rat's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Medical trauma, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria
olivia_martin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, and War
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.5
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
krhe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ALSO LO DE LOS CRÍOS REAPARECIDOS WTF
Trigger warnings: todos
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
librarymouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
Copious references to and depictions of bodily fluid didn't necessarily add to the horror, but made reading this a bit disgusting.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Abandonment
starofash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
i wasn't a big fan of the stories that were just violent and gore-y, but i loved the ones that had a more mentally disturbing vibe
my absolute favorite story was "kids who come back"
other favorites were "the well", "the lookout", "no birthdays or baptisms" and strangely enough "meat"
i had to set the book down and think after "where are you, dear heart?". i couldn't continue reading
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Abortion, and Alcohol
readundancies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Don’t get me wrong, I still thoroughly enjoyed this and am planning on nabbing a physical copy for myself.
But I couldn’t help compare the two while reading, and due to the non-chronological way I chose to consume these collections, I started on a high note with Maria, Maria, and by chance, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, the titular story, was one of the weaker stories that I started with in this one.
But the last ones I partook in were all winners in my book, so let’s discuss my thoughts on each of these individually:
- Angelita Unearthed: 3.75/5
- Not the most conclusive ending, but I really enjoyed this premise.
- I like how Angelita wasn’t portrayed as evil, but was more stuck in Limbo a la Dante’s Inferno through no fault of her own.
- It’s interesting that sometimes Angelita was visible to others and at other times wasn’t. I was a little confused on the why of it all though.
- Our Lady of the Quarry: 3/5
- This was not my favourite of the collection.
- There was obsession and envy and jealousy and infatuation, but the way it all played out was very Heathers but without any sort of payoff.
- I can definitely see others enjoying this if their inclined to that movie’s premise.
- The Cart: 4.25/5
- I quite liked this one. It was very rooted in reality and how humans perceive fortune and throw blame on others.
- The complete nosedive in the community’s luck was very abrupt and harsh, but it paired so well with how the man who left the cart was treated, and really hammered home how devastating the bystander effect can be.
- It was quite short but I thought the twist at the end was great.
- The Well: 4.5/5
- This was deliciously dark, ominous and seeped in betrayal.
- A tale where there is no loyalty amongst blood brethren. And sacrificial lambs cannot be saved when guilt settles into one’s soul.
- The family threads in this one were wrecked by The Woman’s brutal truth of what happened in Corrientes and it was like a dark soap opera moment that I couldn’t get enough of.
- Rambla Triste: 4.25/5
- Just the neck is fucking morbid.
- Why is there beginning to be a trend of paedophilia in this collection?
- That ending though, the way it all rolled out? I wanted this to be longer and for Sofia to actually be trapped in Barcelona because the creepy kid spirit vibe was doing it for me.
- The Lookout: 5/5
- Hands down one of my favourites of the lot. This is my kind of haunted hotel.
- The dual perspective worked really well, and I really liked how The Lady Upstairs was more of a moniker because the hotel’s lookout is a prison.
- It’s not about the ghost, it’s about how one could take the ghost’s place and she preyed on the living, and that’s my favourite kind of ghost story. It’s very tit for tat and I love the simplicity of it and how it was executed here.
- Where Are You, Dear Heart?: 5/5
- The way the lead character describes her infatuation of disease in conjunction with anatomy, ugh, I was sold so hard with this one.
- Truly, this was probably one of the more disturbing tales of the collection, and I was hooked.
- And the ending? The last sentence just hits so good. This was also one of my favourites.
- Meat: 4.75/5
- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when it comes to horror, you can’t go wrong with cannibalism.
- And cannibalism paired with obsession and fanaticism? Even better.
- This was morbidly believable in the best possible way and I wanted to know what the ending was building towards so badly, but I also kind of love how compact of a tale this is because I think it packs more of a punch this way, with that feeling of terror on the horizon of the imminent future.
- No Birthdays or Baptisms: 4.5/5
- This was creepy and strange and invasive and gross and I couldn’t look away.
- Like this was enrapturing despite containing some horrid content, and it was so fitting that there was no real resolution to the tale, no proper sense of conclusion or explanation.
- And it leaves the reader with such an acrid taste in the mouth, but it’s also so compelling. I’m disgusted but impressed at the same time.
- Kids Who Come Back: 4/5
- I wanted a little bit more from the ending, especially since this was one of the longer tales in this collection.
- The premise was definitely intriguing. The story itself builds pretty slowly and doesn’t reveal anything right away, but when everything clicks into place and the bizarre twist occurs, it’s very satisfying.
- I wanted answers though and I never really got them; not in terms of what was happening to the kids themselves, nor in how it all culminates with respect to what happens when summer rolls around.
- The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: 3.25/5
- One my biggest issues with short stories is I find that a lot of them just don’t have enough content for me to sink my teeth into. This one, especially as a titular story, falls into that trend.
- Does the suffocating feeling of loneliness permeate the pages? Sort of.
- But there wasn’t enough here to make it memorable for me.
- Back When We Talked to the Dead: 3.25/5
- Not a very fulfilling ending.
- Premise and worldbuilding were interesting though.
- As the last story of the collection? Not what I would’ve picked.
This collection is a little more darker than I initially anticipated, but I was here for it all. The darker stories were actually the ones I enjoyed the most, which probably says something about me but we’re just gonna gloss over that entirely and focus on the eerie vibes and how such tragedy and trauma was paired with the macabre so effectively.
This is a translated collection, and I think the translator, Megan McDowell, did a fantastic job with word choice and diction while still capturing the horror elements set within urban sprawl and maintaining a sense of realism at the same time. Each story is set within Argentina and while I can’t really say the worldbuilding was intensive, it still had a very definite flair to it. And even when I didn’t completely jive with a story, I still always wanted to complete this in it’s entirety.
So if you’re looking for a short story collection that’s going to delve into the more nightmarish kind of daydreams where nothing ever truly makes sense and you can feel the hairs on the back of neck rise because something is off, something is out there and it’s full of all the bad juju and none of the sugar or spice, definitely pick this one up.
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
piabo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
A good book for me to realize that I do not like horror/thriller/crime stories. Really not my thing. Why would anyone want to read something that is just scary and sick? People are interesting.
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment
booksarebrainfood's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail