Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Los peligros de fumar en la cama

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Los peligros de fumar en la cama by Mariana Enríquez

209 reviews

elwirax's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.5

I genuinely do not understand why this was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It also took me way too long to read despite being a short story collection.

These short stories highlighted many real life horrors in the world such as pedophilia, child trafficking and rape, suicide and self harm. While I tend to enjoy sociopolitical horror, the way certain themes were explored felt less like thoughtful commentary and more like shock value.

The stories were packed with misogyny and 'kids who come back' used problematic transphobic language. I suppose that this was used as a tool to present bias and prejudice as a horror of the world and highlighted the idea that the narrator's are just as 'monstrous' as the events happening. I am not insinuating that these are the author's beliefs, merely that it can be harmful to readers.

Overall, not a very good literary horror collection, either in terms of plot or writing.

Angelita Unearthed: 2 stars
Our Lady of the Quarry:1 star
The Cart: 1 star
The Well: 2.5 stars
Rambla Triste: 2 stars
The Lookout: 2.5 stars
Where are you , dear heart: 1 star
Meat: 2 stars
No birthdays or baptisms: 1 star
Kids who come back: 0.5 star
The dangers of smoking in bed: 1 star
Back when we talked to the dead: 3 stars

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laran_s's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

1.0

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mionnechan's review against another edition

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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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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed is a short story collection that falls firmly within the horror genre, which is probably my least favourite genre and something I'm unlikely to read unless committing to a reading challenge requires me to do so. The gore and body horror was stomach churning at times, but so too were the very real horrors that far too many women experience - rape, emotional abuse, and domestic violence, to name just a few. This book did get me thinking about the links between horror as a genre and real-life horrors. Using my (limited) knowledge of Argentinan history to consider the themes and messages of these stories definitely increased my appreciation of them. But I'm unlikely to become a horror fan any time soon.

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libraryoflanelle's review against another edition

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2.0

This was my first Mariana Enriquez and I did not like it. I figured some of the language use could have been down to translation issues, this being an earlier work and/or a one off but sadly that does not seem to be the case. I do not often review books that aren't ARCs so did not immediately review this one, despite having issue with it. I CANNOT recommend this book. The writing style and some of the stories were very much my vibe but the repeated use of inappropriate language and a whole lot of fatphobia cannot go unmentioned. Below are some examples along with TWs for those who feel similarly to me or who appreciate the heads up.

Some NOPE quotes with TWs (pg numbers from UK edition):

TW: Inappropriate slavery reference

“I claimed mental exhaustion, and they understood; "You've been working like a s***e," they told me.” Pg 8

TW: Fatphobia

“Maybe if he saw how ugly her body was she had some really tubby legs, which she claimed were because she'd played hockey when she was little, but half of us had played hockey too, and none of us had those big ham hocks. Plus she had a flat ass and broad hips, which was why jeans never fit her well. If he saw those defects (plus the black hairs she never really got rid of maybe she couldn't pull them out down to the root, she was really dark), maybe Diego would stop liking Silvia and finally pay attention to us.” Pg 16

“A girl was walking ahead of her, somewhat unsta ble, with jeans too low and tight on her hips so her flaccid belly spilled out from under her short shirt a roll of chalky, stretch-marked flesh that would have been easy to hide with a long, baggy shirt, but the girl clearly wasn't worried about aesthetics.” Pg 57

TW: Transphobia

“but carefully, because she didn't want any cops to see her, and she didn't want to ask the tr*****s for money, because they beat up girls like her.” Pg 132

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mmason82's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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gnomeyjo's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love magical realism, but this book really pushed me. Was extremely unsettling, even if you love horror. Defo an interesting read and I respect the commitment to the style. One story in particular has really stayed with me and continues to disturb me at random pockets of my day. A very well written book that lives up to the high praise, but difficult to say enjoyable.

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