Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Le cose che abbiamo perso nel fuoco by Mariana Enríquez

21 reviews

cass_lit's review against another edition

2.25

Nope. This was not for me. I have two major issues:
1) The format. These were short stories that didn’t seem interconnected, but most (I think at least one wasn’t) were told in first person. This means as soon as you figure out who your narrator is, because there’s no omniscient one to tell you, you’re moving onto another narrator. I don’t dislike short stories or essays as a rule, but this one really didn’t work for me. 
2) The content. What the fuck. I get that it’s macabre intentionally and meant to reflect the horror of reality, but when these topics are brought up in short stories like this without the space to discuss them… it just feels exploitative. 

Some examples, though I’m sure I’m forgetting a few (*trigger and spoiler warnings ahead*): child abuse, child rape, child murder, child neglect, alcohol and drug abuse, rape, murder, abuse, animal cruelty (including eating of a live cat), use of the r-word and racist/xenophobic/classist language. And again — I get that these are unfortunately real horrors sometimes (or are meant to represent other real issues), but *I* don’t like when there’s no discussion on them apart from their shock value. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Excrement, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Police brutality, and Classism

Minor: Lesbophobia and Gaslighting

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kyra_joy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.25

This book is beautiful written, it tells complex stories that explore a range or difficult topics like poverty, domestic violence, isolation in way that only horror can do. However I wouldn't say this is a book for the faint of heart all of it feels very very real and can be very graphic so make sure you read the content warnings before you dive in. Some stories I contected to more than others and the last one that the book is named after "The Things We Lost In The Fire" was absolutely beautifully heart breaking and I very much contected to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

kaiulanilee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

oftheolivetree's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

zararosez's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

emimli's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

Scawy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thenonbinaryc's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

youreawizardjerry's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

This book fucked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

savvylit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

In reviews, Mariana Enriquez is often compared to Shirley Jackson. After reading Things We Lost in the Fire, I could easily see the merit in that comparison. Like Jackson, Enriquez subtly inserts just a touch of horror into everyday scenarios. This serves to remind readers that often the scariest things in life are our own minds or other people.

What makes Enriquez wholly unique, though, is her specific settings. Enriquez weaves Argentinian politics and culture into each of her stories. Oppression in particular is peppered throughout this collection in multiple passing mentions. Again, the casual nature of the unsettling events in this collection - which are fully based in reality - reminds readers that our own everyday lives can be horrific if we just look hard enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual assault