Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

25 reviews

margardenlady's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Dark. Unique. These short stories are very creative and convey a reality that I would not wish on anyone. 

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cosmicpasta's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.5


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emimli's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

Scawy

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abbeyhuffine94's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0


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youreawizardjerry's review against another edition

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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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savvylit's review against another edition

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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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allyah's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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burnyayhayley's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

This collection is truly impressive. There are some seriously disturbing images and each story achieves a strong sense of unease by the end, sometimes in ways, I did not expect to actually find uneasy. 

The author has a very in-depth grip on characterization and is consistently excellent at giving us the correct amount of information so that all the characters feel real and important and tangible, but when you are finished you still feel slightly robbed of closure, which in the context of horror short fiction, is perfect. 

However, I knocked off a star because I am not feeling so impressed by the writing or the content that I am overwhelmed—I just feel a normal amount of impressed, if that makes sense. It's excellent short fiction, but it did not always hit me where I hoped it would. 


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georgiee_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


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recollections's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

es a última historia...sin palabras

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