Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

12 reviews

snowiceblackfruit77's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

moadlc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

As a latine, these stories reminded me a lot of the Classic spanish stories we were forced to read in high school. Everything was a tragic tale of woe and an endless cast of sad characters. Each story was creative, modern and interesting, yet had no ending or resolution. Overall, it left me frustrated and sad, which if that was the intention of the author, then great. Yet, I think that it being so pessimistic is a disservice to the wonderful magical realism and intriguing storylines in each story. Though, I understand the stereotypes and real world concerns that the author wants to play with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Abortion, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emilyseebold's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Torture, Xenophobia, Vomit, Trafficking, and War

Minor: Eating disorder and Homophobia

millieinks's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

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

emmaopaline's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Abandonment

cosmicpasta's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

sgonzo's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship

badmc's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A collection of pretty disturbing short stories set in Argentina - now with magical realism! If asked to classify this, I would say it's social horror, because most of the horrific things are far from supernatural and stem from themes such as poverty, addiction, abuse, corruption, misogyny and political landscape(s). The stories are always from a female perspective, so also give the added layer to the uneasiness the characters experience. Magical realism aspect is not that important, because the stories themselves are quite realistic. They are also very vague and open to interpretation, more often than not petering out just before the readers can lay their eyes on the "real horror" of the story. They challenged me to learn more about Argentinian history, altough they don't inform, they just made me want to seek out sources on my own. 

Stories are also quite short, which is my main beef with most of the short stories I read, lacking the details that make me immersed and invested. Stories are also bleak, depressing, and mostly focus on the negative, ugly, and dirty corners of the human nature. I suggest spacing them out over time, because they sometimes feel repetitive because of the structure and themes. Also, all the trigger warnings apply here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Torture, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Xenophobia and War

danycatreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Una colección de cuentos muy difícil de leer en el mejor sentido posible. Muchos cuentos de terror clásico como casas abandonadas, o apariciones y desapariciones repentinas, pero lo que une a todo el libro son las voces de mujeres, creando personajes difíciles y complejos. No todos los cuentos me encantaron, pero comprendo a lo que la autora quería llegar, y para mí eso es suficiente. Están hechos con tanta delicadeza que no puedo darle otro rating que no sea casi cinco estrellas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism