Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

53 reviews

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

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

tashmoustache_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

gossamer_lens's review against another edition

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

4.0

Overall a creepy and interesting short story collection. The below are my ratings for each short story. My rating for the book is the average of these:

3.75 - The Dirty Kid
4.25 - The Inn
2.75 - The Intoxicated Years
4.5 - Adela's Hours
5 - An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt
3.5 - Spiderweb
4.75 - End of Term
4 - No Flesh Over Our Bones
4.25 - The Neighbot's Courtyard
3.5 - Under the Black Water
2.75 - Green Red Orange 
4.75 - Things We Lost in the Fire

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

emilyseebold's review against another edition

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

revjess's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I love when I go into a book knowing very little, and it surprising me with how much I enjoyed it. These collection of short stories weave in horror and magical realism into contemporary Argentina. It wasn’t that I necessarily felt scared when a story would finished, but I was most often left with an eerie, disturbed feeling that wouldn’t go away even as I started the next story. I think this is definitely a book you should pick up! It uses psychological terror and fear to discuss mundane issues that are always in plain sight. Enríquez is an incredible author, who leaves you dangling at the edge of your seat wanting more of each of her stories, but holding back just enough to keep you wanting. This is my second time reading Argentinian fiction, my first being Tender is the Flesh, and I am so glad I read it! If you appreciate dark and psychological fiction, put this book on your radar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Rape

akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

informative mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.0

Unlike Dangers of Smoking in Bed, this collection is a lot more political- which is not a bad thing!! But I feel like I am missing context for the stories due to not understanding the political landscape they’re set in.

That being said, all of the stories have merit. There were none that I disliked- which is rare. I’ll add my top 3 later. Also unlike DOSIB the titular story is one of the best. Beautifully written, gloriously gory, a good time all round!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

maw's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

erishti's review against another edition

This book was hard to read... there were so many themes of drug abuse and sex... and I think it made me realize that as a cis guy reading stories about lesbians is difficult because I am obviously not a woman and can't really understand what it's like... but what do I know haha.

The main reason I stopped reading is because I had to return it to my library ngl

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder