Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories by Mariana Enríquez

131 reviews

gna_again's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, and Alcohol

veposve's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Cannibalism

nefarious_rat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

collection of short stories so character progression and such is difficult, but within each story the characters were distinct and never felt rushed, some of the stories were not to my taste but still very well written, favourites are, our lady of the quarry, the well, the lookout (particularly the characterisation of elina), where are you dear heart (grotesque and delicious my absolute favourite i keep re-reading it), and meat (a very close second favourite for the exact same reasons)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Medical trauma, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

zaraatyeo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Vomit

mijtje's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.25

The only thing interesting about this book was the cover.

“Meat” and “Kids Who Come Back” saved it from 1 star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

roskoff's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

A compelling albeit stomach-turning compilation of short horror stories. Very unique; the monsters and monstrous circumstances weren’t anything I’d ever read before. Reoccurring themes included life after death, bad neighborhoods, violent and compulsive masturbation, curses, and incredibly antisocial behavior. A good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

maisiebrowne1's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

ellewhyoh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

I sometimes have a problem giving short story collections a fair shake, because I feel like ambiguous endings and unanswered questions are an inherent component of the genre, and that kind of drives me crazy.

That being said, this collection was very intriguing, and the unanswered questions drove me less crazy than usual. This book delved into a lot of different types of horror and the supernatural, but a strong theme amongst most of them was memory and disappearance. When is something lost? Is loss best understood as an action, or as a noun? Is it wrong or right to let the shadows take their toll? 

Overall this collection was very intriguing, and it will leave me thinking.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Trafficking

Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

sara_n's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Murder

boquitap4sion's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Por alguna razón esperaba que me gustara más, pero aún así me pareció muy bueno y de un terror muy grotesco, inquietante y psicológico. Algunas historias eran realmente brillantes y quedé emocionada por leer el otro libro de Mariana Enríquez que tengo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, and Kidnapping