Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

51 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

darcygreyheart's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

soymagu7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Brilliant horror short story collection. Mariana Enriquez is a master of the short story writing, in such few pages she packed a punch. Made me shiver, made me laugh, made me gasp. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Suicide, and Police brutality

gossamer_lens's review

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

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

moth_gf184's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

maxgdy's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion