Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

103 reviews

roskoff's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

maisiebrowne1's review

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

---

Content Warnings

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

zayzay2's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

one of my fav books, one of the first weird, dark books I read 2023. It had multiple different stories I enjoyed the fact that it was short and got to the point. All very strange characters which was always fun to read, still think about the cannibalism chapter what a weird one but still fun to read. I love strange characters that are talked about, never read a short story collection before this was my first and I'll be reading more short story collection as they are easy to get through. I enjoyed the different setting the writer described, different age groups and that the whole book was In a POC country with different culture to mind which I loved to read about. The only reason it's not a 5/5 is due to me not falling in love with ALL the stories some weren't my favourite but still enjoyable, it took me to a dystopian like world which I enjoyed. A lot of immoral characters and fucked up thoughts they had. Can't really say more, recommend.    

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Blood, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Death, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, and Eating disorder

kyarabereading's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

This is definitely one of the darkest & most haunting books I have read thus far, & I didn’t know how I’d handle that originally, but it was definitely worth the read. The writing style, the characters, the stories in general - they really stick with you even long after you’ve read them. And the endings - whether you could see them coming or not - hit you like a punch in the gut. Each one is really heartbreaking & horrifying in its own way.  

I will say I think some stories were better than others, but maybe if I gave it another read sometime in the future, I’ll change my mind about that lol I definitely had some immediate favorites & that made certain stories pale in comparison. But I feel like that’s usually the case with short story collections. Nonetheless, I thought it was a pretty good short story collection!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Self harm, Alcohol, Abandonment, Child death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Excrement, Torture, Kidnapping, and Trafficking

ellewhyoh's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

cadenceann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

this was the book that made me realize that I don't have a taste for "disturbing" literature as in dark subject matter but more like surreal and absurd. this collection has a good mix of both but the dark stuff was a little too much for me 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Suicide, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Rape, and Violence

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Medical content, Suicide, Child death, Drug abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, and Trafficking

faye3012's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Suicide

eli99'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book had some good stories and some they weren't worth it. It's the type of crazy horror that I love. Boardering on reality. I love reading books like this that have been translated to English because you can tell a bit of the cultural difference as well. Horror and ghost stories are so different between cultures. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Self harm, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Gore, Child death, Pedophilia, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Suicide

Minor: Transphobia

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Violence, Grief, Sexual violence, Gore, Kidnapping, Death, Child death, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Vomit, Rape, Trafficking, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, and Excrement

Moderate: Police brutality, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Gun violence, Alcohol, Sexism, Misogyny, Confinement, Incest, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship