Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

19 reviews

orlabutler's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

This book really was not for me. I'm sure there are some people out there that would love it but I honestly wanted to give up on it over and over again. I only powered through because it is a book of short stories and I thought I might find one I liked. Every story felt like it was dragging on and then the end felt like a page was missing. There are some serious and disturbing themes explored and not well, I feel like they are more being used for shock factor than anything else. I saw so many people recommend this book and I am very disappointed 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Classism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Gore, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Slavery, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Addiction, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Trafficking, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Incest

nialiversuch's review

dark funny mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Body horror, Body shaming, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Favourites were meat and kids who come back
‘She longed for summer to be the last, and she spent more and more time in the lookout tower, where she could b barely hear the whisper of the living, which she knew how to imitate so well, but could not comprehend.’

‘ I have three memories of him, but one of them could be false.‘

SPOILERS-
Kids who come back- kids who’ve disappeared return but not really human
Meat- teen girlies eat their dead idol
The lookout- ghosty wants sad girl in the tower to replace her
Angelita unearthen- lonely ghost baby comes to haunt her relative cause she was left behind
Our lady of the quarry- fuck u smart girl im gonna pray u and ur hot boyfriend get eaten alive by rabid dogs
The cart- neighbourhood chase away homeless man and theyre all cursed but one family isn’t affected
The well-  girl grows up fearless, becomes terrified as her mother and sister delay their fears onto her, she lives on misery, but is too afraid to throw herself down the well
Rambla triste- woman visits friend in barcelona who tells her the streets are full of ghost children who wont let anyone leave
Where are you dear heart- girlypop has a heartbeat irregularity fetish but her boyfriends doesnt mind to much if he dies cause she wants to her his heart beat get more and more problematic
No birthdays or baptisms- guy hired to film things asked to film girl having seizures in which she claims ‘he’ makes her do things
The dangers of smoking in bed- her neighbour was paralysed and smoked in bed till she caught fire and died, girly pokes holes in her sheets with cigarette, the ceiling looks like stars, and smokes out the moths
Back when we talked to the dead- teen girls talking to spirits duh they start to leave mid convo, say they don’t trust one of the girls, one girls brother comes in but it was not her brother

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Violence, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, Vomit, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

raquelcanread's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

Graphic: Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

introverted_reads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Child death, Mental illness, Drug use, Body horror, Excrement, Sexual content, Suicide, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Medical content, Addiction, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Gun violence, Cursing, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Alcohol, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Rape, Vomit, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest, Lesbophobia, Ableism, Car accident, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Police brutality

izzyknight's review

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

I have never read a book like this. Horrific, haunting and addictive. I usually don’t love short story collections but that did not put me off with this, I enjoyed the snapshots of disturbed worlds the structure allowed. I thought some stories were stronger than others but each had such a twisted core, I was relentlessly engaged. Some parts were so disgusting, so disturbing I had to put the book down but that was clearly the intention of the author. A very well writing collection and one that will haunt me for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Transphobia

looney_moons's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I will read anything Mariana Enriquez has ever written if it makes me feel even as close to feeling like this.


Ratings for the individual stories (rating is the average):
Angelita Unearthed: 4/5
Our Lady of the Quarry: 5/5
The Cart: 3/5
The Well: 5/5
Rambla Triste: 3/5
The Lookout: 3/5
Where Are You, Dear Heart: 4/5
Meat: 4/5
No Birthdays or Baptisms: 4/5
Kids Who Come Back: 5/5
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: 3/5
Back When We Talked to the Dead: 3/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Murder, Violence, Self harm, Child abuse, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Gore, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Rape, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Child death

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Pedophilia

gcjay1994's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

caseythereader's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Ableism and Transphobia