Reviews with content warning for Child death - Un lugar soleado para gente sombría

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Un lugar soleado para gente sombría by Mariana Enríquez

6 reviews

autumn_alwaysreadingseason's review against another edition

3.5

Enríquez's short stories are full of horror. Ghosts, myths, creatures, abandoned places, illness and more are featured. Some questions I asked or themes I got while reading: how do our actions affect others? can we live with the consequences if they haunt us? loneliness, pain, intergenerational trauma, belonging, familial expectations, bodily autonomy, violence, revenge, compassion, issues that eat at communities.

My favorite stories were ones that had intense, strong imagery.

In "Face of Disgrace" a woman lost her mother in a mysterious way and she begins to exhibit similar symptoms. Her brother, who had taken care of the mother, supports her. They try to figure out why this strangeness is occurring.

In "Metamorphosis" a woman has a fibroid removed from her uterus and wants to keep it. She decides to make it part of her in a different way.

In "Different Colors Made of Tears" a man messages a shop and asks them if they want his late wife's beautiful, vintage dresses. They accept and three female employees try them on. But these aren't ordinary dresses and the things they feel/see in the mirror when they put them on are traumatic.

In "The Refrigerator Cemetery" two childhood friends reckon with a decision they made in the past at an old abandoned refrigerator factory.

Content Warnings

javafenn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

This book is a translation but honestly didn’t feel like it. I loved the spooky stories and often found myself craving more form the stories or more of a resolution only because they sometimes ended on a mystery, as a spooky story would. I LOVED listening to stories of Argentines, specifically women. It was interesting to get some of the folklore mixed into the tales. The story of the boy trapped in the fridge was especially haunting. I also really liked the story of the ghosts who haunt a neighborhood. The story of the woman who loses her face was my favorite and least favorite at the same time. The idea that generational trauma can present like is does in the story is terrifying and beautiful. It’s a sad, sad story.

Content Warnings