Scan barcode
m_buchanan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? N/A
5.0
This is my first Mariana Enriquez book. And boy was it a ride! So much of these stories were about the social condition of Argentina, and how women view themselves or others view them in this world, all wrapped in warped, horrific, edge of your seat stories. Honestly, these stories are hard to fully describe, but they pull at you. They make you think of the human condition, especially women, and who we are in this world.
If you are a fan of Kelly Link, or even Kate Atkinson’s short stories, you will enjoy this book. If you can’t suspend your need for perfect arcs and tropes played out as expected, and sit with the uncertainty of a story’s end, this book is not for you. But if you can, you will see the many rich layers Enriquez has crafted here, in such few pages.
If you are a fan of Kelly Link, or even Kate Atkinson’s short stories, you will enjoy this book. If you can’t suspend your need for perfect arcs and tropes played out as expected, and sit with the uncertainty of a story’s end, this book is not for you. But if you can, you will see the many rich layers Enriquez has crafted here, in such few pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
In many ways, this is a horror book. But the stories are short and interwoven with many layers of emotionally compelling writing. If you can get past the gore, these stories are truly interesting.rainbowbookworm's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
Un lugar soleado para gente sombría fue mi primera experiencia leyendo a Mariana Enríquez en castellano, y definitivamente no será la última. Escuché el audiolibro, narrado por Mara Brenner, quien hizo un trabajo excelente al capturar la atmósfera inquietante de cada historia—aunque el inglés en las citas sonaba un poco fuera de lugar.
Enríquez sabe cómo hacer que el horror se sienta profundamente real y cercano, con cuentos que van de lo espeluznante a lo francamente asqueroso. Como ocurre en la mayoría de las colecciones de cuentos, algunas historias se destacan más que otras, pero todas logran transmitir esa sensación de peligro latente en lo cotidiano. Una lástima que el audiolibro no incluya los títulos de cada cuento, porque me hubiera gustado mencionar mis favoritos en esta reseña.
Para mí, Mariana Enríquez es una de las mejores voces del horror latinoamericano, y me alegra ver que su obra esté recibiendo el reconocimiento que merece en el mercado anglosajón. Después de esta experiencia, estoy decidida a seguir leyendo sus libros en el idioma original, pues siento que ciertos matices y detalles podrían perderse en la traducción.
En definitiva, Un lugar soleado para gente sombría es una lectura perturbadora e imperdible para los amantes del terror que buscan explorar historias con una perspectiva única y profundamente inquietante.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
zhazhadiamond's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
shellballenger's review against another edition
dark
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
2.25
Type of read: Commuter Read
What made me pick it up: One of the TN R.E.A.D.s prompts for October is to read a book by a Hispanic or Latinx author. The title and cover art drew me in.
Overall rating: I struggled with this one. I didn't find the stories to be all that entertaining and I had to keep reminding myself to put this one on to listen (I read as an audiobook). I'm not sure if there's something missing in the translation (I read an English translation) or if I just wasn't getting into the content. Some stories were better than others in my opinion, but many of them just seemed like random diary entries of overly imaginative individuals. Maybe I expect more scare and thrill from my thriller/horrors, but this wasn't it for me. I probably wouldn't recommend it, but I'm glad I was exposed to some different authors from who I usually read.
Reader's Note: 'A Sunny Place for Shady People' includes multiple stories that include themes of sex, sexual assault, rape, death, dying, torture, dismemberment, supernatural activity, general assault, and witchcraft.
What made me pick it up: One of the TN R.E.A.D.s prompts for October is to read a book by a Hispanic or Latinx author. The title and cover art drew me in.
Overall rating: I struggled with this one. I didn't find the stories to be all that entertaining and I had to keep reminding myself to put this one on to listen (I read as an audiobook). I'm not sure if there's something missing in the translation (I read an English translation) or if I just wasn't getting into the content. Some stories were better than others in my opinion, but many of them just seemed like random diary entries of overly imaginative individuals. Maybe I expect more scare and thrill from my thriller/horrors, but this wasn't it for me. I probably wouldn't recommend it, but I'm glad I was exposed to some different authors from who I usually read.
Reader's Note: 'A Sunny Place for Shady People' includes multiple stories that include themes of sex, sexual assault, rape, death, dying, torture, dismemberment, supernatural activity, general assault, and witchcraft.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
javafenn's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
aileron's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, and Gore
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Kidnapping
savvylit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
I am a big fan of short story collections, in general. However - and this seems to be the nature of the form - many short stories often leave me wanting more; there's a sense of incompleteness when they're over. As someone who has only dabbled in writing fiction of my own, I know that a satisfying ending is the worst (and hardest!) part. That's why I was ultimately blown away by A Sunny Place for Shady People - Enriquez has achieved a collection of twelve stories that are each perfectly complete.
Now, onto the content of the stories themselves. In A Sunny Place for Shady People, readers are treated to a variety of scares that range from the mildly unsettling to the downright terrifying. Each scare is based in the paranormal yet reflects a terror that is all too real-world: loss, mortality, colonization, murder, family secrets, greed, sexual assault, addiction, aging, guilt, and disgust. In Night Birds, a young (un)dead girl worships her older sister's world of make believe. In Face of Disgrace, a woman inherits a disturbing maternal legacy from a mother that she hated. In Hyena Hymns, a couple accidentally enters a torturous dimension while exploring a mansion in ruins. In the titular story, a woman returns to the site of her grief and spends time with a cult that communes with a famous dead woman. In A Local Artist, a couple escapes to the countryside to seek tranquility but what they find instead is a gradually escalating trap.
Thank you so much to @netgalley, @hogarthbooks, and @marianaenriquez1973 for the advanced reader copy of A Sunny Place for Shady People in exchange for my honest review! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
A Sunny Place for Shady People is out now and can be found in a bookstore or library near you! What are you waiting for?
Now, onto the content of the stories themselves. In A Sunny Place for Shady People, readers are treated to a variety of scares that range from the mildly unsettling to the downright terrifying. Each scare is based in the paranormal yet reflects a terror that is all too real-world: loss, mortality, colonization, murder, family secrets, greed, sexual assault, addiction, aging, guilt, and disgust. In Night Birds, a young (un)dead girl worships her older sister's world of make believe. In Face of Disgrace, a woman inherits a disturbing maternal legacy from a mother that she hated. In Hyena Hymns, a couple accidentally enters a torturous dimension while exploring a mansion in ruins. In the titular story, a woman returns to the site of her grief and spends time with a cult that communes with a famous dead woman. In A Local Artist, a couple escapes to the countryside to seek tranquility but what they find instead is a gradually escalating trap.
Thank you so much to @netgalley, @hogarthbooks, and @marianaenriquez1973 for the advanced reader copy of A Sunny Place for Shady People in exchange for my honest review! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
A Sunny Place for Shady People is out now and can be found in a bookstore or library near you! What are you waiting for?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Murder
bisexualbookshelf's review against another edition
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book releases from Random House on September 17th, 2024 in the US. Unfortunately, I chose to stop reading the book at 47% due to extremely fatphobic and ableist language.
This is my second foray into Enriquez's work. I withheld my reservations about my first experience with her (The Dangers of Smoking in Bed) because I was new to Bookstagram, who loves her, as well as new to translated literature, which I understand has some nuances when it comes to diction. I was excited to explore Enriquez's latest collection and see whether or not I had the same issues. Turns out, I did.
First of all, a lot of these stories just didn't work for me. "My Sad Dead" was a really strong start, but after that, I got halfway through the book and didn't enjoy any of the other stories.
The titular story, "A Sunny Place for Shady People," follows a journalist to Skid Row to report on a group that holds rituals honoring Elisa Lam. For those who don't know, Elisa Lam was a real person who mysteriously died in Los Angeles in 2013 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elisa_Lam). Elisa was bipolar and had likely been off her medication at the time of her death. As such, her death was ruled an accidental drowning, with many suspecting she was experiencing a psychotic episode due to her bizarre behavior in surveillance footage that is the last known sighting of her. However, not all the evidence points in this direction, and many people still suspect Elisa was the victim of foul-play. Either way, Elisa was a 21-year old neurodivergent Chinese American woman who died a tragic death, and Enriquez's use of her story in this book feels particularly exploitative.
The story that put the nail in the coffin for me was "Julie." In this story, the narrator's cousin Julie moves back to Buenos Aires after a childhood in the US. Julie started seeing "invisible friends" as the result of seances her parents hosted as social gatherings. Almost immediately, the narrator describes Julie as fat. Several scenes describe how Julie eats with her hands, shoveling fistfuls of food into her mouth at a time. The story describes Julie as "ob3se" multiple times, including in this quote:
This is my second foray into Enriquez's work. I withheld my reservations about my first experience with her (The Dangers of Smoking in Bed) because I was new to Bookstagram, who loves her, as well as new to translated literature, which I understand has some nuances when it comes to diction. I was excited to explore Enriquez's latest collection and see whether or not I had the same issues. Turns out, I did.
First of all, a lot of these stories just didn't work for me. "My Sad Dead" was a really strong start, but after that, I got halfway through the book and didn't enjoy any of the other stories.
The titular story, "A Sunny Place for Shady People," follows a journalist to Skid Row to report on a group that holds rituals honoring Elisa Lam. For those who don't know, Elisa Lam was a real person who mysteriously died in Los Angeles in 2013 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elisa_Lam). Elisa was bipolar and had likely been off her medication at the time of her death. As such, her death was ruled an accidental drowning, with many suspecting she was experiencing a psychotic episode due to her bizarre behavior in surveillance footage that is the last known sighting of her. However, not all the evidence points in this direction, and many people still suspect Elisa was the victim of foul-play. Either way, Elisa was a 21-year old neurodivergent Chinese American woman who died a tragic death, and Enriquez's use of her story in this book feels particularly exploitative.
The story that put the nail in the coffin for me was "Julie." In this story, the narrator's cousin Julie moves back to Buenos Aires after a childhood in the US. Julie started seeing "invisible friends" as the result of seances her parents hosted as social gatherings. Almost immediately, the narrator describes Julie as fat. Several scenes describe how Julie eats with her hands, shoveling fistfuls of food into her mouth at a time. The story describes Julie as "ob3se" multiple times, including in this quote:
My aunt faked a fainting spell, I think so we would stop picturing her ob3se daughter's rolls of fat being fondled...
For those who aren't aware, the word "ob3se" is considered a fatphobic slur by many because of its medicalized, stigmatizing history and how it pathologizes fat bodies. It is derived from medical language that often equates higher body weight with disease, labeling fat bodies as inherently unhealthy, without considering individual health differences. It is also frequently used in ways that reinforce negative stereotypes about fat people, such as being lazy, unhealthy, or lacking self-control. The Body Mass Index (BMI), which classifies people as "ob3se" or "overweight," is widely critiqued for being an inaccurate and incomplete measure of health. As such, many body liberation advocates prefer terms like "fat," which some have reclaimed as a neutral descriptor without moral or medical judgment.
Beyond the fatphobia, Julie is assumed to be schizophrenic due to her "invisible friends," leading to some ableism and sanism about psychotic people.
Despite these concerns, I tried to read the story that follows "Julie" and found it just as disappointing as the others. With this in mind, I chose to DNF A Sunny Place for Shady People at 47%. I am not familiar with all the nuances of translated literature, so I am unsure if this is a problem with Enriquez's writing or McDowell's translation, but I am unlikely to seek out Enriquez's work in the future.
Beyond the fatphobia, Julie is assumed to be schizophrenic due to her "invisible friends," leading to some ableism and sanism about psychotic people.
Despite these concerns, I tried to read the story that follows "Julie" and found it just as disappointing as the others. With this in mind, I chose to DNF A Sunny Place for Shady People at 47%. I am not familiar with all the nuances of translated literature, so I am unsure if this is a problem with Enriquez's writing or McDowell's translation, but I am unlikely to seek out Enriquez's work in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Fatphobia
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Please note that my content warnings only apply to the first half of the book as I did not read any further than that.charlatana's review
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
macncheese_pdf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder