Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

13 reviews

gcjay1994's review against another edition

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

nicnevin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Short stories with a sinister edge, Enriquez writes of a vivid, dark modern world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

cliffhangerbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

 

This 12 short sarcastic and creepy stories have every possible trigger warning you can imagine, but I found them absolutely fantastic. I can’t make up my mind if I enjoyed Angelita or the one about the woman who is aroused by cardiac sounds the most. 

 

I love how Enriquez takes you right into her tales and allows you to feel immersed in the worlds that her characters inhabit. The thing about growing up I’m Buenos Aires is that Enriquez horror has an aftertaste of truthfulness. Gender violence is a recurring theme for the author...and honestly I don’t see how it couldn’t! Sexism is pervasive in Argentina and deadly. 

 

So horror and fiction in her tales are profoundly Argentinian: brutal, irreverent and casual, cause violence against women is sadly casual. But in a way, I love hearing this brutality from her. Enriquez reclaims, owns and plays with the absurdity of growing up in one of the most sordid times in the country’s history and makes a triumphant set of horror stories. To me Enriquez and her contemporaries (like Selva Almada or Cabezon Cámara) represent this resilient and triumphant group of writers that simply owns it. All due respect to mid century Argentinian literature, but to me they are my reading suggestions for anyone who asks me for good books by Argentinian writers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence