Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

14 reviews

nefarious_rat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

collection of short stories so character progression and such is difficult, but within each story the characters were distinct and never felt rushed, some of the stories were not to my taste but still very well written, favourites are, our lady of the quarry, the well, the lookout (particularly the characterisation of elina), where are you dear heart (grotesque and delicious my absolute favourite i keep re-reading it), and meat (a very close second favourite for the exact same reasons)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Addiction, Suicide, Child death, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Police brutality, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Abandonment, Cancer, Excrement, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Body horror, Cannibalism, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Vomit, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Outing, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Biphobia, Cancer, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Confinement

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious

4.5

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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

krhe's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

El relato de los problemas de corazón... Esto no lo voy a olvidar en mi puta vida. 

ALSO LO DE LOS CRÍOS REAPARECIDOS WTF

Trigger warnings: todos 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Racial slurs, Self harm, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Cannibalism, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gore, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

ava_lanche's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? N/A

4.0

Twelve eerie stories that thrive in the mysteries they create! These mysteries are not meant to be solved, only experienced through the eyes of different Argentine women whose voices have been quieted, either by shame and insanity or by the ever-present fear of it.

Hailing from impoverished slums, trafficked children haunt the streets; raped and murdered girls reappear in silence; mothers curse their daughters; girls are possessed and scarred yet no one believes them. Crushed rib cages and torn entrails – anatomical obsessions turn bloody. Here, what is not said is the most powerful.

As with most collections of stories, some pieces are stronger than others. Many of these stories feel a little... unfinished. Some endings are unsatisfactory, which is such a shame, as most of the premises are unusually creative and thought-provoking.

However, "The Well", "Where Are You, Dear Heart?" and "Rambla Triste" were definite highlights. I also liked "The Cart" and "The Kids Who Come Back".

The stories work well together, and create a Buenos Aires that is filled with danger – physical, mental and paranormal. The poisons of the city has taken on a ghostly shape, and the repercussions are felt mostly by the women, whether it's their bodies or their minds that are marked by violence, and whether the sins are committed by people or by ghosts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Self harm, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Body horror, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Murder, Medical trauma, Death, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Suicide, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gore, and Excrement

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

I was really looking forward to this collection of short stories, especially as someone who enjoys some haunting atmospheres. Enríquez does a great job crafting an eerie Buenos Aires and some very dark plots for her stories, though I found some were more convincing than others. Unfortunately, I felt that something was missing in these stories and I really struggled to stay focused on this collection. I want to say the issue might be that almost all of them fell flat at the end for me. It could be that the author wanted to leave an air of mystery at the end of these stories, but I found that she was a bit unsuccessful on this front. It should also be noted that the short story, “Kids Who Come Back,” has a lot of transphobic slurs that I thought were entirely unnecessary and didn’t serve a purpose to the story (and, in fact, ruined it).

I’m still interested in reading Enríquez’s other works, but this collection was a bit of a letdown.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Cannibalism, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Trafficking, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Transphobia

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

kjboldon's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

4.25

Enter at your own risk: rape, violence, cannibalism, self harm, suicide, use of transphobic slurs by a character and a whole bunch else. This book is bonkers, horrifying on purpose, and not for the faint of heart. But wow was it a ride. Dark AF. I was reading along and feeling like I was doing OK even though horror isn't usually my jam, then I got to the story on heartbeats. Whoa. So, there's lots of landmines and triggers here. Take care of yourself as you read this and if something upsets you, skip to the next story or put it down. But reading to the end gets you a fabulous story about teen girls and a Ouija board. This is scary, spooky AF, and part of that is the way the supernatural and the everyday horrors overlap and bleed into one another. I think Mary Shelley and Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith would all be proud that this work stands on their (and many others') shoulders. Did you enjoy Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties? This reminded me of that, but even more so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Trafficking, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Mental illness, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual assault, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Pedophilia, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Death, Drug abuse, Excrement, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

agat's review against another edition

Flemme et j'ai pas les références pour comprendre vraiment de quoi il s'agit : de l'histoire de l'Argentine. Une fois que je serais plus informée je comprendrai sûrement la profondeur de l'ouvrage et pourrai en reprendre la lecture. Mais pour l'instant ce ne sont que des creepy pastas peu originaux et sans grand intérêt

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Vomit, Violence, Stalking, Grief, Excrement, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug abuse, Death, Colonisation, and Child death

cosyskog's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories, and it definitely needs to come with multiple content warnings. However, maybe the ugliness of some of the characters is the real horror, the unspoken realisation that they are just like people we already know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Child death, Child abuse, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, Body shaming, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide, Ableism, Classism, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Cursing, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Violence

Minor: Car accident, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Police brutality

emimli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Classism, Body horror, Ableism, Gore, Violence, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Terminal illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Chronic illness, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Excrement, Child death, Child abuse, Car accident, Addiction, and Pedophilia