Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

193 reviews

oatsplz's review

challenging dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

mijtje's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.25

The only thing interesting about this book was the cover.

“Meat” and “Kids Who Come Back” saved it from 1 star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Child death, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Mental illness

roskoff's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.75

A compelling albeit stomach-turning compilation of short horror stories. Very unique; the monsters and monstrous circumstances weren’t anything I’d ever read before. Reoccurring themes included life after death, bad neighborhoods, violent and compulsive masturbation, curses, and incredibly antisocial behavior. A good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Violence, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

maisiebrowne1's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Body horror, Gore, Death, Cannibalism, Suicide, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Trafficking

kyarabereading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

This is definitely one of the darkest & most haunting books I have read thus far, & I didn’t know how I’d handle that originally, but it was definitely worth the read. The writing style, the characters, the stories in general - they really stick with you even long after you’ve read them. And the endings - whether you could see them coming or not - hit you like a punch in the gut. Each one is really heartbreaking & horrifying in its own way.  

I will say I think some stories were better than others, but maybe if I gave it another read sometime in the future, I’ll change my mind about that lol I definitely had some immediate favorites & that made certain stories pale in comparison. But I feel like that’s usually the case with short story collections. Nonetheless, I thought it was a pretty good short story collection!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Self harm, Alcohol, Abandonment, Child death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Excrement, Torture, Kidnapping, and Trafficking

gia0203's review against another edition

2.5

I really didn’t gain much from this. I liked the depiction of spain, I cried at the story “the well” (I could write a whole review just for that story) and I did enjoy a few concepts, but it was so underwhelming? the stories felt stilted and unfinished and I struggled to grasp much of their meaning. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Classism, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Pedophilia

katharina90's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

An interesting collection of creepy, unsettling short stories. Enjoyed some more than others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Cannibalism, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Pedophilia, and Self harm

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I have yet to find a short story collection that can make me go 'wow'. Because this was not it.

It had everything I want in a short story collection. It was directed to people who tend to result to pain, to fear, to anxiety.  But I found this book...lacking? I don't know, I only liked maybe three stories and that's about it. My favorite is absolutely Rambla Triste. If the rest of the collection was written like that, then maybe I would have rated this higher.

Also, the last story has the t slur. I have not seen anyone mention it, which is weird...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Trafficking, and Suicide

Minor: Transphobia

ellewhyoh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I sometimes have a problem giving short story collections a fair shake, because I feel like ambiguous endings and unanswered questions are an inherent component of the genre, and that kind of drives me crazy.

That being said, this collection was very intriguing, and the unanswered questions drove me less crazy than usual. This book delved into a lot of different types of horror and the supernatural, but a strong theme amongst most of them was memory and disappearance. When is something lost? Is loss best understood as an action, or as a noun? Is it wrong or right to let the shadows take their toll? 

Overall this collection was very intriguing, and it will leave me thinking.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Blood, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual violence, Self harm, and Physical abuse

Minor: Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

sara_n's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Medical content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Cannibalism, Blood, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Excrement, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Vomit, and Drug abuse