Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

95 reviews

gusabus's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was an absolutely mesmerising read. It's disturbing, chilling, and entrancing; I came away from each story a little shaken and thinking about it before sleep, which is what I want from an anthology. Highly recommended for any fans of unnatural literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Rape, Child death, and Pedophilia

annilikesbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It's a wild read but definitely captivating. I really enjoyed the pace and I'm positive some stories will always stay with me. The only frustrating part was that some stories ended without a crescendo and it felt like a little let done. But overall a very dark book but one to get back into reading. But read with caution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Suicide, Self harm, and Murder

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

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

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

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

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

boquitap4sion's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Por alguna razón esperaba que me gustara más, pero aún así me pareció muy bueno y de un terror muy grotesco, inquietante y psicológico. Algunas historias eran realmente brillantes y quedé emocionada por leer el otro libro de Mariana Enríquez que tengo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Gore, Drug use, Sexual content, and Self harm

Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Cancer, and Drug use

Minor: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Rape