Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

103 reviews

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

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Medical content, Suicide, Child death, Drug abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, and Trafficking

not_another_ana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

Los dos sabíamos cuál podía ser el final, y no nos importaba.

Colección de cuentos cortos de horror que tocan varias temáticas como lo grotesco, lo sexual y la obsesión. Ya había leído Las Cosas Que Perdimos en el Fuego, de la misma escritora, y por ende esta antología no me parece tan bien trabajada. Se nota que esta colección es ya de hace muchos años y que estamos ante una Mariana Enríquez que todavía no tiene la peripecia de la actual. Tampoco me parecieron aterradores, creo que porque en general tratan de un terror relacionado más a lo sexual y el gore lo cual me aburre.

Son doce cuentos:
-El desentierro de la angelita: una joven es asediada por el espíritu de una niña, 3/5
-La Virgen de la tosquera: un grupo de amigos nadan en una tosquera con fatales consequencias, 3/5
-El carrito: el ataque a un mendigo por una comunidad desencadena una ola de sufrimiento en la vecindad, 4,5/5
-El aljibe: en búsqueda de una cura para su terrible ansiedad la protagonista descubre un secreto de su infancia, 3/5
-Rambla triste: una turista ve el lado oscuro de Barcelona, 2/5
-El mirador: un espíritu solitario fija su interés en una mujer que se encuentra sufriendo, 2,5/5
-Dónde estás corazón: la protagonista desarrolla un fetiche por los sonidos del corazón y lo lleva a límites extremos, 3/5
-Carne: la muerte de un famoso cantante causa estragos a sus fans y las lleva a cometer actos grotescos, 5/5
-Ni cumpleaños ni bautismos: un joven es contratado para grabar a una chica que afirma estar poseída, 2/5
-Chicos que faltan: de la nada todos los niños desaparecidos en la ciudad aparecen, incluso los que estaban muertos, 5/5
-Los peligros de fumar en la cama: una mujer muere en un incendio causado por un cigarrillo, el título del libro y el que menos me gustó, 1/5
-Cuando hablábamos con los muertos: un grupo de amigas usan la ouija para contactar espíritus y la situación se les va de las manos, 5/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Medical trauma, and Sexual content

elenab's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement and Chronic illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Blood

brigg_sy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

Horrible, vile, disgusting, and weird. An incredible selection of short stories that are so well-written, and enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Vomit, Mental illness, Murder, Gore, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Pedophilia

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

I enjoyed some in this selection, felt some were very meh, but overall enjoyed the writing and creepy factor. Def check trigger warnings because some of it can be quite graphic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Medical content, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Sexual content, and Trafficking

solliereads'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? It's complicated

5.0

This was genuinely the most interestingly written collection of short stories that I've ever read. Enríquez has a way of writing that reminds me specifically of the saying about not being able to look away from a car crash - I felt equally mesmerized and disturbed, unable to put the book down.

My favourites/standouts were - as seems to be popular from the reviews - Kids Who Come Back, as well as Meat, The Lookout Tower and Where Are You, Dear Heart?

I would strongly recommend checking out the warnings other reviewers have included for this book, as I likely haven't included all of them, but I would absolutely recommend adding this book to your to-read pile if you're interested in dark horror with twist endings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, Rape, Transphobia, and Cannibalism

itsjoenna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

i was just looking for a book set in Argentina and this one came up, so i didn't have any expectations. i was confused at first, but soon it got me interested. so dark, disturbing, and strange, but i like it. i enjoyed some of the stories, some were just so-so. my favourite chapter is "kids who come back", i love it sooo much, the mystery got me hooked, i want more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Cannibalism and Gore