Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

104 reviews

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!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Cannibalism and Gore

dariarp's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Vomit, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Violence, Suicide, Self harm, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Drug use, Medical content, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Death, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

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 

---

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

jess_sherlock's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Death, Suicide, and Trafficking

diegocanread's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Racism, Violence, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Terminal illness, Dementia, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Drug abuse, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts

Es una locura algunas veces

hyunepaint's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

la verdad, me gustaron mucho solo 4 de los 12 cuentos pero todos son muy buenos y me gusta mucho como esta escrito así que recontra vale la pena leerlo

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide, Blood, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

sina4books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Excrement, Gun violence, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, and Blood

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-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

3.0

This was a quick read. The shorter stories felt like an RL Stine book, but vulgar. "Kids Who Come Back" had unnecessary use of transphobic slurs, but was the longest and most engaging story in the book.
Copious references to and depictions of bodily fluid didn't necessarily add to the horror, but made reading this a bit disgusting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Sexual content, Cursing, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Addiction, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Suicide, Transphobia, Blood, Child death, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment

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.

---

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. 

---

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