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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
3.0
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
dariarp's review against another edition
- 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
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
ava_lanche's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
anouk_adriana's review
- 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? N/A
3.25
Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Addiction, Gore, Cannibalism, Trafficking, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Medical content, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
I loved this collection - Enriquez's writing is brilliant, smooth, and masterful in its control of pacing and tension.
Every story has this creeping sense of unease from both the realistic and speculative elements of the story. She's exploring several different themes around female bodies, violence against children, mental health, family dynamics and history, reckoning with the disappearances that were so much a part of the mid-century Argentinian political landscape, and more. For example, the longest story "Kids Who Come Back" - the basis is exploring the ongoing issue of disappearing children - from murder, human trafficking, runaways, etc. That's disturbing enough, and then when the speculative element is revealed, the tension ratchets up more. In this story, and several others, you can really see how Enriquez is exploring the ramifications and societal processing of events post-dictatorships.
However, maybe it was the hype or I've just read a lot of darker stories, but these pieces weren't excessively dark, disturbing, or true horror/supernatural. Each one just had enough to keep you off-balance and turning the page. Many of the stories also leave you wanting more (in a good way) because they're a little open-ended. I could happily read more of most stories but I was still left satisfied with what Enriquez gave me.
Interestingly the titular story is neither the first one nor the longest, which is uncommon I find for collections.
If you like short story collections with more of a weird, slightly disturbing bent, I absolutely recommend this collection.
I liked each story but the following were my favourites:
- Angelita Unearthed (a stellar first story)
- The Well
- Rambla Triste (this one was so sad and hard to read at times)
- Where Are You, Dear Heart?
- Kids Who Come Back
- The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
Moderate: Child death, Medical content, Addiction, Sexual content, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Pedophilia
pages_with_panda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Angelita Unearthed: 5/5
Woman is haunted by the dead baby corpse of her great-aunt.
Really liked the story! Very simple but super creepy and unsettling. I thought the relationship between the two characters was kinda funny - almost siblings. Lowkey the last scene made me chuckle.
• Moderate: Death of a child, Body horror, Gore,
Our Lady of the Quarry: 4/5
Teenage kids sneak into a quarry for the summer.
Good story, nice build up. Love any kind of revenge story and this was no exception. Good for Natalie.
• Moderate: Sexual content,
• Minor: Death,
The Cart: 2/5
A mysterious stranger shows up the neighborhood before horrible things start happening.
I did like where this story was going for the most part,. Again, I like revenge stories...But the story fell apart at the end and I couldn't really make heads-or-tails of what happened.
• Moderate: Excrement, Violence, Classism,
• Minor: Racism, Suicide, Animal death, Cannibalism
The Well: 5/5
A young girl suffers from severe anxiety of death and monsters.
Another favorite. Very, very unsettling and dark. The mystery surrounding what happened to her during that first trip was so interesting. Very well done. Sad ending.
• Moderate: Suicide,
• Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts,
Rambla Triste: 2/5
A neighborhood is haunted by murdered children.
I couldn't really understand the premise for this one at all. Was a little interesting but didn't seem to have a point to the story.
• Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse,
• Minor: Excrement, Child death,
The Lookout: 3/5
A Lady in a tower overlooks the hotel where she lives and invites another women to visit.
Had a nice "The Shinning" vibe and also some mystery regarding the Lady Upstairs. An okay story.
• Graphic: Self-harm,
• Minor: Rape, Attempted suicide, Drug abuse
Where are you, Dear Heart? : 5/5
A girl becomes obsessed with irregular heartbeats and tries to find the most imperfectly perfect one.
Incredibly unsettling. Can't stop thinking about this premise and the absolute horror of it. "What the fuck did I just read!?" But in a good, horrific way.
• Graphic: Medical
• Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Ableism,
Meat: 5/5
Two super fanatical fans of a rock star exhume his body and eat his corpse.
Another very disturbing story. Very well laid out and I really liked it. Horrific.
• Graphic: Suicide, Cannibalism,
• Moderate: Self-harm, Vomit
• Minor: Blood
Neither Baptism or Birthday: 3/5
A man tries to record a girl's hallucinations.
Very creepy story. Interesting build up as well. Ending fell a little flat.
• Moderate: Sexual content, Pedophilias, Mental illness, Self-harm
The Kids That Came Back: 5/5
Hundreds of missing children rematerialize but are the same age as when they disappeared.
I really liked this one. Super unsettling and creepy. Had a nice buildup as well and an interesting POV from Machi. (Interesting enough, compared to the Spanish version, the English version of this story had added a few sections of backstory that I think were completely unnecessary, especially because they added some slurs. And really added nothing to the story.)
• Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide
• Minor: Kidnapping, Death, Transphobic slur, Drug abuse,
Dangers of Smoking in Bed: 1/5
Woman smokes in bed.
Uninteresting. Couldn't really get into it. Thought the title story would be great but it fell flat.
• Moderate: Fire,
• Minor: Death, Sexual content, Blood
Back When We Talked to the Dead: 3/4
A group of girls use an Ouiji board.
A basic premise but interesting anyways! Unsettling but not too bad.
• Minor: Ableism slur (Spanish version)
Overall review for the book: 4/5. Solid stories! This is a horror book so check content warnings. Not suitable for young readers.
Graphic: Medical content, Sexual content, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Ableism, Vomit, Gore, Excrement, Violence, Classism, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Child death, and Body horror
Minor: Racism, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Cannibalism, and Rape
starofash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
i wasn't a big fan of the stories that were just violent and gore-y, but i loved the ones that had a more mentally disturbing vibe
my absolute favorite story was "kids who come back"
other favorites were "the well", "the lookout", "no birthdays or baptisms" and strangely enough "meat"
i had to set the book down and think after "where are you, dear heart?". i couldn't continue reading
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Mental illness, Self harm, and Trafficking
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Abortion, and Blood
orlabutler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Classism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Gore, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Slavery, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Addiction, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Trafficking, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Incest
miaaa_lenaaa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
‘She longed for summer to be the last, and she spent more and more time in the lookout tower, where she could b barely hear the whisper of the living, which she knew how to imitate so well, but could not comprehend.’
SPOILERS-
Kids who come back- kids who’ve disappeared return but not really human
Meat- teen girlies eat their dead idol
The lookout- ghosty wants sad girl in the tower to replace her
Angelita unearthen- lonely ghost baby comes to haunt her relative cause she was left behind
Our lady of the quarry- fuck u smart girl im gonna pray u and ur hot boyfriend get eaten alive by rabid dogs
The cart- neighbourhood chase away homeless man and theyre all cursed but one family isn’t affected
The well- girl grows up fearless, becomes terrified as her mother and sister delay their fears onto her, she lives on misery, but is too afraid to throw herself down the well
Rambla triste- woman visits friend in barcelona who tells her the streets are full of ghost children who wont let anyone leave
Where are you dear heart- girlypop has a heartbeat irregularity fetish but her boyfriends doesnt mind to much if he dies cause she wants to her his heart beat get more and more problematic
No birthdays or baptisms- guy hired to film things asked to film girl having seizures in which she claims ‘he’ makes her do things
The dangers of smoking in bed- her neighbour was paralysed and smoked in bed till she caught fire and died, girly pokes holes in her sheets with cigarette, the ceiling looks like stars, and smokes out the moths
Back when we talked to the dead- teen girls talking to spirits duh they start to leave mid convo, say they don’t trust one of the girls, one girls brother comes in but it was not her brother
Graphic: Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Violence, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, Vomit, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Trafficking
emimli's review against another edition
4.5
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