Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

133 reviews

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

cadenceann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

this was the book that made me realize that I don't have a taste for "disturbing" literature as in dark subject matter but more like surreal and absurd. this collection has a good mix of both but the dark stuff was a little too much for me 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Suicide, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Rape, and Violence

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

biobeetle's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, and Child death

Moderate: Trafficking and Pedophilia

isitamonito's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Death, and Gore

Minor: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Vomit, and Trafficking

eli99'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book had some good stories and some they weren't worth it. It's the type of crazy horror that I love. Boardering on reality. I love reading books like this that have been translated to English because you can tell a bit of the cultural difference as well. Horror and ghost stories are so different between cultures. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Self harm, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Gore, Child death, Pedophilia, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Suicide

Minor: Transphobia

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