Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

43 reviews

kalyaniwarrier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

A collection of short stories - brutal, visually horrifying and violent, Mariana Enriquez's The Dangers of Smoking in Bed is an exaggerated reality of the world that is not for the faint-hearted.

Ranging from violence to drug use to pedophilia, the novella covers harsh topics that reflect the dark truths of Buenos Aires and the inevitable dangers that start with smoking in bed. 

Caution advised; refer to trigger warnings before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Kidnapping and Alcohol

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Trafficking, Violence, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

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

kyarabereading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

This is definitely one of the darkest & most haunting books I have read thus far, & I didn’t know how I’d handle that originally, but it was definitely worth the read. The writing style, the characters, the stories in general - they really stick with you even long after you’ve read them. And the endings - whether you could see them coming or not - hit you like a punch in the gut. Each one is really heartbreaking & horrifying in its own way.  

I will say I think some stories were better than others, but maybe if I gave it another read sometime in the future, I’ll change my mind about that lol I definitely had some immediate favorites & that made certain stories pale in comparison. But I feel like that’s usually the case with short story collections. Nonetheless, I thought it was a pretty good short story collection!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Self harm, Alcohol, Abandonment, Child death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Excrement, Torture, Kidnapping, and Trafficking

olivia_martin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Grief, Mental illness, Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Confinement, Pedophilia, Violence, and War

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

alyxinthestars's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Body horror, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Murder, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Grief, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Rape, and Pregnancy

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Violence, Grief, Sexual violence, Gore, Kidnapping, Death, Child death, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Vomit, Rape, Trafficking, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, and Excrement

Moderate: Police brutality, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Gun violence, Alcohol, Sexism, Misogyny, Confinement, Incest, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

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

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 

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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