Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez

98 reviews

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. 

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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

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide attempt, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

elenamiles's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Suicide, Death, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Child death, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence

warlockdorian's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Excrement, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

freyaturtle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

3/5 
Some of the short stories I really enjoyed (in particular Our Lady of the Quarry and Kids Who Come Back) and felt that at time Enriquez managed to create a really distinctive and spooky atmosphere. Feel this book was let down by a lot of the short stories though, which often seemed to follow a similar format/structure

(i.e. introducing character, something weird happens to them, that weirdness is normally partially resolved but never fully explained)

. I personally enjoy short story collections but feel like the stories needed more variety between them in order to keep me engaged.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Cannibalism, and Murder

nemonade's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Xenophobia and Transphobia

laurajeangrace's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Murder, and Cannibalism

brye_wheels's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Violence, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Chronic illness

mollylhartles'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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Murder

anouk_adriana's review

dark fast-paced

• 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

What the fuck

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Content Warnings

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