Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila

5 reviews

orlagal's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Grief, Body horror, Murder, Torture, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage

samanthaleereads's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Medical content, Blood, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

Minor: Sexual content

syinhui's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

While I liked the ambiguity and bizarreness of these short stories - and I don’t mind them being open-ended - it’s just that overall, it’s lackluster and pretty much forgettable. 

“It’s not my imagination, it’s not a dream, it’s not my nerves as you call them, it’s a reality so terrifying that it’s driving me insane, it’s being so close to death that you start to feel its chill in your bones.” 

It’s not as chilling as I thought it would be though. Strange and nightmarish? Yes. Very. But somehow nothing quite managed to unnerve me in a visceral way. The tension and air of mysticism dissipate towards the end of each story (because it’s always cut short!) leaving little to no impression. However, I do think that it perfectly captured the anguish that comes from the feeling of prolonged dissatisfaction and painful monotony of life, implacable despair – the remote hopelessness and helplessness that so afflicts the characters and severe paranoia of the unknown, pushing them to the brink of madness. 

Giving this a bonus .50 stars for the cover which I find to be the most remarkable thing in this book. Also, I wasn't sorely disappointed. Actually, I quite liked a few of the stories: Musique Concrète and Oscar, mainly because their resolutions were a bit more satisfying than the others and Haute Cuisine was oddly funny (or is it just me?) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Body horror

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Infidelity, and Stalking

savvylit's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

The hype is true: Amparo Dávila was an absolute master at building dread. Her stories have often been compared to those of Shirley Jackson and that comparison is valid. Like Jackson, Dávila wrote stories that are rooted in real domestic scenes and something is just a little... off. That being said, Dávila's voice is still distinctly her own and deeply rooted in the culture of her native Mexico.

Each story in The Houseguest is a perfect example of psychological horror. Where Dávila shines the brightest, though, is in her ability to capture a very specific female fear of male obsession and violence. In several stories in this collection, the true domestic terror isn't mysterious but rather all too familiar: a former lover, an obsessed friend, a stranger on a bus. The latter story featuring the stranger on a bus is one I won't soon forget. That character's fear was so palpable that I instantly adopted it as my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Stalking, Violence, Murder, Infidelity, and Child abuse

nikachu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Murder

I would not recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with a mental illness, as it can be quite triggering.