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curiousreader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Things we lost in the fire is described by its English translator, Megan McDowell, as part of a South American Gothic tradition. Horror is born within the context of the everyday, built upon a history of violent dictatorships, still echoing in people’s memories and lives years after its supposed conclusion. Poverty, drugs, crime, and violence against women create the background to which Enriquez imagines horrors of such sharpness as to hit you like a gutt-punch, over and over again. One thing McDowell describes in the translator’s note that I found particularly on-point is that while there is often an edge of the supernatural in these stories, Enriquez’s form of horror is always ultimately based in real fears. There is this realness that makes them so very uncomfortable to read, aside from the rawness of the content itself. Despite already being shocked by the first story in this collection — a young woman witnessing the awful living circumstances of a boy on the street, who she finally ends up ignoring despite his obvious signs of neglect - I kept somehow falling into the trap of the safety Enriquez initially lulls the reader into believing could be true. Each story creates a familiar setting with a sense of things, while not necessarily being great at least being liveable, only to turn the everyday into a nightmare with a sharp turn, a twist that hits you like a slap before you know it. Truly, there were moments when I felt mad at the author for managing to manipulate me into trusting myself in her hands - and to have it hit back at me with such force, I remember flinching at least once with every single story.
While the violence is often hard to stomach, on so many levels, I did think there was sharp commentary on among other things how groups act and feed of each other’s energy in violent acts, women’s vulnerability (in society, in relationships) and their attempts to regain power through potentially destructive means, the avoidance and/or blindness to poverty and despair around us and the normalisation of inhumane living circumstances over time. The balancing of a supernatural edge - the fantastical element to the stories always being used to add a nightmarish quality - also worked well to strengthen the exploration of fears - blurring the lines between the real and the imagined, the living and the dead.
While the violence is often hard to stomach, on so many levels, I did think there was sharp commentary on among other things how groups act and feed of each other’s energy in violent acts, women’s vulnerability (in society, in relationships) and their attempts to regain power through potentially destructive means, the avoidance and/or blindness to poverty and despair around us and the normalisation of inhumane living circumstances over time. The balancing of a supernatural edge - the fantastical element to the stories always being used to add a nightmarish quality - also worked well to strengthen the exploration of fears - blurring the lines between the real and the imagined, the living and the dead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Eating disorder, and Child abuse
independent_wombat's review
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Child abuse
pseudoliterature's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Story collections tend to be a bit tedious if you read them wrong, the magic trick here is to read not more than 2 stories in one sitting. I've seen people finish these type of books in a day (if you like to binge read short stories you do you, I applaud your ability, I just have adhd), and i think short stories work better when you have a clear mind, you have to take a small pause between stories or they might blend in your mind. Read two stories, go for a cup of tea, watch a YouTube video, and then continue for another two chapters.
Besides that, I had a great time, the atmosphere of this book is so familiar to me, i grew up in a very similar place that some people in this book and I have to tell you, the amount of anxiety i had thanks to those stories was more than I expected.
I wouldn't categorise this book as horror or a thriller, it's more of a tense suspense leaning read.
Besides that, I had a great time, the atmosphere of this book is so familiar to me, i grew up in a very similar place that some people in this book and I have to tell you, the amount of anxiety i had thanks to those stories was more than I expected.
I wouldn't categorise this book as horror or a thriller, it's more of a tense suspense leaning read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
samanthaleereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Sexual assault
farbooksventure's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Often times, the real horrors are the reality that we live in. A brutal & haunting collection of short stories that sometimes hitting way too close to home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Police brutality
Moderate: Domestic abuse
bookiecharm's review against another edition
Really couldn’t get into the writing style. The first few stories were underwhelming and I just felt it extremely difficult to come back to the page.
Content warnings are up to the 3rd story.
Content warnings are up to the 3rd story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, and Gore
Minor: Transphobia
surefinewhatever_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I find short story collections to be really challenging, but this one held my attention like no other book has for probably 2 months. The stories were compelling and spooky and I felt invested! My only criticism is that which I always have for short story collections, and it’s the meandering ending many of these stories have. I just found myself constantly wanting more, and that’s not a bad thing, I just left feeling unsatisfied. Would absolutely read more work by Enriquez, and would love to see a full length horror novel from her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
Minor: Child abuse and Pedophilia
banksynb's review against another edition
dark
tense
3.5
3.5/5 My favourite stories were:
- Adela’s House
- An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt
- Things We Lost in the Fire
Admittedly, I am not one to read short stories so when I do dive into a collection, I’m often left wondering if I have the ability to recognize the literary devices at work and whether I am fully appreciating what the author is trying to achieve.
There is no doubt that the version of Argentina that Enriquez has painted is vividly, and unsettlingly, brought to life in these pages. There is definitely a tension I felt turning each page, and that atmosphere, that feeling that you are walking a fine line between the familiar and the uncanny or outright macabre. It did feel appropriate to the tone of the stories to feel compelled to keep reading.
I was particularly drawn in by the prevailing theme of how women experience the world, how they navigate their relationships with each other, with their partners, their communities, and with the powers that be, and the abuse or violence enacted against them (and how they respond to that mistreatment).
However, many of the stories felt truncated to me. Just as I felt invested, the story would end. Or, the story would feel sparse, like I was missing the details that would really round it out and make it click for me. On one hand, for a collection of horror stories, it did read almost how ghost stories would be told around the fire (like a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark but for adults). However, I was often left wanting more. Maybe this is just the short story format I am not used to reading. Maybe it would be remedied by reading the stories in their original Spanish (definitely do read the note from the translator though - it definitely added an extra layer for me). In the end, I’d still recommend this collection and would be interested in reading more from Enriquez as well as influences referenced in the note from the translator.
- Adela’s House
- An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt
- Things We Lost in the Fire
Admittedly, I am not one to read short stories so when I do dive into a collection, I’m often left wondering if I have the ability to recognize the literary devices at work and whether I am fully appreciating what the author is trying to achieve.
There is no doubt that the version of Argentina that Enriquez has painted is vividly, and unsettlingly, brought to life in these pages. There is definitely a tension I felt turning each page, and that atmosphere, that feeling that you are walking a fine line between the familiar and the uncanny or outright macabre. It did feel appropriate to the tone of the stories to feel compelled to keep reading.
I was particularly drawn in by the prevailing theme of how women experience the world, how they navigate their relationships with each other, with their partners, their communities, and with the powers that be, and the abuse or violence enacted against them (and how they respond to that mistreatment).
However, many of the stories felt truncated to me. Just as I felt invested, the story would end. Or, the story would feel sparse, like I was missing the details that would really round it out and make it click for me. On one hand, for a collection of horror stories, it did read almost how ghost stories would be told around the fire (like a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark but for adults). However, I was often left wanting more. Maybe this is just the short story format I am not used to reading. Maybe it would be remedied by reading the stories in their original Spanish (definitely do read the note from the translator though - it definitely added an extra layer for me). In the end, I’d still recommend this collection and would be interested in reading more from Enriquez as well as influences referenced in the note from the translator.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, Animal death, Suicide, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Gore
alertnerd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Drug abuse
Minor: Homophobia and Mental illness
incigiru's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Torture, Gore, Child abuse, and Sexism