Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

47 reviews

pasavedra's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Police brutality, and Self harm

erinbarton's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

didn’t enjoy as much as dangers of smoking in bed, the horror elements were a lot more subtle but still had some great stories. would love for mariana enriquez’s other works to be translated too

fave stories: the intoxicated years, adela’s house, spiderweb, no flesh over our bones

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Mental illness, Murder, Child death, Drug use, and Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, and Self harm

Minor: Suicide

ahnminjim's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, and Mental illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Abortion

Minor: Trafficking, Ableism, Eating disorder, and Rape

m4rtt4's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

The best collection of the best short stories I've ever read! Going into the book I didn't know what to expect nor did I have high expectations, but damn did this book prove me wrong in the most cursed, yet oddly beautiful way. Wouldn't recommend this for the most sensitive people, but if you're not easily distubed by the darker side of human lives, try this out! I've never visited Buenos Aires or anywhere similar, but I'd say I got a very authentic Argentina experience just from reading this book. As in, it was so well-written that it was easy for a total foreigner like me to imagine all the surroundings, even smell the scents or hear the songs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Sexism

thebooksanctuary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Police brutality

Minor: Excrement

breezer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

3.25

The Dirty Kid 3.5*
The Inn 2*
The Intoxicated Years 1* 
Adela's House 5*
An Invitation of the Big Eared Runt 2*
Spiderweb 4* 
End of Term 3*
No Flesh Over Our Bones 3.5*
The Neighbour's Courtyard 4*
Under the Black Water 5* 
Green Red Orange 4* 
Things We Lost in the Fire 2.5*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury

georgiee_'s review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Transphobia, Vomit, and Homophobia

perditorian's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Addiction, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Excrement and Suicide

keepreadingbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

This one got me out of a tiny slump. Short stories are always a good choice for me if I want to get back into a good reading habit again, and short stories with a tense atmosphere are certainly a plus. I think I’d describe this one as dark magical realism, bordering on horror. Horror isn’t really my thing, but I can dig dark magical realism, so for the most part this one hit the right spot. 

 

You must be prepared to feel uneasy and a little uncomfortable at times, and that counts both for the supernatural/magical realism aspects and for the realistic ones, as Things We Lost in the Fire is also very much social criticism. Argentinian history and culture is for the most part unknown to me, and I love learning about a country through stories; in my opinion, you don’t at all need long explanations of traditions and customs – in fact, I often get a better feel of a country’s or area’s atmosphere if I’m plunged right into it. 

 

In many ways, this one actually reminded me of What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky (though Things We Lost is certainly a lot darker) – both collections have magical realism aspects, both introduced me to cultures I didn’t know much of beforehand, and the writing styles are slightly similar – very direct and matter-of-fact, which I *love* – though in my opinion Arimah, author of What It Means, is still in a league of her own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Addiction and Police brutality

Minor: Mental illness

katie_greenwinginmymouth's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

So glad to have finally got round to reading these stories. I really appreciate writing where horror or genre tropes are used to explore and expose actual real life horror - in this case that of a country that has been brutalised by decades of violent dictatorship. These elements of the stories are so well done and are rooted in Argentina’s religious and spiritual traditions. The stories are genuinely unsettling and rightly so. There is a really strong sense of place throughout and the unforgiving nature of the landscape and the climate is often referenced - at one point the humidity is described “as if a brutal arm were wound round your waist and squeezing.” I was struck by how many of the stories featured vile, useless or abusive men and how much that said about the pervasiveness of toxic masculinity. “Under the Black Water” might have been my favourite one for its brilliant commentary on police brutality, environmental degradation and society’s prejudice against and fear of marginalised communities. It is darkly carnivalesque and burrows deep under your skin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Murder