Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

61 reviews

gossamer_lens's review

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? Yes

4.0

Overall a creepy and interesting short story collection. The below are my ratings for each short story. My rating for the book is the average of these:

3.75 - The Dirty Kid
4.25 - The Inn
2.75 - The Intoxicated Years
4.5 - Adela's Hours
5 - An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt
3.5 - Spiderweb
4.75 - End of Term
4 - No Flesh Over Our Bones
4.25 - The Neighbot's Courtyard
3.5 - Under the Black Water
2.75 - Green Red Orange 
4.75 - Things We Lost in the Fire

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Police brutality, Gore, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Excrement, Murder, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Gun violence, Child abuse, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Vomit, Eating disorder, Drug use, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Addiction

drgnhrt968's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Body horror, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

emilyseebold's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Suicide attempt, Rape, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Mental illness, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Drug use, Police brutality, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Moderate: War, Vomit, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Gun violence, and Torture

Minor: Homophobia and Eating disorder

revjess's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Unlike Dangers of Smoking in Bed, this collection is a lot more political- which is not a bad thing!! But I feel like I am missing context for the stories due to not understanding the political landscape they’re set in.

That being said, all of the stories have merit. There were none that I disliked- which is rare. I’ll add my top 3 later. Also unlike DOSIB the titular story is one of the best. Beautifully written, gloriously gory, a good time all round!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Child death, Animal death, Pregnancy, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Classism, and Death

Minor: Police brutality, Trafficking, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

maw's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Eating disorder, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide, Drug use, and Drug abuse

erishti's review against another edition

This book was hard to read... there were so many themes of drug abuse and sex... and I think it made me realize that as a cis guy reading stories about lesbians is difficult because I am obviously not a woman and can't really understand what it's like... but what do I know haha.

The main reason I stopped reading is because I had to return it to my library ngl

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Vomit, Murder, Torture, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Blood, Violence, Self harm, and Pedophilia

maxgdy's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Police brutality, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Drug use, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Sexual content, Addiction, Self harm, Body horror, Blood, Fatphobia, and Cursing

Minor: Abortion

kerishma's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Physical abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Trafficking, Body horror, Addiction, War, Alcohol, and Sexual violence

aprilyvonne's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Things We Lost in the Fire” by Mariana Enríquez was another unsettling, captivating, and uniquely feminist collection of macabre short stories. I first read “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” about two years ago and I’m still struck by the strange stories that come to mind every now and then. 

This book was truly another example of a unique reading experience. It’s always hard to put into words something so grotesque, and yet, also mesmerizing. I’m still processing the stories, but the few that stood out are Adela’s House, Under the Black Water, End of Term, and Things We Lost in the Fire. Many of the stories and characters will likely haunt for a long time. I loved how the author could incorporate such themes of poverty, police brutality, women facing off the patriarchy, alongside the darker side of humanity. 

If you enjoy the dark, creepy, and daring, then this will be for you. Otherwise, be fair warned that it’s not for the faint of heart. 

***

“Burnings are the work of men. They have always burned us. Now we are burning ourselves. But we’re not going to die; we’re going to flaunt our scars.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Gore, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Violence, Classism, Eating disorder, Addiction, Body horror, Gaslighting, Transphobia, and Sexism