Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

38 reviews

goldenjunegem's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Sexual violence

allyah's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

burnyayhayley's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This collection is truly impressive. There are some seriously disturbing images and each story achieves a strong sense of unease by the end, sometimes in ways, I did not expect to actually find uneasy. 

The author has a very in-depth grip on characterization and is consistently excellent at giving us the correct amount of information so that all the characters feel real and important and tangible, but when you are finished you still feel slightly robbed of closure, which in the context of horror short fiction, is perfect. 

However, I knocked off a star because I am not feeling so impressed by the writing or the content that I am overwhelmed—I just feel a normal amount of impressed, if that makes sense. It's excellent short fiction, but it did not always hit me where I hoped it would. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Trafficking

moraofthestory's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Death, Murder, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Trafficking, Transphobia, Stalking, and Eating disorder

Minor: Excrement

petermedeiros1988's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Part horror, part modern realism, part very subtle political satire, all very dark. Highly recommended. Imagine Kelly Link set in Argentina...and less whimsy, more body horror. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

recollections's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

es a última historia...sin palabras

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual violence, and Violence

chiaralzr's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Suicide, and Torture

thepassivebookworm'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I don't read short story collections that often, so I'm never really sure whether I should approach these stories as stand-alone or all tied together. I was getting a sense that the stories shared a common thread, but I couldn't put my finger on it until I looked at some other reviews and then read the Translator's Note at the end. That's when things started clicking for me. 

A lot of the horror in the stories appears to be going for a supernatural angle, but they never fully go there. There's always a tangible explanation for the horror involved, and a lot of the time it ties into the underlying issues going on in Argentina. A lot of that ties into the history of the country itself, which I know very little about, but the most obvious ones that stuck out to me were poverty and the violence towards women. They always seemed to be in the back of my mind as I read these stories, and by the end I couldn't really ignore them anymore. 

In short, this book showed me that I should read more translated works. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, and Sexual violence