Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

2 reviews

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

badmc's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

A collection of pretty disturbing short stories set in Argentina - now with magical realism! If asked to classify this, I would say it's social horror, because most of the horrific things are far from supernatural and stem from themes such as poverty, addiction, abuse, corruption, misogyny and political landscape(s). The stories are always from a female perspective, so also give the added layer to the uneasiness the characters experience. Magical realism aspect is not that important, because the stories themselves are quite realistic. They are also very vague and open to interpretation, more often than not petering out just before the readers can lay their eyes on the "real horror" of the story. They challenged me to learn more about Argentinian history, altough they don't inform, they just made me want to seek out sources on my own. 

Stories are also quite short, which is my main beef with most of the short stories I read, lacking the details that make me immersed and invested. Stories are also bleak, depressing, and mostly focus on the negative, ugly, and dirty corners of the human nature. I suggest spacing them out over time, because they sometimes feel repetitive because of the structure and themes. Also, all the trigger warnings apply here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Violence, and Torture

Minor: War and Xenophobia