Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

11 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

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

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

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

eli99's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Not as good as her more recent collection of short horror stories. A few of these just didn't land as interesting or horrific. But some of them were dark and spooky in that enjoyable ways. The way she captures these short pictures of the character's lives is quite pleasant. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Child abuse, Trafficking, Mental illness, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Drug use, Pregnancy, Addiction, Classism, and Medical trauma

kelisabeth's review

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Transphobia

emimli's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

Scawy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death, Eating disorder, Rape, and Violence

thenonbinaryc's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Abandonment, Abortion, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Self harm, Rape, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Vomit, Violence, Transphobia, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Fatphobia

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

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