Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

8 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

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

emmaopaline's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Blood, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Child death, and Body shaming

Moderate: Abandonment and Animal cruelty

sgonzo's review

dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Murder, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Rape, Police brutality, Sexism, Suicide, Ableism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Sexual violence

youreawizardjerry's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book fucked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Rape

danycatreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Una colección de cuentos muy difícil de leer en el mejor sentido posible. Muchos cuentos de terror clásico como casas abandonadas, o apariciones y desapariciones repentinas, pero lo que une a todo el libro son las voces de mujeres, creando personajes difíciles y complejos. No todos los cuentos me encantaron, pero comprendo a lo que la autora quería llegar, y para mí eso es suficiente. Están hechos con tanta delicadeza que no puedo darle otro rating que no sea casi cinco estrellas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Medical trauma, Classism, Medical content, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, Hate crime, Death, Gore, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Grief, and Fatphobia

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