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A review by writteninthestarwars
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
I was first introduced to Mariana Enriquez with her short story collection Things We Lost in the Fire and I've been hooked ever since. The way Enriquez writes horror is so subtle yet extremely powerful. The sense of eeriness and unease seeped into her stories stays with me for a long time after I finish reading them. In Fire that unease is rooted in the foundational horror and generational pain of a country, but in Dangers it lies more in the uncomfortable aspects of growing up, especially growing up as girls into women. Rather than focusing on the wonders and beauty of girlhood, this collection, at least to me, explores the hard truths and pain and trauma we often encounter but are told to never discuss. But if there's one thing Enriquez is exceptionally good at doing, it's forcing her readers to confront the deeply uncomfortable.
I thank her for it.
*I do want to warn readers that at least one story uses transphobic slurs, though there is no discussion or exploration of further transphobia, at least as much as I can recall. HOWEVER, I have also read some reviews that say this is a mistranslation and that the word used in the original language, Spanish, of this book is 'travesti', which refers to one of the trans identities in Argentina. Regardless, the use of the English transphobic slur might be jarring and uncomfortable to some and warrants a warning. The story in question is Kids Who Come Back.
*Last warning to say that this collection is VERY MUCH horror in all its aspects. Body horror, psychological horror, etc. If this is not something you are comfortable or used to reading, proceed very carefully.
I thank her for it.
*I do want to warn readers that at least one story uses transphobic slurs, though there is no discussion or exploration of further transphobia, at least as much as I can recall. HOWEVER, I have also read some reviews that say this is a mistranslation and that the word used in the original language, Spanish, of this book is 'travesti', which refers to one of the trans identities in Argentina. Regardless, the use of the English transphobic slur might be jarring and uncomfortable to some and warrants a warning. The story in question is Kids Who Come Back.
*Last warning to say that this collection is VERY MUCH horror in all its aspects. Body horror, psychological horror, etc. If this is not something you are comfortable or used to reading, proceed very carefully.