A review by karensbooklog
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enríquez

dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.25

for enriquez, horror comes not only from the fact of the matter itself (ghosts, killers, weird and eerie creatures) but also the social conditions surrounding them (abject poverty, governmental incompetence, the turning of a collective, bourgeois blind eye) or even mundane coincidences (an allergy to morphine, a cancer diagnosis). there's some really interesting stuff going on here about psychiatry, ageism and fatphobia in particular. the setting and background of each story are also super immersive: each character really feels like they inhabit their own fully-fledged world.

the stories themselves are a bit of a mixed bag: none of them are ouright bad, don't get me wrong, but there are a handful of lacklustre endings and some overplayed moments—looking at you, 'different colours made of tears'. only the last story really freaked me out on the level i was expecting. for the most part, i read with a sense of fascination and lowkey creepiness rather than true fright.

favs: face of disgrace, hyena hymns, a local artist, black eyes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma