Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Distância de Segurança

Such a quick read with a lot happening (hence the title), thought I’d somehow missed stuff. I understand the author pulled inspiration from the very real consequences of harmful pesticides being used in Argentina but I didn’t like the way the disabled children were written about in this. It just felt off and I can’t quite put my finger on it on the exact reason. The ending was heartbreaking though.

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teainthelibrary's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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issymaae's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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cathicks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I feel like the story fell flat for a couple of reasons

I didn’t like the mystical aspects of the story, like how David was mysteriously doing things or the greenhouse because it made me expect more at the end of the book and nothing happened that was a “big magic reveal” or something
I don’t like books where the title gives away the story, cause you read the title, know that’s what the story is, but you want it to be more and discover the story yourself. I wanted to be surprised it was a fever dream but at the same time that trope is (in my opinion) more lazy and overused. However this wasn’t AS bad as the typical “it was all a dream” because you’re aware it’s a dream, minus the David part

I honestly would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if it just focused on her in this poisoned environment not aware WITHOUT all the mystical elements. This could’ve very well been a realistic horror novella on its own without the supernatural elements. Overall I did enjoy reading the books aside from being confused from time to time, and even though I was disappointed after finishing.

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plantonic_friendships's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Maybe audiobook wasn't the right medium, but it was nonsensical in an unenjoyable way.

Haha, but I'll give the book this: it truly is a fevered dream.

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hypnopedia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Very quick read, still some questions. This book reads like Bojack Horseman's View From Halfway Down episode. If you know, you know.

Content Warnings

opal_scorpio's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.5

super suspenseful and confusing book. i started it at like midnight thinking i’d just read a bit but instead i ended up staying awake until almost 4 am reading the whole thing in one sitting. and it was so worth it!!

i was so fascinated by the plot and how it’s laid out in a back and forth, conversational manner with David (who is probably a hallucination).

the environment being the villain/killer of the story was really interesting instead of it being david’s change haunting the town. it’s such a rational explanation that you don’t even think about it!! but the deformities and miscarriages of the children of the town and the mysterious animals deaths could be explained by whatever that chemical was in the barrels.

it’s sad that david is blamed for the spooky stuff when in reality his brain was probably fried from the illness that killed the horse and the subsequent fever that lasted for days, NOT his soul being split.

throughout the story it’s hard to tell what is reality and what is made up, but the entire conversation is probably also made up in amanda’s head. but i think what really drives home the “fever dream” is amanda seeing her husband visit david’s father looking for answers and her imagining her daughter had switched souls with david. so scary and kinda plausible within the world but since she, the narrator, dies at the end of the story it makes you, the reader, rethink everything she has recounted up until that point.

fantastic book!! 10/10!

(any technical issues i have with the book are being attributed to its translation from spanish to english. i think the plot was fantastic, just some words here and there that maybe didn’t make a lot of sense but again i think it’s a translation issue and not the author’s fault.)

Content Warnings

f18's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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