Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

15 reviews

mrhewhanson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Police brutality, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, Classism, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Vomit

jesshindes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I read Our Share of Night on the suggestion of my brother Sam (he of the numerous progeny) and as with many of the books he prefers it was immensely long and also South American. Mariana Enriquez is Argentinean and this is a translation from the Spanish (shout out to translator Megan McDowell). It's set across a period of time from the 60s to the 90s, mostly but not exclusively in Argentina, with different narrative styles and point of view characters across its 720 pages. As this implies it's quite a sprawling novel - I think it would have been possible to write a tighter version of this, although I can see the arguments for and against - and it's pretty graphic and nasty so be advised of that when making your own reading decisions! But I thought it was powerful, clever, and original so if you can stomach the length and the gruesomeness then I do recommend it.

Like a lot of the writers I've been interested in lately, Enriquez is playing with the horror genre: in this case, quite gory, genre-heavy gothic horror (she cites Stephen King as an inspiration and you can definitely see that in parts of this book) used to explore the real-life horrors of the Argentinian military dictatorship. The central premise of the story centres on a demon-worshipping cult whose wealthy and socially influential leaders carry out horrible crimes and murders to satiate their mysterious god, in the hope of benefiting from his favour and his wisdom. Every now and again, mediums are born (typically to poor families), identified, appropriated, and worked until they burn out and die. The book is focused on one of these mediums, Juan, who wants to protect his gifted younger son Gaspar from being exploited in the same way. 

I thought it was interesting that Enriquez doesn't use her story to replace the real life history - it's not an analogy in that way - but has its events taking place around and alongside historical events. Her cult leaders are closely ingratiated with military leaders, benefit from that patronage, and use the disappearances visited on the politically inconvenient as cover for their own murders. Enriquez shows how wealth and corruption are drawn to one another - and by comparison, demonstrates that the horrors which really did take place were just as violent and terrible as anything schlock horror could imagine. A short section focused on the uncovering of a mass grave really drives that home - as does mention of a real-life story from Colombia which I found absolutely chilling!! I always love it when authors do smart things with genre and I think what Enriquez does here is really convincing, so if you don't mind lots of body parts and violence then grit your teeth and give it a go?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Police brutality

blacksphinx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Gore, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Vomit, Child abuse, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Classism, Confinement, Blood, Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexism, and Car accident

Minor: Slavery, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Mass/school shootings, Self harm, Racism, Police brutality, and Miscarriage

CSA does not occur on page but happens to a side character. On top of at least one anti-indigenous slur, this book also contains ableist slurs and a LOT of homophobic slurs. Part of the book takes place during the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the book spends some time showing it.

shannonbauchat's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Rape, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Animal death, Police brutality, and Sexual violence

Minor: War

mimi30's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

Need to sit with with my thoughts for a minute and come back. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, Slavery, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Death, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Infertility, Police brutality, and Rape

befnie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Miscarriage, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Gore, Rape, Suicide attempt, War, Grief, Homophobia, Blood, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Police brutality, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Pedophilia, Car accident, Slavery, and Racial slurs

Minor: Misogyny and Cannibalism

mispaintedlady's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely amazing , beyond words how good this story is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Mental illness, Torture, Terminal illness, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Murder, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Moderate: War

Minor: Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Animal death, Car accident, Classism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, War, Medical content, and Alcoholism

captainroz's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Medical content

Moderate: Self harm, Grief, Suicide, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Police brutality, Vomit, Car accident, and War

quillreads's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.25

Review:

Our Share of Night is the first book by Mariana Enriquez that I have read. Although the plot and the story (mostly) kept my interest throughout its 500+ pages, I struggled to feel emotionally invested in the story. The horror element of the story, while certainly objectively horrifying, failed to scare me. At most, I felt slightly unnerved. The story is well-crafted and comes together nicely, but it did not need to be as long as it is. 

 

The book explores themes of family/generational trauma, relationships, PTSD, war, queer love, and violence. Personally, I did not find the way the story handles these topics to be particularly insightful or original, and I think the book struggles under the weight of all the themes and issues it touches upon. However, I could definitely see someone else connecting to this story on a deeper level than I did, especially if they have a personal connection to the setting or topics.

 

Some of the representation of physical disability struck me as a bit insensitive, but as an able-bodied person I do not feel qualified to speak on that. One thing I do feel qualified to object to, however, is the unnecessary and problematic representation of two individuals who undergo sex changes. These characters are described as undergoing these procedures in order to better worship the god of Darkness, an evil demon, and the narrator notes that people would freak out if they knew how the Order (the demonic cult in the story) had infiltrated the NHS. Given how trans health care is under attack, any portrayal of these procedures as being related to demonic worship is inherently problematic—but what makes me especially angry is that these characters are literally of no importance to the story whatsoever. These characters are briefly mentioned, only to die shortly after their introduction. 

 

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like Our Share of Night if:

·      You have a personal connection to the story’s setting or its themes

 

You might not like Our Share of Night if:

·      You don’t want to read a really dark book (please read the content warnings! This book is not for the faint of heart)

·      You dislike morally questionable main characters

 

A Film like Our Share of Night:

Hereditary, directed by Ari Aster (2018). Similarities between these two pieces of media include:

·      Intense horror plotlines that explore grief, family inheritance, and generational trauma

·      Demon cults and possession

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Terminal illness, Torture, War, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Ableism, Blood, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Police brutality, Sexual content, Animal death, Classism, Infidelity, Alcohol, Drug use, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion, Cancer, Car accident, Infertility, Addiction, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

laindarko2's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Torture, Self harm, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Drug use, Addiction, Miscarriage, Vomit, Racism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Car accident, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Rape