Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

33 reviews

thekeytotheend's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, and Classism

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

Moderate: War

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

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

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

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

olivesolivesolivess23's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

An extremely unsettling supernatural epic set amidst the backdrop of the dictadura in Argentina. 

With its evocative and imaginative writing soaked with visceral images of gore and violence, this is a very challenging and difficult read. 

However, Enriquez’s masterful storytelling and characterisation make  OSON a really compelling and impactful book to immerse yourself in. 

I really enjoyed the multi character perspectives and the intersections between them. Definitely will reread again at a later date! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

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

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Classism

abbie_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

5.0

Brutal, brilliant. I want to try and gather my thoughts to give this one the review it deserves but we’ll see

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Our Share of Night follows Gaspar, along with some family members including his father Juan. Juan is a medium used by the Order, a cult-like group who communicate with the ever-hungry Darkness in an attempt to gain immortality. The story opens with Juan fleeing the Order with Gaspar, following the death of his wife, worried that Gaspar has inherited his abilities and therefore destined to a life of suffering at the hands of the Order, who he also suspects of orchestrating his wife's death. 

I'll be honest, I've struggled to rate this one but have settled at 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 for Netgalley. Is it a good book? Absolutely yes. Did I enjoy it? Uhh... Sometimes.

If you pick this up, you're in for a long, atmospheric ride. If you like a slow-burn horror with brutality, creepiness and tension interspersed with exposition, politics (this is set against the backdrop of the Argentina of the 70's-90's), trauma and sacrifice, then this is for you. It's beautifully written (and translated - kudos to the translator), with descriptive prose that was borderline TOO descriptive at times. 

As another reviewer has pointed out, a lot of the horror is front-loaded into the first half, meaning that by the time we reach its crescendo towards the end, it feels repetitive as we have already seen most of the horrific violence the Order is capable of. At around the 60% mark it decides to turn into a sociopolitical book for 200 pages, which is well-done in and of itself but interrupted the flow of the book. At the same time we are left with a sudden ending with some unanswered questions.

Overall this definitely will have its niche of readers who will love it, and I can truly see its potential, but for me it was just a bit too long with both too much and too little going on, and it ended up being a bit of a slog to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide, Homophobia, Excrement, Car accident, and Gaslighting

anastasia_raf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Thank you very much to Netgalley and Granta Publications for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

"Spanning the brutal decades of Argentina's military dictatorship and its aftermath, Our Share of Night is a haunting, thrilling novel of broken families, cursed inheritances, and the sacrifices a father will make to help his son escape his destiny."
 
This is how the book is described, and for the most part I agree with the statement! But, I would also like to add that this book is cleverly executed, it's full of horrifying demons and sinister ghosts, merciless cults and hidden secrets. Shall we move to my complaining? 

I will not comment on the disability rep since it's not my place to judge that, and WE  should definitely read reviews from disabled reviewers on that topic. 
 I felt the usage and presence of queer people is mostly sexual and I'm honestly offended by it. I felt queer people were dehumanized in a way. As much as sex with and between queer people was normalized I think we should be allowed to exist outside and beyond it. We are more than our sexual partners.
 
I would say that "sexchange" surgery is an inappropriate word and its usage is hurtful towards the trans community, so I would advise you to connect with and contact trans people about the correct and appropriate terminology. 
 
The CONSTANT f slur usually directed at homosexual/erotic people. I get it, this is how we were treated, this was most common name for us and all that but half of it felt totally unnecessary.
 S
ome commentaries left me wondering about their purpose and intentions and found them problematic.

 Now, a few observations about the characters.
 Gaspar not feeling akward  or "disgusted" by gay people is nothing. It doesn't make him a descent being. It just doesn't make him an ignorant bigot.
 I found a lot of them problematic, none of them lovable, although I think that was intentional. They were...real. In a terrifying and masterful way, real. 

Now, to the good parts. It is very very clear that the writer of this book is talented. The story she has crafted is deliciously haunting and masterfully horrifying.
 The atmosphere is honestly astounding, the writing even more so. Excellence.
The horror? Incredible.
The plot? Unique, and surprise surprise, excellent.
Am I having nightmares because of this book? Absolutely.
Do I still see Moira in my sleep? You bet I am.
 I will be thinking about this book for a long long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

spepp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Grief, and Car accident