Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

38 reviews

camscampbell's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

This dark horror novel is set in Argentina and spans the period from 1960 to 1997. It follows the lives of Gaspar, the main character, and his family as Gaspar comes of age. His father, Juan, will stop at nothing to protect him from the evil clutches of his wife's family, who want to take advantage of Juan and Gaspar's talents of accessing the Darkness to become immortal. 

I read the English translation (by Megan McDowell) and thoroughly enjoyed it. The structure moves around, and I never found myself annoyed by the time shifts back and forth. 

It has some troubling scenes of violence, particularly of child abuse.

The scenes of the children in cages in the dark tunnel under Puerto Reyes were horrific.

.

If you enjoyed Stephen King's It, you'll probably enjoy this. The part set in Buenos Aires in 1985–1986, in particular, reminded me of the Losers Club from that novel. Fans of Clive Barker would probably enjoy it, too. I felt some vibes of The Great and Secret Show in this in how dark it was.

My YouTube review of this book is here: https://youtu.be/M2GgCPpWEpA

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

chauser_k's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book still haunts me. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Violence

muse692's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

melina03's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Biphobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

tara_siobhan's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

emscordell's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jeanbpdx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicide attempt

ehmannky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

A sprawling and meandering horror book with a plot I feel like I cannot do justice to in a short summary. The general plot of the book follows Juan, a medium for a cult, and his son Gaspar over 30 years as Juan does everything in his power to keep Gaspar from being abused and used in the ways he was. But that feels so reductive because this book is so good and covers so much and it’s beautiful. It’s about the lingering effects that wealthy colonizers have had on people in the global south and rural poor (literally using up their bodies in the pursuit of riches), the damage of the greed of the already wealthy, the lingering psychological and physical effects from the trauma of a dictatorship and living with the ambiguous loss of the disappeared. This book forces you to read slowly, and you get to live out the pain and consuming fear and confusion of Gaspar. It’s so good, I cannot recommend this enough if you like horror.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Slavery, and Colonisation

Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Rape, and War

balamaqab's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Murder

takotsubo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation