Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

9 reviews

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Vomit

9brightshiners's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This is an intense, extremely violent, and challenging story that spans decades. While often horrifying, this is an extraordinarily well written novel. Gut punching monstrosities live alongside moments of aching loveliness. Families are lost, found, fled from, and reunited. History and living mythology play out on a grand scale. Our Share of Night is unforgettable, for better and worse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Confinement, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Deportation

There are frequent, very graphic descriptions of abusing, torturing, and murdering children throughout the book. There is violence, gore, and blood as well as graphic injuries both accidental and on purpose that are caused by supernatural entities and humans. State violence, kidnappings, and deportations are mentioned throughout the book. In one instance a mass grave is exhumed and studied by forensic archaeologists. There is prejudice, mistreatment, and violence against women, Africans, indigenous South Americans, and frequent use of the f-slur related to homosexuality as well as ableism and one use of the related r-slur. This book deals with period realistic violence but there is also a great deal of abuse, violence, torture, and gore associated with occult rituals specific to the fictional secret society. Also of note: the AIDS epidemic is depicted in this novel.

kneecole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death

Death of a pet dog is “off screen”

clairehe's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

There were times I felt my mind wondering because not much was happening but overall this was a great read. Every time I thought I knew what was happening, things went a different direction. Each character is fully developed in their flaws and strengths. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent

marianne_clh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, and War

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.

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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

blackteadragon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Miscarriage and War

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

sophmcgraw's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Torture