Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

161 reviews

yajairat's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? N/A

4.0

Took me an abnormally long time to finish this, but don't think that I would have been as engrossed if I didn't take my time with it. So many things this novel touched upon, from its use of supernatural horror elements, the backdrop of Argentina's dictatorship, LGBTQIA characters living at the height of the AIDS epidemic, all interwoven well. What is going to stick with me is its theme of family and familial abuse, especially in regards to Juan and Gaspar's relationship. What do we make of this father/son duo, where abuse is committed in the name of love? I think I'll be pondering that for a bit before coming to a conclusion. 

 Only gripe is I felt the ending to be a little rushed, but still satisfying. Overall, a solid read for this fall season.

"We have children so that we can continue on, they are our immortality."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

jadegrayy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kirstym25's review against another edition

challenging dark 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, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, and Death of parent

libraryoflanelle's review against another edition

This is the third book from Mariana Enríquez and Megan McDowell that I have picked up this year. Enríquez has been on my TBR for a number of years and is so incredibly loved by so many, which is why I gave her multiple shots, but I have to admit her books are just really not for me. 

 

After reading ‘The Dangers of Smoking in Bed’ and enjoying the writing but having many issues with it (T slur, inappropriate enslavement reference, fatfobia etc.) I tried again with ‘A Sunny Place for Shady People’ which I had to DNF after forcing my way through an incredibly ableist, sanist and fatphobic story. But alas, I tried again, this time with a 700+ page full novel in the hopes that third time would be the charm. I also already owned this book physically and had heard great things so I figured I’d give it a shot. Alas, third time was not in fact the charm. I DNF’d this one around 23%. 

 

I am all for a cult centred story and am not one to shy away from the horror genre in the slightest. But even within the first 80 pages, I picked up on at least one fatphobic description of person quoted as ‘ugly’ and multiple references to child abuse at the hands of the main character (who I presume we would be spending the whole book with)! That’s a big nope from me! This continued ramping up until I finally called it quits at the end of the first chapter… I couldn’t help but feel that the cult connotations around child abuse were merely for shock factor… According to some other spoiler reviews it gets A LOT worse, so it’s a definite no from me! 

 

I will also say that truly very little plot actually happened in the first 168 PAGE LONG chapter so for that reason alone I’m calling it with this 700+ page book. 

 

I cannot recommend this book and I am afraid this is the end of the road for me and Mariana Enríquez. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, and Death of parent

abernathy_33's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, and Car accident

cjfreddy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

This book was really dense and painfully slow until suddenly it wasn’t and I couldn’t stop. It was good, it’s hard to recommend it for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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.

siobhanward's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

NYT Notable Books 2023: 16/100

I was hovering around a 3* review of the book but then things changed so quickly that my rating jumped. I often am skeptical of 500+ page fiction books, since that often means that authors are trying to stretch things out, adding unnecessary detail and moving the plot in circles, but that was not the case here. Enriquez used her time well and created a plot that was so off-putting that at times it was hard to read. She has a gift for creating a sense of uneasiness that works even in translation and I'm excited to read more from her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent

taniguchi_c's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

itstaliabrynae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism