Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

32 reviews

codysmovingcastle'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

5.0

This one was slow-paced, unsatisfying by design, with hard-to-love characters. Still, this is easily a 5-star read. 

It's a tough novel to read; physically, with dense paragraphs and odd formatting with unclear quotations, and emotionally, with graphic depictions of abuse, violence, and body horror. I can see how this wouldn't appeal to a lot of people, and the payoff isn't like your typical book climax, but I don't think any characters have quite hit me like Juan and Gaspar have.

The novel is broken up into several (long) chapters that almost act as several novellas, each with a distinct tone, narrator, and writing style. Together, they tell a multi-generational story that meaningfully engages with more themes than I could count: Argentina's political landscape vs. the social elite, generational trauma, cult mentality, grief, polyamory, familial bonds, queer culture/queerness, colonialism, chronic illness and disability, slavery, and so on. 

The characters are where the story really hits though. Juan is horrible and I love him. Rosario is quite unlikeable, imperfect, and one of the best female characters I have ever read. And I've literally never had an ounce of maternal instinct until this book, but I would burn down the world for Gaspar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

vbarsi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.25

I really wanted to love this book. Parts of it were so beautifully (terrifyingly) written - I will think about some parts of this book always for their creep factor.  I wish I felt like more of those parts happen though. I found there were many parts of the book that were too slow and included information I found unnecessary (or maybe boring). The narrator perspective change was a nice touch - I think it helped re-engage me when I found a section of the book had gone on too long. It also really added depth to the story. I think its worth giving a shot if you’re into horror, but wasn’t my favorite 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Ending was not as satisfying as I imagined.

danikajoan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This blew me away. I didn’t want it to end, loved the writing/translation (was already a fan of Enriquez from Things We Lost in the Fire), felt fully invested in the lore and so compelled by the characters. Really intense, a little eerie, sad, romantic, and funny. 

and I am ALWAYS on board for a “house is bigger on the inside than the outside” House of Leaves vibe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Alllllll the trigger warnings for this one, very intense but not in a way that feels like it’s there just for shock value or is exploitative?

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Car accident and Murder

dfrancis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

This is probably one of my favorite books I’ve read in 2023. Despite it being so long, when I finished, I wanted even more. The writing/ translation is great. The characters are complicated and interesting. Not for the faint of heart, but so worth it. A beautiful and terrifying mix or horror, fantasy, and history. I recommend this to everyone who enjoys horror or occult type books. It’s truly a masterpiece 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

jacob_dion's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hlouie8's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Abandonment

mirissab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Please give me more fiction with history, occultism, and queerness. I struggled reading this--a balance between binging and lingering on each chapter, each page. I still have questions but maybe they are never meant to have an answer. It was beautiful, haunting, and layered. Selfishly, I want more from this world, this undeniably tragic yet enchanted universe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

kathburke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Genocide, Gore, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

fiz23_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Ableism