Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

35 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Suicide attempt

eleanor_nicbhatair's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

This is such a hard book to review. I buddy read it with a friend (Abi of Pellinor) and I loved discussing it with her every 50 pages (why no chapters...) 

There was so much promise in this storyline and the first 1/3 was great. I was so intrigued by the horror and darkness of the plot and characters. I think it got lost somewhere in the middle and by the end I was losing interest and the ending was lackluster to the darkness of the beginning. It didn't need to be so long and by meandering the impact of the story was lost. 

I will say however the author did a fabulous job with the levels of representation in this book. LGBTQIA and disability rep all throughout the book and woven so expertly into the story that the characters felt real and were well developed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Blood

abiofpellinor's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

Imo this should have been released instead as a duology. The second half of this book, focusing on the son rather than the father, had much less direction than the first. The fathers section was very much a horror book. The sons was dark, but nowhere near so much and the events set up by the fathers section seemed underwhelming. So much potential with this book.

I will say the representation in here around AIDS, gay people, disabled people, and more was absolutely fantastic. Everything flowed very naturally and none of the representation felt forced. Very well done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Body horror, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Car accident

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

Moderate: Colonisation, Animal death, and Slavery

Minor: War, Gun violence, Cancer, and Rape

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

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

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

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

ritaicu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

I loved this book a lot. It‘s descriptions are incredibly atmospheric and lush while the story is very bleak, brutal and visceral. I enjoyed learning about Argentina‘s history as well as seeing the characters‘ lives play out over several decades. Especially Juan and Gaspar‘s relationship was really interesting. The only thing that bothered me is that the ending is a little rushed and it felt like there were many interesting plot points that remained unresolved. It still was one of my absolute favourite reads this year and has piqued my interest in Latin American literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicide, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Death, and Colonisation

carbs666's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Woof what a strange, scary, intense, gross, unique book. I've never read anything like this and I loved every second of it! The structure of the book and the use of multiple points of view for narration is highly effective in a story where you're never sure what's real and what's imagined, what's true and what's a lie. It presents you with ideas and perceptions of characters that are then immediately overwritten when the narrative POV is handed off to someone else. It's complicated. The web of connections extending from Order members to civilians and communities mimics the sinister workings of corrupt governments and those with enough wealth to avoid all consequences. This book is rife with jump scares and is extremely gorey so be warned! Also, I saw a blurb refer to this book as having queer subtext but its just fully queer text. Queer lives and histories are integral to the plot and the development of the characters. The book is a masterclass in tone - at times, the language starts to shift and create an atmosphere that feels like you're barreling towards a cliff face but instead of wanting to slam on the brakes, you want to get there faster. There's an urgency here that undercuts everything, the irresistible presence on the other side of the door. The ending is unsatisfying because it can't be any other way. I cannot stress how much of this book is deeply fucked up and how compelling it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Violence, and Gore

mrhewhanson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Police brutality, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, Classism, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Vomit

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

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

Minor: Miscarriage and War