Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

87 reviews

anastasia_raf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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? No

3.0

Thank you very much to Netgalley and Granta Publications for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

"Spanning the brutal decades of Argentina's military dictatorship and its aftermath, Our Share of Night is a haunting, thrilling novel of broken families, cursed inheritances, and the sacrifices a father will make to help his son escape his destiny."
 
This is how the book is described, and for the most part I agree with the statement! But, I would also like to add that this book is cleverly executed, it's full of horrifying demons and sinister ghosts, merciless cults and hidden secrets. Shall we move to my complaining? 
I will not comment on the disability rep since it's not my place to judge that, and WE  should definitely read reviews from disabled reviewers on that topic. 
 I felt the usage and presence of queer people is mostly sexual and I'm honestly offended by it. I felt queer people were dehumanized in a way. As much as sex with and between queer people was normalized I think we should be allowed to exist outside and beyond it. We are more than our sexual partners.
 
I would say that "sexchange" surgery is an inappropriate word and its usage is hurtful towards the trans community, so I would advise you to connect with and contact trans people about the correct and appropriate terminology. 
 
The CONSTANT f slur usually directed at homosexual/erotic people. I get it, this is how we were treated, this was most common name for us and all that but half of it felt totally unnecessary.
 S
ome commentaries left me wondering about their purpose and intentions and found them problematic.

 Now, a few observations about the characters.
 Gaspar not feeling akward  or "disgusted" by gay people is nothing. It doesn't make him a descent being. It just doesn't make him an ignorant bigot.
 I found a lot of them problematic, none of them lovable, although I think that was intentional. They were...real. In a terrifying and masterful way, real. 

Now, to the good parts. It is very very clear that the writer of this book is talented. The story she has crafted is deliciously haunting and masterfully horrifying.
 The atmosphere is honestly astounding, the writing even more so. Excellence.
The horror? Incredible.
The plot? Unique, and surprise surprise, excellent.
Am I having nightmares because of this book? Absolutely.
Do I still see Moira in my sleep? You bet I am.
 I will be thinking about this book for a long long time. 

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saramercedes17's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0


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julesandjude's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

A masterpiece. Mariana Enríquez knows how to write a compelling and mysterious story you won't forget too fast.
Either you love it or you hate it, there is no in between.

Review in German:
Poetischer Horrorroman

"Unser Teil der Nacht" spielt zwischen 1960 und 1997 in Argentinien und London. Das Buch wird nicht chronologisch erzählt, sondern das Leben der Charaktere wird in verschiedenen Phasen ihres Lebens während einer sehr dunklen Zeit in Argentinien beschrieben. Obwohl dieses Buch einige sehr wichtige und dunkle politische Momente in der argentinischen Geschichte erwähnt, ist dies jedoch nicht Kern des Romans.
Im Mittelpunkt der Geschichte stehen hierbei Juan und seinen Sohn Gaspar, denen man als Leser*in von klein auf bis ins Erwachsenenalter hindurch begleitet. Juan ist ein Medium, das für eine Sekte, den Orden, arbeiten muss. Der Orden betete die Dunkelheit an und hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, Unsterblichkeit zu erlangen. Um sein Ziel zu erreichen, schreckt der Orden nicht vor grausamen und blutigen Ritualen zurück und geht wortwörtlich über Leichen. Gaspar soll wie Juan auch ein Medium werden, doch Juan will ihn vor den Fängen des Ordens schützen und versucht dessen Pläne zu durchkreuzen. Juan will sicherzustellen, dass Gaspar nicht dasselbe Leben als Medium des Ordens erleiden muss, wie es bei ihm der Fall war.

Kurz ein Roman über 40 Jahre argentinische Geschichte, Freundschaft, Liebe, die Dunkelheit, menschliches und übersinnliches Grauen und Geheimgesellschaften.
Ebenso enthält es einen Mix aus europäischen okkultistischen Elementen wie Riten, Salz, Blut und Pentagramme und lokalen Elementen wie der Figur von „San la Muerte“ und „Huesito“, was es zusätzlich interessant zum Lesen macht, auch wenn die Beschreibungen teils sehr grafisch und grausam sind.

Ich habe mich in die Charaktere und die Geschichte verliebt, beim Lesen hatte ich den Wunsch, das Buch würde niemals enden. Ich fieberte, ich litt und fühlte mit Juan und Gaspar, so real sind sie beschrieben. Beide Charaktere sind perfekt gezeichnet, sie sind komplex, nicht ohne Fehler und Makel und teilweise auch ziemlich brutal, aber auch voll von Liebe, wie Menschen im echten Leben eben so sind.

Wer auf der Suche nach einer wunderschön erzählten und fesselnden Geschichte mit faszinierenden Charakteren ist sowie Elementen des magischen Realismus und Horrorgeschichten nicht abgeneigt ist, dem kann ich "Unser Teil der Nacht" vom ganzen Herzen empfehlen.

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spepp's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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chionifos's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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


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marhelman's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0


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nane's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75


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