Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

10 reviews

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

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.

violetturtledove's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This book is a complex and often confusing journey, but worth sticking with. I don't completely understand everything that happened, but I'm actually tempted to jump back in and read from the start just to absorb more of it. 

The supernatural is mixed well with the political history of the story, and the characters are flawed, screwed up and completely believable. There's some very simple naming- the cult is called 'The Order' and the dark god they worship is 'The Darkness' but I think it works as a stylistic choice, it keeps the story grounded. Despite the fantastical elements it's a story about family, secrets and dealing with the past. And when it comes to horror, people outdo monsters every time. 

It jumps around a lot: it's not always clear at first whether a gap between paragraphs signifies a day or several months. The six parts of the book aren't in chronological order, mostly this does help build the sense of mystery but some sections drag a little.  It's a slow, atmospheric build up rather than a tense thriller. 

I imagine some people will be frustrated by the lack of clear answers on some points, there's a lot going on and I could have done with a little more clarification but again, it fits with the style of the book. Human relationships are complicated and you can't expect easy answers. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

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

muertango's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Car accident

mimi30's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

Need to sit with with my thoughts for a minute and come back. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Slavery, Terminal illness, Vomit, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, and Police brutality

lautreamont's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and War

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Alcohol

yuyine's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

Notre part de nuit est un roman horrifique particulièrement oppressant et dérangeant qui nous plonge au cœur d’atrocités où les monstres sont bien humains mais où le fantastique s’invite comme une ombre supplémentaire. Vaste fresque historique et sociale par sa densité et son alternance d’époques et de points de vue, c’est un roman riche. Malheureusement, de vastes longueurs et une intrigue qui manque de rythme auront eu raison de mon plaisir de lecture et me laissent sur un sentiment en demi-teinte. C’est un bon roman, mais je ne rejoins pas les éloges dithyrambiques à son sujet.

Critique complète sur yuyine.be!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Terminal illness, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, and Classism

turnthepage13's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I'm crying, I crashed through this book. The enormity of this book and the weight of it, feels like a slow beating pulse or a drum that marches and crashes. I'm still in book hangover mode and can't properly digest how I feel about it. I loved it. It was stretches of fascinating story punctuated by short bursts of violence that weren't nearly as descriptive as everything else, but felt more powerful for it. I'll update later as it marinates but 700 pages has never felt so fast. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Colonisation

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Classism