Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Η δική μας πλευρά της νύχτας

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Η δική μας πλευρά της νύχτας by Mariana Enríquez, Χριστίνα Θεοδωροπούλου

172 reviews

aileron's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

lautreamont's review against another edition

3.25

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

frogggirl2's review against another edition

3.5

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book starts out as only a confusing mess and, while the plot eventually becomes evident, the other worldly elements are never revealed as they should be in a book with this length and ambition. There's a lot of repetition in going back to overlapping points of view which contributes to the unnecessary, tedious length of the book. There's a lot of really graphic torture of children which is obviously not enjoyable.

I did enjoy the ambiance, the writing and I was interested in Juan and Gaspar (if not any of the other characters) and their fate. Ultimately, though, this long book just doesn't pay off in the end. I was left wondering why I slogged through this book to get to this completely unsatisfying non-ending for both the plot and the characters.

Content Warnings

gtierk's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It might be insane to say an already 600+ page book should have been longer, but the resolution felt a little rushed to me. Information comes slowly (you won't understand some major plot points until ~400 pages in) but, at least for me, satisfyingly. Not for the squeamish, as mutilation and child abuse are depicted extensively throughout the novel, but an interesting reflection on fate/free will and the legacy of class and violence in Argentina following the military dictatorship

Content Warnings

internalnonsense's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Lurid and expansive, this story uses eldritch horror to explore a legacy of exploitation and trauma. We follow a widowed father, Juan, and son, Gaspar, in the wake of the “Dirty War” of 1970s Argentina. From the beginning, we feel the violence that surrounds them—memorials on the side of the road, suspicion of every stranger. Gradually, we find the violence much closer to home. Juan has married into, and Gaspar born into, a cult called “the Order”, which seeks to commune with gods and unlock the secret of immortality. Juan is the Order’s medium to their dark god and will do anything to protect Gaspar from his fate. We see Juan’s escalating paranoia, and the effect it has on the growing Gaspar. Our Share of Night commits to exploring a very true evil, and as such depicts a lot of very dark, violent things (i.e. watch your content warnings).

The cast is large, and, with a few exceptions, compelling. Juan and Gaspar are undoubtedly the most fully realized two, but we also get moments of unexpected depth from seemingly tertiary or even periphery characters. Ironically probably my least favorite section, I was pleasantly surprised to see

Rosario, Juan's dead wife and Gaspar's mother, get a POV. It would have been easy to let her be a ghost to the story, let her death be more important than herself, but instead she's fully realized.

I can’t think of a single character present for more than a page that doesn’t have motivation and interiority. It’s impressive to read, but does contribute to the novel’s greatest flaw: pacing.

While the beautiful prose consistently creates incredibly poignant moments, the overall pacing of the novel is jolting, with the ending in particular feeling more like a sputtering out rather than a climax or an inevitable conclusion. If the final third was stronger, I probably would have forgiven all prior pacing issues, but, as it is, I finished the book disappointed.

Tonally, however, this story is magical in the darkest possible way. Magic here is synonymous with violence, evil, greed; escalating atrocity weaved horribly with real-world atrocity. The exception to this is that there is an implication that indigenous people (that is, those people who are not colonizers, like the Order is) had their own rituals and power there were not inherently evil, but even then the Order would hunt and corrupt it. Throughout, we’re spoiled with haunting imagery, deep, intricate prose full of feeling, and complex conflict where there is no easy answer or solution.

My biggest weakness as a reviewer here is that I don’t know much about Argentine history, and this story is fundamentally about the civil unrest of this time. Even in my ignorance, the novel was effective in its depiction, but I still feel like a better understanding of what happened would have made what was rich richer.

Content Warnings

abbymawhinney's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

mariafernanda993's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I loved this - argentinian gothic horror with magical realism and historical elements, couldn't ask for more. It felt weirdly like a book version of Hereditary. I was only a bit disappointed by the ending, though not enough to damage the overall experience. Hold my coffee, need to go read Mariana Enríquez' entire bibliography.

Content Warnings