Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Nuestra parte de noche by Mariana Enríquez

121 reviews

zhi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

Absolutely terrifying - had to fight back the urge to read this before bed but could not stop myself from turning the pages… 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, Drug use, Blood, and Body horror

eelizard's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, Torture, Child abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Medical content, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Slavery

kneecole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Homophobia, Classism, Car accident, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical trauma, War, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death

Death of a pet dog is “off screen”

isaospina's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Una noche dormí después de leer este libro, soñé con La Oscuridad, con La Orden, con los sacrificios. 
Hacía años no soñaba con lo que estaba leyendo, pero no me sorprende que pasara con Nuestra parte de noche. 

Con un principio lento, tan lento que por un momento dudé sobre si podría terminarlo. Pero apenas terminó la primera parte de la historia de Juan y Gaspar todo se volvió claro: no iba a poder dejar de leer este libro. Es uno de esos libros que de tanto tenerlo contigo, llevarlo a todos lados, leerlo en cada momento posible le tomas afecto al objeto físico como muestra del afecto a la historia. 

Mariana Enriquez cuece a fuego lento una historia de misterio, oscuridad, tensión política y magia, donde el horror no es el horror de las películas que requieren un susto momentaneo, es un horror que hace que se te erice la piel, se te haga un nudo en la garganta, y sientas en la planta de los pies el temor y la tensión que sientes cuando tienes miedo físico. Es como ser niña otra vez y tener que atravesar una casa en la oscuridad, tarde en la noche, esa inseguridad, ese temor latente pero presente se siente leyendo las escenas más tensionantes de Nuestra Parte de Noche. 

Los personajes, todos, tienen sus imperfecciones, desde Juan con su forma bestial de tratar a los que lo rodean, hasta Gaspar, con sus iras heredadas de su padre. Vemos a niños crecer en la sombra que queda después de la dictadura de los 70s en Argentina, la epidemia de sida en los 80s, y todas las crisis económicas y políticas del país afectan a los personajes. Eventos reales, como el robo de las manos del cuerpo de Perón, la erupción del volcán y destrucción de Armero en Colombia, el mundial del 86, todos eventos reales, como la dictadura (los militantes y partidos si tienen nombres diferentes) entrelazados en un mundo de magia oscura, en una organización secreta cruel y violenta hace que el miedo sea más real porque estamos, al fin y al cabo en el mundo real. 

Los saltos cronológicos no llegan a ser confusos, de hecho, son un gran método para contar y aclarar la historia de Juan y sus acciones con Gaspar. Enriquez no deja nada al azar y al final casi todos los cabos quedan atados, igual que el colgado, arcano mayor del tarot. La escritura es fluida y la prosa, en español, casi preciosa, especialmente cuando describe lugares como Misiones o casas cambiantes. 

Dejo este libro con un deseo loco de conocer Misiones, Corrientes, Buenos Aires, La Plata y Choscamús y con un espacio en mi corazón para personajes como Gaspar, Vicky, Adela, Pablo e incluso Stephen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Homophobia, Violence, Child abuse, Rape, and Blood

annagerman's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? No

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I did in the end. 

The writing is masterful, the atmosphere is creepy and deliciously dark, and I liked the characters a lot. 
The violence and gore was so well executed, it was disturbing and shocking but sparse and exact, never gratuitous.
I enjoyed the elements of folklore and the sense of time and place - I really love it when a book feels rooted in a specific culture and location. 
I loved Rosario's POV, it almost worked as a short novela on its own.

But the pacing is awful, especially in the last 30%. The ending was incredibly underwhelming and rushed.

There were so many unexplained events and unanswered questions in the end - some of it was intentional, I understand that and I can even appreciate it, but some plot points felt convoluted, unnecessary or completely abandoned

the biggest one that I can't let go of us the fact that there was no reference to where Rosario's soul was, I though Juan was dedicating all his time in the empty house to finding it out, but it wasn't revisited in the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, and Death of parent

shay43geek's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Infidelity, and Homophobia

kate_303's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, War, Self harm, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Abandonment, and Chronic illness

Minor: Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Rape

yrioona's review

adventurous dark informative 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

4.5

Una mezcla impresionante de ficción histórica, terror cósmico, y drama familiar multigeneracional. Me fascinaban los personajes y me encantaba como la autora usa la lenguaje, el imagen, y la metáfora. Es un libro hermoso y también horripilante, con personajes complejos (incluyendo versiones de David Bowie y Genesis P-Orridge!) y una trama que extende desde el siglo XVIII hasta los años noventa tras múltiples narradores, y que se entrelaza con la historia de Argentina y sus horrores reales e imaginados. Es increíblemente oscuro y a veces brutal, pero también tierno, y enraizado en una exploración franca de la trauma intergeneracional.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Self harm, Chronic illness, Torture, Medical content, Murder, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Genocide, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child death, Car accident, Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma

ka_cam's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

A gripping horror read- fast because I didn’t want to put it down. Also, very dark. The setting and descriptions of time, place, energy and ethos of various setting was very well done, especially for translation. I appreciated how I really got a feel for how ‘normal’ the very traditionally abnormal (hyper-wealthy multigenerational death cult and spirits/spirit worlds) world was for various characters, and their distinct experiences of it as medium, clairvoyant child of medium, elder, child, follower, other etc added to the sense of reality. Went a bit on/could have been a bit shorter but a compelling read. Check the content warnings tho, not for the faint of heart!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

clairehe's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

There were times I felt my mind wondering because not much was happening but overall this was a great read. Every time I thought I knew what was happening, things went a different direction. Each character is fully developed in their flaws and strengths. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent and Homophobia