Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Nuestra parte de noche by Mariana Enríquez

29 reviews

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

---

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

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

---

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

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!

---

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

knenigans's review against another edition

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Suicide

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Not really sure what hoopla was about this book. I get how it’s actually a political allegory, but it was way too long, had too many unnecessary digressions, and not enough resolution for my satisfaction. Enjoyed the overall story, but there were far too much that I didn’t care for in between.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Addiction, Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

camscampbell's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This dark horror novel is set in Argentina and spans the period from 1960 to 1997. It follows the lives of Gaspar, the main character, and his family as Gaspar comes of age. His father, Juan, will stop at nothing to protect him from the evil clutches of his wife's family, who want to take advantage of Juan and Gaspar's talents of accessing the Darkness to become immortal. 

I read the English translation (by Megan McDowell) and thoroughly enjoyed it. The structure moves around, and I never found myself annoyed by the time shifts back and forth. 

It has some troubling scenes of violence, particularly of child abuse.

The scenes of the children in cages in the dark tunnel under Puerto Reyes were horrific.

.

If you enjoyed Stephen King's It, you'll probably enjoy this. The part set in Buenos Aires in 1985–1986, in particular, reminded me of the Losers Club from that novel. Fans of Clive Barker would probably enjoy it, too. I felt some vibes of The Great and Secret Show in this in how dark it was.

My YouTube review of this book is here: https://youtu.be/M2GgCPpWEpA

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Torture, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Confinement, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abandonment, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Classism

henpower's review against another edition

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, Gore, Abandonment, Death, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

codysmovingcastle's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

This one was slow-paced, unsatisfying by design, with hard-to-love characters. Still, this is easily a 5-star read. 

It's a tough novel to read; physically, with dense paragraphs and odd formatting with unclear quotations, and emotionally, with graphic depictions of abuse, violence, and body horror. I can see how this wouldn't appeal to a lot of people, and the payoff isn't like your typical book climax, but I don't think any characters have quite hit me like Juan and Gaspar have.

The novel is broken up into several (long) chapters that almost act as several novellas, each with a distinct tone, narrator, and writing style. Together, they tell a multi-generational story that meaningfully engages with more themes than I could count: Argentina's political landscape vs. the social elite, generational trauma, cult mentality, grief, polyamory, familial bonds, queer culture/queerness, colonialism, chronic illness and disability, slavery, and so on. 

The characters are where the story really hits though. Juan is horrible and I love him. Rosario is quite unlikeable, imperfect, and one of the best female characters I have ever read. And I've literally never had an ounce of maternal instinct until this book, but I would burn down the world for Gaspar.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Death of parent, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness

vbarsi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.25

I really wanted to love this book. Parts of it were so beautifully (terrifyingly) written - I will think about some parts of this book always for their creep factor.  I wish I felt like more of those parts happen though. I found there were many parts of the book that were too slow and included information I found unnecessary (or maybe boring). The narrator perspective change was a nice touch - I think it helped re-engage me when I found a section of the book had gone on too long. It also really added depth to the story. I think its worth giving a shot if you’re into horror, but wasn’t my favorite 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Body horror, Violence, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Murder, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Pregnancy, and Suicide

Ending was not as satisfying as I imagined.

danikajoan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This blew me away. I didn’t want it to end, loved the writing/translation (was already a fan of Enriquez from Things We Lost in the Fire), felt fully invested in the lore and so compelled by the characters. Really intense, a little eerie, sad, romantic, and funny. 

and I am ALWAYS on board for a “house is bigger on the inside than the outside” House of Leaves vibe.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Death, Medical content, Violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Colonisation, Chronic illness, Murder, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Rape, Vomit, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Blood, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Gore, Classism, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, and Genocide

Alllllll the trigger warnings for this one, very intense but not in a way that feels like it’s there just for shock value or is exploitative?