Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Nuestra parte de noche by Mariana Enríquez

23 reviews

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

arayo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Medical content, Child abuse, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Gaslighting, Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, Child death, Grief, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Biphobia, Alcohol, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Vomit, Cannibalism, Genocide, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Infidelity, Drug use, Rape, Infertility, Police brutality, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

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.

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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 

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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.

emscordell's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, and Torture

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Addiction, Confinement, Medical trauma, Ableism, Alcohol, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Car accident, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Cannibalism

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, and War

Minor: Car accident and Murder

dfrancis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

This is probably one of my favorite books I’ve read in 2023. Despite it being so long, when I finished, I wanted even more. The writing/ translation is great. The characters are complicated and interesting. Not for the faint of heart, but so worth it. A beautiful and terrifying mix or horror, fantasy, and history. I recommend this to everyone who enjoys horror or occult type books. It’s truly a masterpiece 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Death of parent, Child death, Murder, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Cursing, Homophobia, and Classism

jacob_dion's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Blood, Alcohol, Grief, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

kathburke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Death, Drug use, Torture, Grief, Child abuse, Colonisation, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Car accident, Confinement, Classism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Genocide, Gore, Abandonment, Addiction, and Alcohol

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

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

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