Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez

36 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I didn’t want this book to end. It was so enthralling that I wanted to keep reading about these people struggling in this world of horror and evil. It was gory and terrifying, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. 

I haven’t read a book in ages - even fabulous books - where I lose track of time, but I was completely absorbed in the story. The characters are compelling, especially Juan - he seems sympathetic in the section told from his perspective but he’s a monstrous father to Gaspar. The vile grandmother and her sister are the most frightening of all. 

The author conjures a world where magic and the horrors of Argentina’s dirty war are intertwined. By using the supernatural, she’s able to describe the terror of that period so it’s easy to imagine how awful it was for those targeted by the military junta. 

This book is definitely not for everyone. It’s violent and vivid and visceral. It’s extraordinary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tamtaro's review

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

5.0

If you've been looking for a book that has similar vibes to Suspiria and Hereditary, this is it! The ties to real historical events, the slow realization of the magnitude of all that is horrifically wrong, and the time jumps/different perspectives made this such a delight to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mari1532'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I listened to this book through my library with Libby.

Brief Summary: Juan is trying to figure out a plan to raise his son, Gaspar while keeping him safe from his in-laws in the wake of his wife, Rosario's, mysterious death. As Juan tries to keep Gaspar from the family's secret society, he farther into its clutches. However, as Gaspar ages, he begins to realize that his family history is far more dangerous than he could have imagined. 

Thoughts: Enríquez is an exceptional writer. The way that this book is so long and has so many different subplots, but there is not a single loose end at the conclusion of the book is truly a triumph. Each of the characters in this book feels like a real person and the personalities and motivations of each produce a strong reaction from the reader. Overall I did not like many of the characters in this book, but I think that how Enríquez wrote each of them, may have been the point. In the world created in this book, people are complicated, and not necessarily meant to be liked. 

My favourite character in the book was Rosario. She was at once entirely relatable being at once loving and dastardly. Her story arch throughout the book was truly what kept me reading even though she was a character in the background of the story, Rosario is very much central to the the plot. I also appreciated how Enríquez allowed Rosario to be her own person and did not let her love for Juan subsume Rosario's whole personality.  

I do not have a lot of experience reading books in the horror genre, but I can safely say that I will continue to read it as long as Enríquez continues to write. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rnr2117's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Mental illness, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

karmapen's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

yrioona's review against another edition

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

ka_cam's review

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

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.

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Content Warnings

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

camscampbell's review

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.

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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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

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

arayo's review

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

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

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