whoaxitsaggie 's review for:

Our Share of Night: A Novel by Mariana Enríquez

2.5

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

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This book is long—and not just in page count. At nearly 600 pages, it felt like a never-ending loop of grief, trauma, and… mundane errands. For a novel marketed as “literary horror,” the horror element is extremely sparse and buried under layers of everyday drudgery. There are glimmers of something dark and compelling here, but the pacing is glacial and most of the story only really coheres in the final 50 or so pages.

The prose is beautiful at times, and Enriquez does a great job capturing a heavy, unsettling atmosphere. But the actual plot is stretched so thin it’s hard to stay invested. It’s like being promised a haunted house tour and spending five hours in the driveway reading family medical records.

If you’re expecting a horror novel in any traditional sense—terror, suspense, even just tension—lower your expectations. This is “horror” in the same way a flickering lightbulb in a sad room is horror. If that’s your thing, great. If not, maybe skip this one.