Scan barcode
A review by codysmovingcastle
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
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.
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