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vivacissimx 's review for:
Our Share of Night
by Mariana Enríquez
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spectacular novel-in-translation from Argentina. A postcolonial take on the gothic novel which brings to the fore what's unspoken in that genre: the violent reliance on the colonial economy, which Our Share of Night spins into the supernatural element. The magic in this novel follows the trail of imperialism to find it's 'mediums,' who are then enslaved by the shadow Order (all members coming from the British colonial gentry with a fever for the occult) and used for rituals and to satisfy sadistic impulses, until their violent and early ends.
The characters are all such human monsters. It really is a tight cast, interrelated in ways even they don't expect, which is interesting considering the length (almost 600 pages) of this book. There are layers and layers of complicity and betrayal which serves to highlight the shimmers of loyalty and love. The narrative ties back constantly to the Argentine military regime which disappeared tens of thousands, the echoes of it, though focuses on the Order's physical and psychological sadism, the savage and insatiable Darkness... but somehow, even though this book has no shortage of bodies spilling out of it, it's done in a way where you feel each bone. Despite the massive scale of death and the ancient lineage of genocide, the edge of innocence and injustice is never lost in the cruelty.
The characters are all such human monsters. It really is a tight cast, interrelated in ways even they don't expect, which is interesting considering the length (almost 600 pages) of this book. There are layers and layers of complicity and betrayal which serves to highlight the shimmers of loyalty and love. The narrative ties back constantly to the Argentine military regime which disappeared tens of thousands, the echoes of it, though focuses on the Order's physical and psychological sadism, the savage and insatiable Darkness... but somehow, even though this book has no shortage of bodies spilling out of it, it's done in a way where you feel each bone. Despite the massive scale of death and the ancient lineage of genocide, the edge of innocence and injustice is never lost in the cruelty.