This story is so different from anything that I've ever read that I am having a problem rating it. I'm going to give it 5 stars because it really is a masterpiece of both horror and literary fiction. It took me almost a month to read which is unheard of for me but the lyrical prose caught me up in its web a number of times.
As the story starts, Juan and his young son Gaspar are running from their late wife's/mother's family through the Argentinian countryside. Her family are leaders in a worldwide cult of darkness where Juan is able to summon the "spirit".
The story hops through different points of view, timelines, London in the 1960's and Argentina during a dictatorship and under political instability. The breadth of the plot intertwines cults, difficult family relationships, love both hetero and queer and enduring childhood friendships. Into all this is woven a really stunningly scary horror landscape. Will Juan be able to save Gaspar? What does salvation from this background even look like?
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review, albeit a little late.

NetGalley ARC

Wow, finishing this book really feels like an accomplishment.

This sprawling horror novel follows a man trying to protect his son from a terrifying death cult as well as the boy and his friends as they grow up. The book is split into 6 chapters, each one is almost a novella in itself. The cult is always ominous in the background. The book reminds me of The Bone Clocks, which is the highest compliment I can ever give.

This book spans generations and continents. I didn't go into this book with any knowledge of Argentinian history or politics. The author uses the cult storyline to explore class (the cult is mostly wealthy white people torturing and murdering the poor and indigenous. During the "Dirty War" of the 1970's and 80's thousand of people were disappeared by the military government. The cult also works as a metaphor to reckon with Argentina's past. When human life is so expendable, who will miss the people the cult sacrifices?

All in all a really fantastic read.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. 'Our Share Of Night' is something of a fever dream that will only make more sense the more you read. The narrative jumps back and forth between time, place, characters, and is expansive. From demons, cults, ghosts, a gateway to another side, discrimination, and repressive regimes this story is full of everything that will keep you up at night.

“And even if he was sad, so what? He is the way he is. Getting plastered and shouting to high heaven isn’t for everyone. We make noise to fill the hole we have inside.”

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

This - my first work by Enriquez is pure darkness (with flashes of light) twisted, sinister yet magical and somehow hopeful.

I savoured this and was pleasantly surprised that it never got to be too much. I could have spent another 500 pages with Gaspar. This was fully out of my comfort zone and I absolutely loved it. Not for the faint of heart but an absolute beauty of a book.

The beauty found in the dark of night is unmatched. The love that radiates off the page - pure yet seen as impure, violent yet gentle at times.

A family saga of the peculiar, the unknown and the forbidden.

“You have something of mine, I passed on something of me to you, and hopefully it isn’t cursed, I don’t know if I can leave you something that isn’t dirty, that isn’t dark, our share of night.”

Thank you Hogarth and Mariana for my galley

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc to review!

- unfortunately, this is a dnf review, as the writing style threw me off in the beginning, making it hard for me to follow along, as the way the paragraphs were written felt cryptic and confusing. it may have just been on my part, but it stopped me from engaging with the text. however, this book will most certainly have its audience, as the synopsis is cryptic and intriguing to draw readers in.

Moving back and forth in time, from London in the 1960s to the years of Argentina's military dictatorship, Our Share of Night is a genre-defying work that explores the power of family ties, hauntings and the supernatural.

If I'm honest, I'm not sure I'll ever write what I truly want to about this book. The parts that were good were SO good, but I often found myself wandering pensively, questioning where Enriquez was going. It's very clear she is a talented writer and her ability to craft and create wholly original characters is evident throughout the book...but I think I wanted more horror?

I was most captivated by Juan, Gaspar and Rosario and when the book was not focused on them, ie. Gaspar's childhood antics, I felt a bit slumpy. I think my favorite section was the one that centered on Rosario because it did reveal so much about the Order and their dastardly efforts to achieve immortality.

After all that, I still gave the book 4 stars and I'm very interested in reading Enriquez's other work and can't wait to pick up The Dangers of Smoking in Bed.

It took me over a month to finish this book.

I really enjoyed the first section of this book - "The Claws of the Living God" - but my enjoyment gradually plateaued once we continued on into the other sections. I feel like this book would've benefited from more editing, because most of the time it felt as though we were going around in the same circles and it became extremely tedious. Also, the main plot got lost a lot along the way with the different character shifts mid-section and the timeline changes. Not that every book NEEDS to follow a linear timeline, however this book was already complex enough without that added confusing element.

This book was just entirely too long. Objectively, the writing was good and the main plot was intriguing. However, the story as a whole just did not need to carry on as long as it did and go in as many different directions.

I would still like to try another Mariana Enriquez book in the future! This one was just an unfortunate miss for me.

Wow this was a long one! The synopsis intrigued me with black magic and a cult and it was definitely delivered. The story is very dark and a bit graphic at times as well. I will say there are a ton of descriptions we didn’t need which took away from the plot, in my opinion. I think this would’ve been stronger without all of that because it also made it too long where my interest began to waned.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book!

This (very long) book is packed with SO much. There is horror, gore, political commentary, Argentinian folklore, heartbreak, dark entities, human sacrifices, demons and lifelong friendships. It’s a richly atmospheric slow burn with a lot of detail and it took me quite a bit to get into a rhythm with the story. But once I did, I was dying for answers and couldn’t stop reading.

It covers about 4 decades of Argentinian history and a big theme here is the devastating effects of dictatorship and colonialism. I have to admit I was not at all familiar with the details of this time in Argentina and that was a big issue for me while reading. I wanted to keep stopping and research about the time and teach myself what was going on. This certainly is on me and I would encourage you to listen to some interviews by Enriquez before reading so you can have a better grasp on the history and what she was trying to accomplish here. There are so many layers of meaning and I can’t even begin to get into it all. But I am always grateful for an opportunity to learn. Big takeaway is that the true horror in this book lies in reality.

I recommend this one for when you really have the time to get lost in the story and the history. Enriquez has created something very unique that is worth savoring.

Absolutely adored this book. A fantastic, genre-bending and all-engrossing epic. I will ready anything Mariana Enriquez writes.

I feel like I’m sadly an outlier on this one - I’ve really seen nothing but rave 5 star reviews about this and had such high expectations for it. there’s no mistake that Enriquez is a brilliant writer (i loved Dangers of Smoking in Bed), but i felt like this book was in severe need of editing. there is a GREAT story in here but for me the payoff didn’t warrant slogging through 600 pages. the writing of the characters is where this story really shines but the horror aspect was just too much of a slow burn for my taste.

Dark, delicious, complex and enthralling. This is a dense story that was occasionally difficult for me push through, but overall was fascinating.

Stunning. For fans of Devil House by John Darnielle and maybe even House of Leaves. Absolute masterwork of horror and generational storytelling.

It took me a really long time to finish this one. A very slow burn, very well written but a little too slow for my tastes. It didn’t keep my attention like other books I’ve read by this author.

Spanning Argentina’s Dirty War in the 1970s to its AIDS epidemic in the 1990s, Our Share of Night tells the story of The Order, a secret society of occultists, and of Juan, a father that will do anything to protect his son from them.

Not everyone will like this book. This is a hard read. It is horror. It is dark. Bad things happen. The characters are unpleasant. Also, it’s over 700 pages. But, I really liked this book. I liked how the time periods became characters in themselves. I liked how the author unfolded the story through different points of view. I liked that the translator did a wonderful job making the language flow seamlessly.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

(Actual: 4.5⭐️) I absolutely ADORE Mariana Enriquez and have enjoyed devouring all her books even when I’m legitimately and very obviously terrified 😅 I went into reading this book blind tbh, and I didn’t know at all what to expect, but let me just say….. that. Was. WILD. This book is a bit of a difficult one to get through, but so worth it. There’s so much going on, so much to absorb & sit with…. and at a whopping 608 pages— it’s a chonky one! I would definitely recommend this one out to every horror enthusiast & cult thriller fan I know, though please be sure to check out the CWs beforehand!

This is my second book by Mariana Enriquez. I've read her short story collection The Dangers of Smoking in Bed so I've been looking forward to reading Our Share of Night. I loved this book. It's going to be one of my favorite books of 2023. It didn't feel like I was reading a long book at all. The pacing was excellent. I never got bored. In the end, it feels like you've read three different books but it all comes together beautifully. Highly recommend.

You know the feeling when you start reading a digital copy of a book and know you just NEED a physical copy for your library? Yeah that’s what happened with this book.

Our Share of Night combines horror, family drama, and Argentinian politics in one cohesive and dramatic novel. Gaspar is growing up in his father Juan’s shadow, constantly kept in the dark about what exactly his father does and the Order his family is a part of. With his wife’s death, it is up to Luis to protect his son from the Order’s quest for immortality.

This book was spooky in the best way possible. There are some moments where I said to myself “wow, this is definitely a horror novel (particularly one towards the end 😣), much more than the other Enriquez I have read. But the horror never felt too gratuitous, and was balanced by the family drama that I couldn’t get enough of.

From the beginning, the reader gets a sense of unease when it comes to Gaspar and his father’s extended family, but it is only as you read that you begin to understand exactly why. Initially the details of the Order are also intentionally fuzzy and I loved the way that Enriquez slowly pulls back the curtain on their nefarious acts.

Parts of this book are slower than others; it took me about 100 pages before I really started to get into the story, and ran into a bit of a slump halfway through. But once things start to come together, it is hard to stop reading. Even if you don’t consider yourself a horror fan, this is definitely one to consider picking up. I can see this getting book prize nods this year!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mariana Enríquez creates an epic story that mainly follows three families and their quest for immortality. Our Share of Night combines what is grotesque with what is beautiful by depicting scenes of life and death.

I was engrossed in this story, however, I found following the characters Juan and Gaspar the most interesting. Everytime the narrative changed and followed someone else, the story seemed to lose its path. This is definitely a well thought out story and one that will push you the reader to experience a dark world that will do whatever it takes to attain immortality.

The writing here is incredibly vivid - this is one of those books where you can almost feel the atmosphere our characters are experiencing on your own skin. Unfortunately, I found what these characters were experiencing a bit too uncomfortable to engage with that deeply. I hope to pick this up again later!