Our Share of Night
By Mariana Enriquez
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book.
This sounded so interesting I was very happy to get approved to read it.
I thought the overall plot was fairly good but different. Our man of the story, Juan, is a medium. He is a conduit for the darkness. Boy, is this book dark and so very, very, long! There is so much that could be condensed.
Juan has a son named Gaspar. Gaspar is already getting stronger than Juan was at Gaspar's age. Juan doesn't want his son to be a medium.
A medium physical changes into a monster at these sick ceremonies and mutilates or kills victims. The mind changes too, Juan is cruel and crazy many days. Abusive to Gaspar.
This book is filled with, not horror, but just sick stuff. Child abuse, shock value stuff like a bag of eye lids, and kids watching men have sex.
The time line is all over the place too.
I like horror books but this was unorganized, instead of suspense it had just gross/sick material, and none of the characters were interesting enough to become attached to. I felt sorry for the son through most of the book but I didn't really feel I knew him. If you have characters, make someone likeable and not in a cult that worships a bloodthirsty monster!

3.5 stars, rounded up. Imagine if Isabel Allende wrote a cross between Lovecraft Country and Firestarter (except that it extends the Firestarter portion into the child character's adulthood). Toward the end it does seem to lose interest in the (supernatural) horror side of the story, spending a lot more time Allende-style on the travails of the marginalized in Argentine society in the 1980s and '90s, and the resolution of the Lovecraft Country-ish part feels like an afterthought. Which is a shame, as the less real-world parts of the plot I found the strongest. (There are a handful of scenes that will stick with me for quite a while...)

This is a book that rewards patience. The reader is dropped into circumstances with very little explanation in the beginning in a way that I wanted to be frustrated with. At times I felt like all I wanted to do was figure out what was going on but the book was withholding that, putting it out of reach. But as the story starts to reveal itself, the book became impossible to put down and the pay off for the slow pacing in the beginning is absolutely thrilling.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-ARC of this work. Our Share of Night is an episodic look at family legacy, perversion of morality, and testing fate. I appreciate Enriquez's ability to build onto high tension established from the beginning of the novel. I do think in many ways this could have been improved with enforced brevity. Overall, I enjoyed reading and seeing Gaspar grow into himself and fight for his own right as a human to forge his own path.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Inc for an egalley. All opinions expressed are my own

What it's about: Set in Argentina during a military dictatorship, a father attempts to protect his young son from a dynastic family that wishes to use the young lad for occultic purposes.

I love to try a new author, a new genre, a new style of writing, etc. When Goodreads released an article on the books being released in 2023 that their members were excited about I browsed and selected a few titles that dared me to look outside my comfort zone. Our Share of Night was one of those titles. Although literary fiction is a familiar genre for me, horror is not one which I have dived into very much.

It proved to be a very challenging read.

According to storyflint. com," horror stories are designed to frighten the audience, often uses suspense, fear, and shocks to keep people on the edge of their seats. Some great horror stories are allegorical or symbolic, while others are more literal."

It took me 10 days to complete this novel as I would read one part at a time and then take a rest and allow what I had read- "digest."

Then I decided to wait 48 hours before I wrote my review.

This is what I know to be true- That this book has won the hearts of so many reviewers and critics and I learned a lot reading their words. Although this book didn't win my heart, I don't think it has anything to do with the genre or the writing. I believe it just comes from me being unable to connect with the characters or feeling swept up in the writing.

Overall, I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave this book a try.


Publication Date: 07/02/23
Goodreads review published 10/02/23

#OurShareofNight #NetGalley.

This was such a unique story! It moves back and forth in time from London in the 1960’s to the time of Argentina’s military dictatorship and what followed. I enjoyed it and the spooky elements were great!

After the death of his wife a father a d son decide to go on a road trip. They go back to their ancestral home where the matriarchs family called the Order commits unspeakable acts searching for immortality. The order tries to get the son, Gaspar to follow them. It is his destiny. Unwilling, the father and son leave. Trying to outrun the Order will be challenging, especially since they are willing to do anything it takes to ensure their survival. How far will Gaspar’s father go to protect him?

Thank you netgalley and random house publishing for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

(ARC from NetGalley) I do believe we lost something in the translation of this book. Although Juan and Gaspar had fantastic characterization and you could clearly see they had a complex relationship, the horror elements lacked the atmosphere.

Still brilliant and I’ve never read anything quite like this, but just missing that razzle dazzle.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I don't really know what I was expecting from this book going into it. I think the way its written makes it a bit difficult not only to rate but to read. I wasn't sure if maybe the translation was part of it or not. But I found myself skim reading. Which to me is a sign that it wasn't for me if I wasn't trying to absorb it to remember later.

i feel completely honored to have received an arc of “our share of night.” this novel is an incredible feat from the literary master mariana enríquez. this is not a collection of short stories, but a full length novel. we meet juan peterson, a man trying to escape his violent cult past, and his son gaspar. juan is not a loving father in the traditional sense, but he has dedicated his life to finding a way to keep his son away from his evil grandparents who worship a vengeful god and perform odd rituals. we follow both juan and gaspar in argentina as they both try to live somewhat normal lives.

this novel is split into multiple sections, not chapters. enríquez expertly weaves together several points of view and time periods to create a visceral experience for the reader; there is not a moment that drags on too long or feels boring; every page is emotionally charged. the world building and explanations of magic and the occult are brilliant. i absolutely loved this novel and i feel so special that i was able to read it early. once again, enríquez has proved her talent in creating horror that does not conform to any tropes and fully shocks the system. you have to read this.

thank you so so so much to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

a maniacal horror. This one stuck with me for a long time. The cult and behavior within this novel was truly terrifying.

This took me a while to read, but it was truly very very good and truly scary! The horror of this novel was played out on so many different levels, beyond just the obvious supernatural horror at the centre of it. Explorations of love, family, knowledge, obligation, and goodness were threaded throughout the novel and even though it is quite long, I feel like I could have continued reading about these characters for much much longer, and at the end I was left wishing for a little more resolution. Our Share of Night is truly an achievement of literary horror and it's beautifully translated as well!

For me the hardest job is to review this book, give it justice but also explain why it did not work for me.

This is quite a book. It stands at 600 pages, and over 27hours in audio. I chose to listen to this one, and I think that's where I went wrong.

The story is written in such a way, and narrated in a way where it feels like a lullaby. It is very slow, descriptive, at parts emotional and touchy. And I drift away listening to these characters get lost in themselves, and get pulled back in when the blood starts to spill. It goes from 0 to 10 so fast, its like a whiplash.

The story is generational. About a family, the abuse and trauma experienced, and how the parent tries to protect his son from the same. At whatever the cost. It is a dark story - gory, bloody, raw. It also has a lot of political commentary about the times and the location. The inclusion of a cult of the very rich, doing everything at any cost to stay powerful - it all builds a brutal background to all the pain these characters have to endure.

And just like my review, it is all over the place. It does have a linear tale, but not linear timeline. Changing up the time, as well as characters on audio was hard to follow and distinguish who is the current POV and what time it is. It did connect in the end, but I felt very disconnected, especially after listening for it for so long. It could have been better reading a physical copy.

The author did a phenomenal job in weaving this very dark story. I say dark, because there's so many TWs I couldn't try and list them all (please do look for the on the author's website). The writing is phenomenal. I just wish it was shorter to create a better and faster punch to the gut, that the ending was. There's just so much to unfold and process, especially all the pain and trauma the characters get to live through, at the end I should have felt drenched, but because of the length, it faded for me.

Thank you PRH Audio for an ALC. Thank you to Penguin Random House and netgalley for a chance to read this book. All opinions are my own.

A perfectly acceptable but not terribly memorable trip through the darkest part of night. I feel that some things may have been post in translation. Nevertheless, I was truly and completely spooked. Not bad. A good little night of terror.

I’d like to thank Random House and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Mariana Enriquez has a way of making your flesh crawl, uneasiness writhing under your skin like an itch you can’t satisfy with a scratch. This is the first novel of hers that I’ve read, and the shocking, grotesque, and cruel imagery/events painted in my mind won’t be quick to leave it. I love witchcraft, I love the occult, I love the left hand path, I love this book and can’t wait to own a physical copy!

Our Share of Night begins with a grief-laden, father and son road trip. It’s not a welcome trip, but an inevitable one. Juan Peterson and his son Gaspar travel across Argentina to the family home of Rosario, Juan’s late wife and Gaspar’s mother. Ultimately, Juan’s goal is to prevent his son from inheriting the same life he has: that of medium used in service to his family’s powerful devotion to the Darkness and the “way of the left hand”—black magic. Whether Gaspar possesses his father’s ability to invoke the Darkness is not clear, but Juan is determined to cut the boy off from his brutal family who relentlessly seek communion with the Darkness through their medium. Using the same power that makes Juan simultaneously precious and a target for exploitation, he works for years to build protection around the boy. All this happens against the backdrop of the political unrest, kidnappings and disappearings of 1970s Argentina.

Mariana Enríquez’s novel is without a doubt a foray into the dark, mysterious and grotesque, but is shot through with a few deeply likable characters. The evil and horror that is central to the story alternates between shocking and disarmingly casual. Enríquez adds to the sense of the grotesque with her constant reminders of the damp, oppressive heat that suffocates her characters and scenes in the Misiones Province where much of the novel takes place.

Our Share of Night is a long book at nearly 700 pages. At times, the pace moves along nicely through changes in perspective from Juan, to Gaspar, to Rosario and a few other narrators. Some backstory takes a long time to unravel for little reward in the form of insight into the plot or characters. The book is at its best when told from Gaspar’s limited point of view as he grows from a child to a man, almost entirely unaware of the danger his father works to protect him from.

I think it’s worth your time to dive into this long, but thrilling exploration of Argentinian occult and political history, but don’t expect a quick read. For a reader unschooled in Argentinian history, a few google searches here and there to learn more about both the political and religious references may enhance your reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this electronic advanced reader copy.

OUR SHARE OF NIGHT is impressive and horrifying. It's an eerie, looming painting of a dark fable, shaded with the bloody paint of histories. It's gory and gothic- impassive yet brutally tragic; an epic that entwines allegory with political and occult horror into a spell that entrances.

From the publisher:
A young father and son set out on a road trip, devastated by the death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travel to her ancestral home, where they must confront the terrifying legacy she has bequeathed: a family called the Order that commits unspeakable acts in search of immortality.

For Gaspar, the son, this maniacal cult is his destiny. As the Order tries to pull him into their evil, he and his father take flight, attempting to outrun a powerful clan that will do anything to ensure its own survival. But how far will Gaspar’s father go to protect his child? And can anyone escape their fate?

Moving back and forth in time, from London in the swinging 1960s to the brutal years of Argentina’s military dictatorship and its turbulent aftermath, Our Share of Night is a novel like no other: a family story, a ghost story, a story of the occult and the supernatural, a book about the complexities of love and longing with queer subplots and themes. This is the masterwork of one of Latin America’s most original novelists, “a mesmerizing writer,” says Dave Eggers, “who demands to be read.”

My thoughts:

I felt sorry for Gaspar. His mother dies when he is very young. His father, while trying to protect him, is also abusive at times. The Order and his grandmother want to use him to try and obtain immortality of consciousness.

The pace of the book is uneven. It is very slow in parts which gives it a dreamlike or should I say nightmarish quality.

The book jumps around with different sections focusing on different characters. I liked the parts that focused on Gaspar the best. I was puzzled about the inclusion of a section from a journalist's point of view. The only reason I can think of for it is to point out again the horrors of some of the time period the book is set in.

It is definitely a horrifying story. From the Darkness to the way that Mercedes treats and mistreats others as nothing but tools to serve her, it is an unsettling read.

The book does deserve trigger warnings for the body horror and the mentions of abuse of all kinds. The horrors of war and the AIDS epidemic could also be triggering for some people. But seriously, this is a horror book.

I was a little unsatisfied with the ending. I don't want to say more because of spoilers.

Overall, I give this book 4 stars. I liked Gaspar. And even in the slow parts I wanted to know what would happen next and ultimately how things would turn out. If you enjoy your horror with a historical setting mostly in the 80s, in particular Argentina, then this might be a good book for you.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not influence my opinions.

Happy pub day to the translated version of Our Share of Night - you win the honor of being the most difficult book I’ve ever had to review!

This is a chonk of a horror novel, and steers pretty heavily into literary fiction. It took me SO LONG to read - I swear I would be reading on my kindle for an hour only to make it like 3% further into the book. It was some weird witchcraft.

There were parts of this book I found SO incredible and at times it was impossible to put down. UNFORTUNATELY, there were entire sections that added literally nothing to the plot (IMO, I guess) and I wonder if part of that is due to this being a translation. Perhaps something was lost in translation there that I just wasn’t picking up on?

I loved the characters and the rich backstory that was created…but I hated that the chapters were SO INSANELY LONG. I wish it had been broken up differently…same with paragraphs…some paragraphs went on for multiple clicks of my Kindle screen. No ma’am.

BUT I can’t stop thinking about the story?? Like there were parts I could have totally skipped and still understood everything…but MOST of the book was so well written and fascinating!

Idk man. I can’t say whether I recommend it or not.

One of my most highly anticipated releases for this year, so I was thrilled to receive an early copy via NetGalley.

This one is definitely higher on the "literary" side of horror and fans of grief-horror will love this one. This novel is a huge undertaking, with Mariana Enriquez expertly spanning decades of time and several regions throughout history, building an unsettling sense of looming dread throughout.

I will excitedly be looking forward to seeing more from this author in the future!

Our Share of Night is oneof those that only coes around once in a very long time. It's a debut (incredible that it's her first) novel by Mariana Enriquez who is the author of The Dangers of Smoking in bed. Our Share of Night is a horror novel that really is more about the horrors of the dirty war in Argentina. The two main characters are a father Juan and his son Gaspar who struggle to not be devoured bya secret society called The Order which is the deceased wife's family. It's a back and forth in time which you must be patient with. The writing is so exquisite but you must undertsand that it has a rhythm that you have to let happen. It's also a dense novel with many layers that unfold in ways that will make you glad you are reading this book. As I was turning the pages I noticed that the author was exposing the dirty war in such an ingenious way. It has so many paralells to what is happening in today's world. People behaving in excess but not undertanding that it has an effect on others less fortunate than them or those with less political power that them. Eventually we learn it will catch up with them. Warning: This novel has some scary scenes and lots of gore. It's not just for the sake of gore but shows the horrors of what a regime who thought they were on the right side of history could do such unspeakable acts and feel just in doing so. This novel is great for bookclubs because you will have plenty to discuss. Thanks to Hogarth and Netgalley for the read. I'll be buying copies for my friends!