I’m learning that I love Enríquez’s stories as much as I hate them. I am revolted but compelled; I can’t look away.

Based on how much I loved The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, I was expecting to love Our Share of Night. Overall, I think Enríquez’s debut novel is good. I ended up liking it, not loving it.

In Our Share of Night, body horror, abuse, and demons are interspersed and intertwined with generational trauma, colonialism, and white supremacy.

The world of Initiates, rituals, and dark magic is terrifying and intertwined with Argentina’s tumultuous history, which plays a major role in the story. There are a lot of things I don’t know about Argentina’s history and culture, so some things surely went over my head. The structure of the dark society our medium, Juan, is a part of is an apt metaphor for the workings of colonialism and White supremacy.

Some parts were a bit too meandering for my taste. I wasn’t really sure how some parts contributed to the plot. Other parts were a bit incoherent and could have used some better editing.

In terms of horror, there are some visuals that won’t be leaving my mind anytime soon. All of the characters are unlikeable, but I love a good unappealing character. In this case, their unlikeability makes the horrors of the plot easier to cope with.

Because of the content of Marquez’s work, I honestly wouldn’t recommend her work to anyone unless I knew them very well. Like I said before, her stories are very disturbing and contain content that is absolutely not for everyone. However, I personally find her work interesting and think she’s one of the best contemporary horror writers I’ve read so far.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hogarth for providing me with a free digital ARC.

Juan is a medium, able to channel powerful, horrifying forces. Unfortunately, he is completely under the thumb of a cult of wealthy sociopaths seeking immortality: his in-laws. He has already lost his wife to an “accident” and he himself is dying by inches, so he will do absolutely anything to give his young son Gaspar a chance at a normal life. Juan and Gaspar struggle against insatiable demonic entities, intergenerational trauma, and the unrest of later twentieth century Argentina. It is difficult to say whether the cultists or the government are guilty of worse atrocities. Slow-burning and stomach-turning.

Really interesting narrative structure, spanning decades and generations. It opens with a general mystery and plotting by a father seeking desperately to find a way to save his son from a cult that is looking to exploit and possibly destroy him. All set during a period of social and political upheaval that makes the murderous cult able to exist without much question.

A great overall plot and memoriable characters that hook you into the story right away! I will be recommending this title to my fellow readers!

Well, I don't even know what to say about this sprawling horror show. It's epic, it's dark and gross and honestly terrifying in some parts, it's too long and also somehow not long enough, it was over ten hours on my kindle but the ending felt rushed. Come on in if you want to read over 600 pages of the nightmare that is the lives of Juan Peterson and his son Gaspar; in another author's hands this likely would've descended into tedium, but I had a great time.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc. I eventually gave up on this one, because I found it to be more depressing than I wanted to read. So not a fault of the writer/writing, this was just a story I hadn't enjoyed.

4.5/5

This is one scary book! Even in spite of instances where it was hard to connect with the writing or narrative, this had me on the edge of my seat feeling dread and horror. Well done!

I'm a bit embarrassed to say I've read very few Latin American writers. When I saw this book and the plot description, I knew I should give it a try. I'm very glad I did.

Juan is born with a defective heart into a poor Argentinian family. When a wealthy heart surgeon takes an interest in him, he is sold into a world of wealth with dark secrets. The family is part of a cult called the Order that worships the occult through black magic. Juan grows up being a medium for accessing the Darkness through spells and sacrifices and although he knows he is being used, he is captive in more ways than one. He eventually marries into the cult and has a child, Gaspar, who he swears to protect from the Order. Fast forward in time: the recently widowed Juan escapes the Order's compound and flees with Gasper.but as Juan's health deteriorates the Order is even more interested in getting their hands on Gaspar. Will Gaspar also fall prey to the cult?

Switching back and forth in time and focusing on different characters, the story reveals the extent of the evil perpetuated by the Order and the struggle for Gaspar's survival. It is an engrossing read that captured my imagination and brought the politics and culture of Argentina to life. The writing is outstanding and the story compelling: will Gaspar escape the clutches of the powerful Order? That is a question Gaspar must confront as well. The only problem I had with the book was that occasionally the writer would go pages with dialog and no quotation marks. That slowed the pace of the story as I had to follow try and follow what was being said and by whom. Overall, it is a wonderful book and one I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Hogarth/Random House Publishing for an advance copy of this book. The publication date is February 7, 2023.

I'm sorry, I tried.

Based on other reviews, the last part of this book is supposed to be amazing and haunting, like her short stories. But I couldn't make it that far. I reread the first 5% and 10% of this book a few different times, having put it down and forgetting what had happened.

But each time I remembered it was too boring to continue. That's why it took me 2.5 months to finally give up. I'm never finishing this. The writing is really cool, the tone is spooky, but the characters and story are slow and boring. Little creepy bits here and there, but not enough to keep me reading for longer than 15 min.

I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolute stunner! Mariana Enríquez “Nuestra Parte de Noche” is finally translated to English!

This has to be hands down my favorite novel from Mariana. From the moment I first started reading this 700 page book, I knew I was in for a wild ride. The book setting, you know, it was during “La Guerra Sucia” back in the 60s-70, a very difficult time for Argentine people.

The story follows Gaspar & His father, after Gaspar mother dies “unexpectedly” this Father-son duo story is one of a king. A love that doesn’t measure what a father will do to protect his son from politically very dangerous and powerful groups.. Because, Our Gaspar is.l not a regular human.

This story is as horrific as it’s beautiful.. it’s that realist horror that Mariana Enriquez knows how to describe .. or NOt. 💀 anyway, I need you to pick this one up!

Her writing style is just so intoxicating that I promise you won’t be able to put this book down.

I absolutely loved this book!
Told from different points of view, it tells the story of a family. It is wrapped in Argentine history (1960's - 1990's) and the occult. It is a dark book.


I just reviewed Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. #OurShareofNight #NetGalley

I was thrilled to get an ARC of this novel by an author I admire. This is the story of black magic, cults, and complicated love, set in a time of political upheavals of a corrupt and violent government to the heartbreaking fear and losses of the AIDS crisis. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't prepared for the length, and breadth of this book, and at times I felt weighed down by the details, but as I approached the end of my allotted reading time, I wish I'd given myself more time with it, because my notebook is filled with quotes, and references to explore more in the future, a neurodivergent book lovers dream, all those Easter Eggs! As the last section unfolded, all the connections developed, and things unfolded in an exciting and captivating manner, and the imagery was haunting and disturbing. This book broke my heart more than once, and gave me so much to think about and explore. The author drops in much music, art, poetry and even fashion throughout the book. I kept stopping to look things up along the way, before I decided just to make notes. It really was such a developed read that felt as epic as it did horrific due to the beautiful writing and visceral descriptions, creating a visual and emotional landscape that will long live on in this readers minds eye.

This book was really good! I like that there was a supernatural component without it being tied to Christianity (or some other religion). It was engaging, made me want to visit Argentina, and had me wanting more. The only downside is I think the ending came on fast without a ton of resolution, but it actually seemed more like real life.

I was very much into the story of Our Share of Night in the first section. I fell off the train during the section recounting Gaspar's youth, and never quite got back onboard. I like how the author set a mood and followed through. On top of the horror, there's the ever present danger in the air of the book and I absolutely respect how Mariana Enriquez wove together the supernatural horror with the institutional threats of an evil secret society and intergenerational trauma borne out of the unrest in the book's historical setting. This book got really disturbing at times (curse my vivid imagination), which would either scare people off or attract them to the book. (I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.)

Stranger stranger things! Admittedly, I don’t particularly partake in the sub-genre of occult, but this is a good fantasy with a cross in literary fiction.

This is well written with wholly developed characters. The story held depth as it masterfully weaved different character POVs. Just as important, the author gave us a bird’s eye view of Buenos Aires and took us on the journey through the country. A read that captured my attention and kept me entertained as a perfect blend of fantasy and literary fiction.

Thanks to Penguin RandomHouse for gifting this ARC via NetGalley.

This was my first Mariana Enriquez book and it didn't disappoint. What a stellar and fantastic novel from beginning to end!

I've been sitting at 35% on this book for three months.

The book is way, way too abstract and dense for me to fully enjoy. I may come back to it in time, but for now what I seemed to grasp is that the mother is dead. The son may have inherited the father's gifts. The family of the mother wants to son to manifest his gifts of seeing dead people and communicating with them so they can put the soul of the father into he son. The father does not want this to happen so he is trying to keep the son's talents down.

I got as far as the time change - into the future. the 80's. The boy is older now.

There was a lot of physical abuse from the father that was a bit odd for me to fully take in. I have no idea if that's a cultural thing or the father is that type of person.

There have only ever been a handful of horror books that have stuck with me, entwining into the little crevices of my brain, and then arriving in nightmares years later. Until recently, these were things like The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski and more recently, anything by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.   Into these offerings, I bring you the novel (at least I pray it’s a novel) Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. Told in wildly different styles in multiple segments, the book follows a young man named Gaspar and his unique abilities, and his father’s desperate attempt to hide them.

Juan Peterson is Gaspars’s father. He is also a Medium for a group known only as The Order. After the death of his wife, the daughter of some of the wealthiest and highest-ranking members of The Order, he is called to bring himself and his son to a ritual at the house. Juan is a conduit for something extremely dark, and it is the hope of The Order that Gaspar will share his father’s abilities. What follows is a book involving houses that are far bigger on the inside than the outside, missing children, disappearances in Argentina during some pretty shaky periods in history, and some descriptions that are never going to leave my head.  The book travels from Argentina in the 1980s, to London in the 1970s, and then back to Argentina in the 1990s.  The book is massive, and is best digested in small portions, as the twisted plot and body horror can get to be a bit much for anyone not well steeped in horror.

Mariana Enriquez has created something monstrously beautiful, a vicious feast of cruelty and other worlds we cannot touch. Our Share of Night is a brilliant book and I plan to read everything in Enriquez’s catalog.

Our Share of Night comes to stores February 7, 2022.

Thank you to Random House/Hogarth and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Mariana Enriquez's 'Our Share of Night.'

It's hard to categorize this one but what a ride! It's a combination of straight-up horror, literary fiction, cosmic horror, South American Gothic, and a sneaky political and social history of mid-late-20th century Argentina with a peek back at it's more distant European immigrants and a clear nod to the devastation of her indigenous people and lands. It's a long book but the writing is gorgeous, especially at the beginning when the father and son embark on a road trip. and the characters deep and memorable. I obviously read the translated version so the use of language in the original Spanish must be even more outstanding.

Woven into all of the above is a tale of intergenerational abuse and trauma. Multiple generations of a cult layer horror on top of horror in the name of a great quest. Even though there's a very clear and obvious supernatural core to this generational trauma, it could be applied to more 'mundane' and 'everyday' trauma both personal and societal, both of which are liberally examined. There's a clear thread of queer sensibility throughout including a narrative about the devastation caused by AIDS in the 80s. The author pulls no punches when it comes to the physical and psychological abuse and its impact on individuals and in turn the political and military abuses and their impact on people and the nation.

The structure of the book is impressive and we're constantly seeing connections between previous parts of the book and story that really, for me, resulted in multiple 'ooooooooooohhhhh' moments.

I can see how this could be a love it or hate it type of book but for me it's a winner.

This was a tough read. I had a hard time reading this for personal reasons but it was incredibly well written and an amazing story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.