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!

4 stars

I am grateful to Random House, Hogarth for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review.

When I heard about this book, I was excited to see what Mariana Enriquez would do with a long-form novel since I am a fan of her short story collections. I really enjoyed this one and was not disappointed in the slightest. This was an interesting and fantastic addition to the horror genre, and I am always happy to see translated works from Latin America in this genre.

This book is long. However, the story is an immersive one and does not suffer from any pacing issues (in my opinion). That said, this is not a fast-paced book but is evenly paced and well executed. The setting is vivid, the atmosphere and suspense are palatable, and the tension that's built up in this cosmic Horror story is great. I love the author's decisions for perspectives in this story, because the shifting of the perspectives really does add to the mystery and the tension that this book is built on. I love how this story is set in the real world and does address how real-world societal issues affect the characters, but also manages to create a feeling of isolation for these characters in the midst of a quite mundane environment.

Mariana Enriquez’s writing is always great for me, which I must attribute to both her and her translator. I think her handling of social issues and familial relationships woven throughout the story enhanced the novel's overall impact and allowed me to be more invested in a plot that felt uncertain for most of the book. I thought it was an interesting choice for her to introduce us to the speculative element in this book almost immediately but then dole out the explanations and information that we need to fully grasp the situation slowly over the course of this huge novel. But it worked!

I really enjoyed this novel and I'm already looking forward to rereading it. I would recommend this to fans of horror (specifically cosmic horror) and fans of books like The Book of Accidents , Imaginary Friend, and Lisey's Story. This book isn't exactly like any of the comps that I just mentioned, but I think certain common factors make me instinctively group them together.

I loved this one! If you are a fan of horror, interested in cults, supernatural, powers….. I think this is worth the read. This is my first time reading from this author and I really enjoyed her writing style. I would recommend to friends!

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez is an epic twisted tale. At its’ center is the family bond between Juan and Gaspar, a father and son. The main story involves wealthy occultists of The Order and their desire to never die by sending their consciousness into another younger body. Juan uses extreme measures to protect his son, Gaspar. This is an extremely long book and is told out of chronological order. It is imaginative, brutal and horrifying. I strongly recommend you to read this or listen to the audiobook. You’ll never forget it. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Hogarth for the ARC.

What in the world did I just read? I honestly had no idea what I was letting myself in for, and if I had known what it was all about, I might not have been so quick to jump in. In a word, this book is disturbing. And yet I couldn't look away. I saw that this book was classified as supernatural horror, and it definitely is all that. But it is a melding of genres and themes that include mystery, historical fiction, dysfunctional relationships, family, secret societies, ritualistic murder and torture (which includes children), demonic possession, queer relationships and being queer in Argentina, the AIDS epidemic, and I'm sure there are others things I'm missing. If any of this sounds like they may be triggers for you, then I would recommend steering clear.

I don't know what this would be like to read in Spanish, but the translation seems to be a good one and the writing absolutely drew me into this story. There were times, especially after reading about the torture of children, when I HAD to walk away. But the story continued to call me back. While the story is told over a long period of time and from different points of view, the story seems to revolve around Gaspar, who is a child at the beginning of the story. And I kept reading because I wanted to know what would end up happening to him. Without revealing any spoilers, the ending left me feeling a little bit dissatisfied, mostly because I wanted something a little bit different. But I am not a writer and perhaps the story HAD to end the way it did. But it left me feeling a bit melancholy.

There was one section, told from the point of view of a journalist, that I found less interesting than the rest, partly because it pulled me out of the story, even though she was investigating things that happened to the other characters. It wasn't so much that it had nothing to add to the story--it did--but her character seemed to come out of nowhere. I did like the way the author eventually connected things together, especially with the man Gaspar and his dad ran into early in the book, but I had no idea who it was until they did.

Overall, I would recommend this with care, especially if certain things are triggers for you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Our Share of Night is a complex book that blends a very real horror and dark point of Argentinian history with a supernatural Darkness that was summoned and worshipped by some demented evil occultists. I have studied Argentinian history and am familiar with the human rights atrocities that occurred and the families who still long for answers about their disappeared loved ones who were lost. Enriquez blends history with a cult whose members believe that they have the right to live forever even if involves torture, murder, rape, or even taking over another person's body. This book definitely shows the evil things that humans are capable of, especially when they see themselves as being part of an elite chosen few and are entitled to whatever they desire for their own purposes. They will serve the Darkness and anyone that gets in the way will suffer.
The story itself is amazing; however, there were times where the pacing seemed slow and redundant. This made the book seem twice as long and I found myself literally falling asleep while reading it. I am happy that I did finish the book, but there were times where I considered DNFing it. I typically read 2-3 books a week and this book took 2 weeks for me to finish. I do recommend this book, but there are multiple trigger warnings and be ready for a story that feels longer than it actually is.

OUR SHARE OF NIGHT by Mariana Enriquez is a master class of the unexpected, and the tragic. Juan is trying to protect his son, Gaspar, from a supernatural destiny. His ancestors are part of a cult that does horrific things to people in order to gain immortality. The book spans decades as you spend time with Gaspar, his family and his friends. the relationships developed are strong and desperate with a loyalty that time and pain cannot diminish. The book is long and the multiple characters can be hard to keep track of, but Mariana Enriquez’ unique storytelling style kept me fully intrigued. Gaspar might just be my favorite tragic character of all time.

Our Share of Night is a slow burn political and occult horror about multigenerational family and national trauma. It’s about a powerful family’s ties to the occult and the lives they ruin in search of maintaining their power and wealth and searching for immortality. We begin the story following Juan, a medium who is used by the cult to communicate with the world of the gods, the darkness. Juan has recently lost his wife, who was a member of the cult. With his son starting to show that he too has the abilities of a medium, Juan decides he will do anything he can to keep his son away from the cult. With the story being told through various voices it also shifts style, at times reading like a coming of age story, at times dark academia and at times lovecraftian. Throughout it has an oppressive and ominous atmosphere both within the story and what is happening in the backdrop historically. After having finished reading I keep going back and thinking about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I hated to do it, but I gave up on Our Share of Night. I started it in ebook form for about 16% of the book then picked up on audio. I have listened to almost 10 hours and there are still 17 to go.

It's not bad, it's just too long for me. I was intrigued by the supernatural and cult elements, but I never would have picked it up if I'd have clocked the page count. I'm not great at hanging with super long books (The Shining excepted). If you like long reads with cool paranormal, culty elements (and demons!) definitely recommend giving it a try though.

Our Share of Night weaves tapestries of complex characterization, lore, and generations of relationships together to achieve what feels like a modern classic. Enriquez packs this book to the brim with horrific imagery and unforgettable moments, never letting the reader become to comfortable with the emotion at the forefront of their mind. A massive 600 page tome that justifies its length, Our Share of Night drags the reader into the darkness, allowing us to see through the murk from every perspective, and form a stunning picture of human behavior cloaked in the supernatural.

Thank you NetGalley for this read in exchange for an honest review! I wish I could read “Our Share of Night” by Mariana Enríquez in its original language. This novel is hauntingly raw and I found myself enamored with the writing style. As a reader you are sucked up into the environment, never know what to expect or where it’s going to lead. I believe this is a book I would definitely have to read again to fully comprehend its depths. This work was dark and mysterious, and I’d recommend it to any fans of historical & horror fiction.

Great book! Chills at times and a very emotional story of a family legacy. Content warning: discussion of suicide

OUR SHARE OF NIGHT was so fabulous I scarcely have words to describe the way it made me feel. This book was a saga of the deepest kind of love, horror, and grit combined into one unforgettable story.

Loved Enriquez's previous short stories, so I was intrigued by her latest novel. This was a wild ride, that I enjoyed but it often felt lengthy at times for no particular reason.