Review: Our Share of Night

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bizarre. Brutal. Brilliant.

Loved it from start to finish.

Honestly, I was so captivated by the strangeness of this novel. We're greeted with an ailing man, Juan, and his young son, Gaspar, and escorted into The Order - a macabre sect that worships 'the Darkness'- an entity for which Juan is a medium. That's the very, VERY short version.

I loved the story here, and was entranced watching it unfold. It spans many decades, so we hear from a variety of characters who all tell the story their own way. It rounds out our experience of events and allows us to connect with each of these characters - no matter how minor some parts may be. Plus it's all set to a backdrop of turmoil - Argentina was just not a fun place to be in the late 70s/early 80s.

The writing is exquisite - this is what I'd consider award-worthy fiction. The way the story is crafted is sheer brilliance. The elegance of how it all comes together; how chapters begin, progress, and end; how important ideas are woven in seamlessly; how seemingly insignificant details still stick enough that they're easily remembered later. It was a truly pleasurable reading experience.

In terms of the 'horror', this was less atmospheric and more about the notion of worshipping this dark god, and how that manifests in its disciples. Things alluded to yet not written, with enough gory details that we're still satisfied and properly offended. I enjoyed it all immensely.

Thinking on it, this probably tops the list for me this year. I can't think of a single thing I didn't enjoy about it - even the size of it didn't bother me because it went down so easily.

A twisted tale, a dark delight. Highly recommend.

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