Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

17 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

wayward's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Xenophobia

boba_nbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️

Silvia Moreno-Garcia does not disappoint. Silver Nitrate had me on the edge of my seat and is terrifying in all the right ways.

Monserrat and Tristán have been friends since they were kids, and though Monserrat has been in love with Tristán all these years, he is oblivious to her feelings. The boys' club running the film industry in Mexico City in the 90s leaves no place for Monserrat, even though she's an extremely talented sound editor. As an aging actor, Tristán is also starting to feel left out of the industry, too. So when he finds out that his new neighbor is a cult horror director who wants to work with himself and Monserrat, Tristán wants to jump in without any hesitation. However, Monserrat is a little more cautious. The director, Abel,  wants the two of them to help him finish a film that he never got the chance to complete, but that film has left everyone who has touched it with bad fortune. The person Abel originally worked with on the film was a Nazi who believed creating this film would bring them magical powers. Abel believes finishing the film will lift the curse and bring fortune and fame, as well as magic, to the trio, but once they start working on it, strange things start to happen that leave Monserrat and Tristán wondering just what they got themselves into.

This novel focuses on how obsession with the occult can drive people to go to the extreme. It also explored the art of film, especially horror movies, and how all of the pieces come together to create a sort of magic--and in this story, the magic happened to be real. After being powerless her whole life, both in her career and in her own body, Monserrat has to decide what to do with the very real power she gets ahold of. She has to choose whether power is the most important thing to her. 

Similarly to one of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's other novels, Mexican Gothic, this was a very atmospheric read. Silver Nitrate explores ritual and how the past can still permeate the present. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Cursing, and Vomit

bri_fabiano's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Xenophobia, Murder, and Alcohol

rodile's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was a fun read! The main characters are Mexican disaster bisexuals, and their interactions are well-written. I enjoyed the portrayal of grief and its interplay with magic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Biphobia

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A tribute to foreign cinema, adversity, and overcoming your own demons, this book inspires everyone to embrace their own magic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, War, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Colonisation

Be aware that this novel features ageism, toxic workplace environments, Nazism, cults, occult rituals, violence with knives, harming one’s self for rituals, and people being crashed by large instruments.

meg_thebrave's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A bit of a slow start for me. Moreno-Garcia clearly knows her film history, and while the context is helpful, it bogs down the exposition. However, I enjoyed this exploration of magic and its conclusion, and enjoyed both Montserrat and Tristán. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Blood

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

mari1532's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

#ReadLatineLit hosted by @iamrainbou

I read this audiobook through my local library. 

Brief Summary: Montserrat, a brilliant sound engineer, is facing sexism where she is the only female sound editor. In addition to her struggles at work, she is trying to help her sister through her cancer treatments and be emotionally supportive of her childhood best friend, Tristán a charming but out-of-work soap opera star. However, Montserrat attempts to keep her life on track and her feelings for Tristán in check things are taken off the rails when she meets Tristán's mysterious neighbour Abel Urueta.

At first, Montserrat is intrigued by Abel as he is the director of a lost film that was never finished. As she and Tristán get to know Abel they learn that the film is shrouded in mystery because it's cursed. When Abel asks for assistance in removing the curse Tristán and Montserrat think no harm will come from helping him. That is until they start to see ghosts and shadows. Racing against the clock Montserrat and Tristán have to work together to untangle the intricate web of occultism that they've awakened.   

Thoughts: First, I want to make it very clear that this book deals with Nazi ideology and cancer treatment. Both of these things permeate the book and at times could be very difficult to hear, so if these are topics you do not enjoy reading, I would not recommend this book. 

Second, I did not enjoy the romance aspect of this book. In part because I did not think that Tristán was particularly motivated to be in a relationship, nor did I necessarily like the romantic dynamics between him and Montserrat throughout the book. In the end, it felt a bit like he was settling because he a. didn't want to die alone and/or b. experienced excitation transfer/trauma bonding due to what he and Montserrat experienced. I liked them much better as friends.

Third, the book was a bit slow to build to the climax, but I found the story interesting throughout. Moreno-Garcia's writing is so engrossing that I didn't notice how long it was taking to get to the end of the book. I also found the mystery, occultist angle kept the story riveting.

Finally, I think that Moreno-Garcia dealt with several very difficult topics throughout this book and managed to do so in a way that made Montserrat and Tristán interesting and flawed human beings. Morally grey characters are so hard to get right in a book and I felt that Moreno-Garcia did just that throughout the book. I also learned a great deal about the film industry in general and loved how Montserrat was such a nerd (I mean this with great love) about movies and the film industry. 

This is a good book that had me captivated until the end. I would recommend it.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Nazi ideology, Nazi occultism

curlydanreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt