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clovetra's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
ok by self-admission this lowkey kinda breaks my "lgbt authors and/or stories only for june" but... the story says both leads are bisexual so it counts in my eyes!
now, other than that... this book was erm... not my style!
i think 2-stars is a tad harsh, but i dont like to give half-star ratings and 3-stars seems too.... nice.
my biggest BIGGEST issue is that the plot is so fantastical. and im not talking about the actual elements. like yeah no duh a story about a cursed movie with runes and witchcraft and shit is gonna be fantasy-based. but like this plot was so.....
first off, blurb is a liar. the blurb does NOT reflect the proper story sorry. like i thought this would be a cute thriller or horror... you know... like the book says. but i would say this has literally zero horror elements. well maybe one or two but like in a 315-page book? nah that doesnt meet the horror genre. this is magical realism and/or fantasy.
also the plot literally is all over the place. most of the time i had no idea what was going on. like at the beginning i could keep up! but then after things felt rushed, explanations felt wishy-washy, and i was waiting for this to be over. honestly the only thing that kept me reading this was montserrat. shes a baddie, an icon, a fellow cripple queen, and the bisexual icon we DESERVE.
another grievance is that the plot took so long to start. like when the mystical elements are introduced >50% in the story.... its a chop im afraid.
ending felt weird, epilogue feels forced, story went from x character being resistant to what was going on to participating in like 50 pages.
idk man i think i might have liked this more if i didnt go in with false expectations. false expectations, mind you, the blurb of the book & its categorisations on storygraph + goodreads provided.
anyways i will say this was not a horror book you cannot convince me of that. its a thriller at best. but because i literally did not care about any character other than montserrat it was not thrilling.
this book was a let down and i can feel it begging to drag me into a slump. did not have fun.
now, other than that... this book was erm... not my style!
i think 2-stars is a tad harsh, but i dont like to give half-star ratings and 3-stars seems too.... nice.
my biggest BIGGEST issue is that the plot is so fantastical. and im not talking about the actual elements. like yeah no duh a story about a cursed movie with runes and witchcraft and shit is gonna be fantasy-based. but like this plot was so.....
first off, blurb is a liar. the blurb does NOT reflect the proper story sorry. like i thought this would be a cute thriller or horror... you know... like the book says. but i would say this has literally zero horror elements. well maybe one or two but like in a 315-page book? nah that doesnt meet the horror genre. this is magical realism and/or fantasy.
also the plot literally is all over the place. most of the time i had no idea what was going on. like at the beginning i could keep up! but then after things felt rushed, explanations felt wishy-washy, and i was waiting for this to be over. honestly the only thing that kept me reading this was montserrat. shes a baddie, an icon, a fellow cripple queen, and the bisexual icon we DESERVE.
another grievance is that the plot took so long to start. like when the mystical elements are introduced >50% in the story.... its a chop im afraid.
ending felt weird, epilogue feels forced, story went from x character being resistant to what was going on to participating in like 50 pages.
idk man i think i might have liked this more if i didnt go in with false expectations. false expectations, mind you, the blurb of the book & its categorisations on storygraph + goodreads provided.
anyways i will say this was not a horror book you cannot convince me of that. its a thriller at best. but because i literally did not care about any character other than montserrat it was not thrilling.
this book was a let down and i can feel it begging to drag me into a slump. did not have fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
mxpringle's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was absolutely incredible. So well-written and the concepts were unlike any other horror I've ever read which was so refreshing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and War
ninahuynh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I found the writing in this book to sometimes be confusing. I like the direction Silvia Moreno-Garcia is exploring. It gives me sci-fi vibes, like those of the genres using video games and film as a launchpad to another dimension. I did not anticipate magic to be part of this plot, but I guess that works on par with her theme as Mexican Gothic, my first book from her, also has elements of magic, but with mushroom
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism
panic_at_the_bookshelf's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't even know where to start on this one... Silver Nitrate is set in Mexico City. We follow the story of Montserrat and Tristán. Both characters try to make their way in the film industry, one as a sound editor and one as an actor, during the 90's.
The first 80-ish pages of the book aren't that scary. We meet the characters, get to know some stuff about their past and come across an ocult horror movie director. Everything seems fine at first, until both Montserrat and Tristán both realise they are in deep trouble. Of course it is way too late to back off... Those occult stories might not be stories at all...
As soon as the creepy stuff started happening I was on edge every single chapter. The author found the perfect balance between creating a scary and mysterious atmosphere without it being too overwhelming or boring. Throughout the story subtle details are being shared, so I was able to put a few puzzle pieces together and figure some plot twists out on my own. None felt obvious to me, which I liked a lot! It is only until the last few pages the story finally reveals what is actully happening... The ending was a big chef's kiss if it were up to me.
The book gives us bisexual representation, together with trauma and disability rep.
Some content warnings: car accident, dead people, murders, mental health, mentions of addiction, mentions of drug and alcohol use, mentions of suicide, mentions of cancer, racism, scars and blood.
Ps. My edition had a small font, so it was often hard to focus on the letters once my eyes got a bit tired.
The first 80-ish pages of the book aren't that scary. We meet the characters, get to know some stuff about their past and come across an ocult horror movie director. Everything seems fine at first, until both Montserrat and Tristán both realise they are in deep trouble. Of course it is way too late to back off... Those occult stories might not be stories at all...
As soon as the creepy stuff started happening I was on edge every single chapter. The author found the perfect balance between creating a scary and mysterious atmosphere without it being too overwhelming or boring. Throughout the story subtle details are being shared, so I was able to put a few puzzle pieces together and figure some plot twists out on my own. None felt obvious to me, which I liked a lot! It is only until the last few pages the story finally reveals what is actully happening... The ending was a big chef's kiss if it were up to me.
The book gives us bisexual representation, together with trauma and disability rep.
Some content warnings: car accident, dead people, murders, mental health, mentions of addiction, mentions of drug and alcohol use, mentions of suicide, mentions of cancer, racism, scars and blood.
Ps. My edition had a small font, so it was often hard to focus on the letters once my eyes got a bit tired.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, and Car accident
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.
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.
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.
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 occultismlonerangerl30's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Biphobia, Drug use, and Alcohol
javafenn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I would actually give this book a 3.5 but rated it a 4 here because the 3.5 is my fault. I ad a lot of health issues this past year that caused me to take a very long time to read this. That said, I really enjoyed this book! I loved the magic and horror of it all. The description of Tristán’s dead girlfriend in his apartment was terrifying! The occultism and Ewer’s obsession with pure lineage was believable too! It felt like Moreno-Garcia did a lot of research for it. I also absolutely loved how the book ended! Momo was fighting the ghost of Ewer’s the whole book but it really felt like that ghost was herself. She was fighting what she thought was the worst of herself. Very relatable!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Chronic illness
Minor: Ableism, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Classism
paloverdepages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I instantly have a soft spot for this book. The author has definitely found her audience with me; I love film history and magic, and I'm not familiar with the movie making scene of 1993 Mexico or the details of the Nazi's esoteric practices. There's lots of jargon, but not knowing it all doesn't interrupt the reading experience at all. It does start a bit slow, but once it gets going it doesn't let up. It really kept me guessing the whole way through and I was happy to be along for the ride. However, there's already so much going on in this book that we really didn't need the romance. It felt disappointing and forced.
I can suspend my disbelief at them running into and befriending their favorite forgotten director, but I did have a bit of an issue withhow much information he explicitly laid out for them (for the reader's benefit?). My editor brain kicked on for some word choices and minor plot things. The intersection of Mexican film history and Nazi occultism and conspiracies is a pretty niche topic, but I think that some of the pages upon pages of them meeting are too heavy on Urueta talking about this stuff. And some of the dialogue between the three of them seems a bit too explanatory (again, for the reader's benefit?) . I did like the smaller scenes of Montserrat researching that broke up these instances.
Another thing that bothered me was how many times it was mentioned that Montserrat was wearing graphic t-shirt with a different movie poster on it? And more importantly, how some storylines seemed to be dropped or forgotten about. I don't thinkthe plot with Montserrat's sister having cancer was woven in as well as it could have been, or any information about her mother , and I was super intrigued by Tristán's past and I wish we got a little bit more of that. It took a while to reveal anything substantial about him, and I wanted to hear more about maybe his upbringing in a Lebanese family in Mexico, or his bisexuality in the film scene of the 90s (and Montserrat is bi too! Cool how normal it's treated, but I want DETAILS!) . His character has depth that's only pointed at. It might be asking for too much given the type of story this is, but I wanted more from the character's backstories.
I also wanted a bit more from the setting. I LOVED the mentions of how the scene was becoming more Americanized, and I would have been interested to hear more about that through maybe some interactions that Montserrat or Tristán had with other people.
The overall plot is good, it just doesn't quite come together thematically. It touches on lots of interesting aspects without exploring any of them to their full potential. I think maybe this book needed another good once-over, but I've definitely enjoyed it to want to look into the rest of the author's work and maybe do some research of my own on what inspired her.
I can suspend my disbelief at them running into and befriending their favorite forgotten director, but I did have a bit of an issue with
Another thing that bothered me was how many times it was mentioned that Montserrat was wearing graphic t-shirt with a different movie poster on it? And more importantly, how some storylines seemed to be dropped or forgotten about. I don't think
I also wanted a bit more from the setting. I LOVED the mentions of how the scene was becoming more Americanized, and I would have been interested to hear more about that through maybe some interactions that Montserrat or Tristán had with other people.
The overall plot is good, it just doesn't quite come together thematically. It touches on lots of interesting aspects without exploring any of them to their full potential. I think maybe this book needed another good once-over, but I've definitely enjoyed it to want to look into the rest of the author's work and maybe do some research of my own on what inspired her.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol
garrettcz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.5
No spoilers:
I struggled with this book. I really liked the occult and mysticism elements. I really liked the history tie-ins and details. I liked some of the details about the film industry.
I really disliked the characters. It felt like the author was going out of her way to make them unlikable and really awful to each other.
I felt the story spent way too much time on really boring, mundane things and far too little time on the cool things like mysticism, occultism, and the horror elements. The story would sometimes dip into horror but the scenes felt way too fast so the atmosphere didn’t build up enough to where I really felt anything from them. I couldn’t get immersed in the spooky/horror scenes to really care and I didn’t care about the characters enough to really be engaged by the action scenes, so there never really felt like there was enough tension.
Spoilers:
*********************************
I REALLY hated the romance ending thing. I saw it coming and was really hoping this wouldn’t happen. These characters felt like they really disliked each other and if romantic chemistry could be approximated with temperature theirs would be somewhere in the ballpark of absolute zero. Yuck.
3.5
I struggled with this book. I really liked the occult and mysticism elements. I really liked the history tie-ins and details. I liked some of the details about the film industry.
I really disliked the characters. It felt like the author was going out of her way to make them unlikable and really awful to each other.
I felt the story spent way too much time on really boring, mundane things and far too little time on the cool things like mysticism, occultism, and the horror elements. The story would sometimes dip into horror but the scenes felt way too fast so the atmosphere didn’t build up enough to where I really felt anything from them. I couldn’t get immersed in the spooky/horror scenes to really care and I didn’t care about the characters enough to really be engaged by the action scenes, so there never really felt like there was enough tension.
Spoilers:
*********************************
I REALLY hated the romance ending thing. I saw it coming and was really hoping this wouldn’t happen. These characters felt like they really disliked each other and if romantic chemistry could be approximated with temperature theirs would be somewhere in the ballpark of absolute zero. Yuck.
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
meika_one's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This one took me a few weeks to get into. I had to remind myself that the content of conspiracy theories can be a slow burn. I found the characters to be unlikeable in the first few chapters as well, but they let me in eventually. There were some deep themes about connection and loss woven into the plot, and it didn't disappoint with the magick/Nazi/Templars plot once it got going. The second half of the book pulled me along easily to the end (and made a difficult morning at work after 3 hours of sleep (oops)).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol