Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

20 reviews

mulberrywizard's review

dark fast-paced

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

3.75

as a vampire lover, i really loved the folklore aspects of the worldbuilding. it made it stand out and feel different from other vampire media i've seen.

i like domingo and atl as characters, but i didn't care for their romance. i think they would've been better as just friends.

when they separate at the end it's definitely the best decision for both of them imo.

i almost wish it wasn't as fast paced as it is, and that it delved even deeper into the vampire politics and history. but that's just me being a vampire nerd lol. overall i did enjoy it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit and Alcohol

marysespieces's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

ahopper7's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

This was the most unique vampire story I’ve read to date. I loved the world building and the lore with the use of multiple different cultures to build different types of vampires. I’ve also discovered I LOVE neon noir in books, the gritty and dark setting within Mexico City was so captivating, I think atmosphere is SMG biggest strength. I was also here for the different POVs and the way the plot progressed, and I think the bitter sweet ending was the best suited for the type of story.

This book was about to be a 3 star if she had killed off the dog though, I was going to be pissed buuuut she didn’t.

The only reason this wasn’t a 5 star for me is the romance. Just like with Mexican Gothic, it felt completely unnecessary. With Domingo and Atl, their dynamic made way more sense as friends/like family vibes,

and I’ll always get the ick when there’s a sex scene with an under 18 character and someone older.

So I would have enjoyed this story a lot more without that subplot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Vomit

aliciawithoutkeys's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol

bookswithpao's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Drug use, Excrement, and Alcohol

iamsammie27's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Death and Death of parent

trollmila's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Slavery, Trafficking, Colonisation, and Classism

sophiamoonlight's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

An einigen Stellen hatte ich das Gefühl, dass die Autorin entweder nicht das ausdrücken konnte, was sie wollte, oder Dinge vergessen hatte anzupassen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

daniellekat's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my favourite author's but this one fell a bit short for me. I typically love the vividness of her writing and her characters but everyone felt flat and one dimensional here.  There were too many characters for me to feel connected to any of them, but I do think the changing POVs was well utilized for this narrative. The book was well paced and had me engaged throughout. I loved all the vampire lore but it was weirdly woven into the storytelling (It often felt like Domingo's only purpose was to ask questions for the reader). Overall, SMG is still one of my favourites and I love the diversity of her writing, you never know what you'll get.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation

risaleel's review

adventurous dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol