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panic_at_the_bookshelf's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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
- 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
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
- 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 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.
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
- 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
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:
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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
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
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol
wenwanzhao's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
erandle's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Blood, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Alcohol, and Colonisation
caidyn's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol